IslandConnections Edition 598

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Ye Ex ars cel of len ce

1984 - 2009

The Canary Island’s biggest fortnightly English newspaper read by thousands of tourists & residents Edition # 598 / 28th Aug. - 11th Sept. 2009 / 1.80€ at Newsagents / www.islandconnections.eu / www.newscanarias.net

Back to school SWINE FEVER SCHOOL CLOSURES RULED OUT – FOR NOW

T

he Canarian government has reassured parents that schools in the region are to return as normal after the summer break despite calls to keep them closed to prevent swine flu from spreading.

Some medical experts have urged the authorities throughout Spain to consider delaying the reopening of schools to avoid large numbers of children congregating and giving the

H1N1 virus an easy path to infect others. The death of an 11-year-old boy in Gran Canaria, coming weeks after an outbreak of the flu in a small number of summer camps here, fuelled the calls for a rethink.

However, the Canarian health minister Mercedes Roldós insisted there was no reason to change the plans.

Roldós said a factor contributing to the proportionately higher number

of serious cases here could be the constant mingling of people from different parts through the tourist industry.

According to Norberto Hernández, president of the regional federation of parents’ associations, while they are, in principal, in agreement with the decision not to delay the start of the school year, they are concerned at the lack of information coming from the relevant departments,

and lack of consultation with parent groups. “We don’t know what will be done with our children, or if teachers have been told how to proceed” he told local press.

He said that while there was general information in the government webpages, there was nothing that had been adapted specifically to deal with schools.

Obviously children or teachers who show symptoms of the flu must be isolated and kept at home, but

there is ongoing concern at the levels of hygiene in some schools, especially among the younger children attending infants and primary schools, where, given the age of the students, personal attention to hygiene might not be as rigorous as may be deemed necessary.

As we go to press there are no nation-wide plans either in the UK or Ireland to delay the start of the school year as a result of the presence of swine flu, though some teachers in the latter have expressed concerns about the level of hygiene and hand washing facilities in some schools, a factor in curtailing the spread.

In the UK The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said that, while it was expected schools and nurseries would open as usual at the start of the academic year, it could not be “certain what the situation will be” in the autumn and that decisions on closures would be taken shortly before the start of the autumn term.

For the moment then it should be back to school as normal. Term begins on September 8th for children attending infants and primary school, September 14th for those in secondary school and many training and vocational centres.

Tenerife

Summer

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Out Now driving

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5-star music review

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excursions

fabulous trips

fashion

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CD Tenerife

La Liga beckons – the blanquiazules prepare for their first game of the season

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7Islands

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY

News in Brief

Rivero presses Zapatero on crisis

Aguaviva, hasta luego

Disappointment in Gran Canaria While the Aguaviva festival is being celebrated in Arona, disappointment reigns in Gran Canaria which has been left out in the cold this year.

In a recent report in La Provincia, the promoters explained that the change in plans over previous years had been due to a significant shortfall in funding from various institutions, leading to cutbacks in bookings for concerts as well as activities. Efforts have been concentrated on providing one concert with affordable ticket prices.

Aguaviva was born in Arona, and has previously been extended to Gran Canaria. The organisers are hoping that the Gran Canarians will travel to Tenerife to enjoy the concert which stars Amaral on Saturday August 29th, and that in the future, Aguaviva will not only be celebrated in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, but on other islands too.

Transport

Ecologists target train projects Paulino Rivero and Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

T

he president of the Canaries met with Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during the latter’s holiday in Lanzarote to discuss further steps to lessen the impact of the economic crisis in the region.

Paulino Rivero said after the two hour meeting that Zapatero had been receptive to his requests for more incentives to reactivate the

economy, following the decision to cut airport charges at Canarian airports until March 2010, a step Rivero says has had a major impact on attracting flights, pointing to the fact that low-cost carrier Ryanair have already promised to increase the number of flights to the islands due, specifically, to the cuts in airport charges.

The continuance of this measure is, he told press following the meeting, a prime objective for the regional

government. “There was a lot of reticence on the part of many in the department of development” regarding the cuts, Rivero said, “but the regional government believed that a reduction in the taxes would play a significant role in revitalising the tourist sector”, he added.

While agreeing that tourism was the key to putting the economy back on its feet, Zapatero and Rivero stressed that investment in education

was also a priority, as well as in infrastructure such as roads and coasts.

The regional president also expressed his delight that the Spanish president had chosen the Canary Islands, and specifically Lanzarote, for his summer holidays.

Coincidently, as mentioned elsewhere in this edition, Rivero also chose Lanzarote for his family holiday during the time the prime minister was there.

Plans for light trains to run from the north to the south of Tenerife and Gran Canaria could be in trouble after environmentalists warned they are to challenge the projects in the courts.

The Ben Magec association, which has secured significant victories against the authorities in legal battles over the environmental impact of major projects, wants the decisions by the island corporations in both cases to be overturned by judges. Ben Magec says the corporations have no statutory powers in rail matters and therefore cannot draw up and approve plans for trains. The announcement prompted one senior Tenerife official to describe the ecology group as a ‘sect’ recently.

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Plans to transfer up to 300 prisoners due to overcrowding have been criticised by inmates’ families.

Spain’s department of the interior is believed to be finalising the move to jails on mainland Spain of the prisoners, including scores who are on remand. It is expected the first transfers will take place in the next few days.

CC Fañabe Plaza and Compostela Beach (shopping zone), Playa de las Vistas

© ISLAND CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER

Prisoner transfer plans

The moves could affect foreign prisoners, among them several awaiting trial in the Canaries. Families have called on the government to clarify the criteria used for the transfers, which will make visits more difficult. Tenerife II jail, which has several UK prisoners, now has almost 1,500 inmates, more than double its official capacity.

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ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

7 Islands

News in Brief

THEODORA FOUNDATION

Employment incentive

The smile doctors

Public transport grant Unemployed people in the Canary Islands who find work more than 20 kilometres from their homes will be eligible to apply for free public transport to and from work for one year, provided they can meet certain conditions.

According to regional government, this initiative, organised by the Canarian employment service, has been designed to help those who find a job to move around and also to increase the possibilities of others now registered as unemployed rejoining the labour market. Agreements have been reached with the main transport operators in the archipelago who have joined the ‘transport cheque’ scheme.

Employees who benefit can only use this facility during working days, must be resident in the Canaries and have been registered as unemployed at INEM for at least one month before their new work contract was granted. Their new work contract must be for a duration of at least six months, although it could

be for part-time work which must be at least 50 per cent of normal full-time working hours. Full-time employed people can apply for the benefit as long as their gross earnings are less than 1,500 euros per month, and this figure must include additional payments established by the appropriate Convenio.

For part-time workers, the restrictions are the same, but proportional to the number of hours worked.

If they meet all the requisitions, workers will be given a season ticket (bono) which can be used on the buses belonging to companies which have joined the scheme, for a maximum period of one year.

This initiative covers new contracts signed between January and November of this year.

Unused offices

Government rapped Calls for an inquiry are mounting following the revelation that the Canarian government is paying 55,000 euros for rented offices it does not even use.

The payments were brought to light by a local trades union which says that the government is about to award a contract to refurbish the empty premises. “We want a minister to explain why a costly renovation project has been approved for a building rented for 55,000 euros a month at the taxpayer’s expense but never used” said the union spokesman.

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n the last two years, over 11,000 sick children in Canarian hospitals have smiled thanks to the Theodora foundation.

The Smile Doctors visit the children in the Hospital Materno Infantil de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria in Tenerife every week, to help break up the hospital routine and so that they can forget, even if only for a moment, their pain and sickness.

The foundation began in Switzerland in 1993 and now spreads its magic to Belarus, China, France, Italy, Britain, Turkey and Spain where they have visited over 265,000 children since the year 2000 when they began their work here. They are funded by donations, public authorities, organised events and above all by sponsors. In 2009 the main sponsors for the work in the Canaries were the foundations Stavros Niarchos and Junguel-Sanjuán and RBC Dexia who is the overall sponsor with JCDecaux.

Doctor Mocito bringing smiles to a sick child

Professional actors are hired to be smile doctors and receive a special course in the Madrid nursing school at Hospital de la Paz. They take theor y and practical courses where they learn basic information about the illnesses they may come across and how to work in the world of hospitalised children. They also receive two

yearly updates on artistic and psychosanitary matters.

The training shows them how to help distract the sick youngsters, allow them to play and smile as the children they are, to change their mood and help them to face their illness more successfully. As one smile doctor put it, “we’re not doctors, but we know that our visits have

a therapeutic effect”. Accompanying family members too forget their worries for a while and the Smile Doctors also help the staff in their daily routine.

The Theodora Foundations work has been recognised formally this year with awards from the Rodolfo Benito Salaniego and the Hospitalet town council.

for only 90 cents, or Bajamar and La Punta de Hidalgo where there are beaches and seawater pools, on the 050 service which is half-hourly at the weekends for 1.30 euros. From Tacoronte, the two-hourly route 021 goes to Mesa del Mar and hourly service 023 to El Pris, also for 1.30 euros.

Another exclusive summertime route is the 546 from Realejos Alto to the beach at El Socorro which also costs 1.30 euros and leaves every

hour and three quarters.

In the south of Tenerife, you can travel along the south west coast from Los Cristianos to Playa de las Américas and Guia de Isora on route 417, while the 450 goes from Playa de las Américas to San Isidro and the 483 to El Médano.

All prices quoted can be reduced significantly with the use of a Bono (season ticket), so it really does make sense to leave your car at home and travel with Titsa.

TITSA BUS SERVICES

Beach trips T

itsa invites you to leave the car at home or at the bus station and enjoy a stress-free trip to the beach. Leave worries of traffic queues and parking behind and relax from the word go. Every year, Titsa adds extra ser vices to its schedules, and don’t forget that under fives travel free of charge.

In the north west of Tenerife you can visit Playa de las Teresitas from Santa Cruz using the half-hourly route

910 which costs only one euro each way, or the one or two hourly route 245 will take you to the beach at Las Gaviotas for 1.30 euros. For the same price you could opt for the peace and tranquillity of Taganana or Almáciga, or strike out in a different direction to Candelaria on route 122 for 1.95 euros.

If you are starting your trip in La Laguna, a special 551 summer service goes to Valle Guerra, from where you can access Playa la Barranquera

Come and feast your eyes on the food at your new Marks & Spencer SIMPLY FOOD in Santa Cruz.

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EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

7 Islands Playa de las Américas

News in brief Crisis continues

Gran Tinerfe renovations

Overnight stays drop According to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics, the number of tourists in overnight stays in hotels in the Canary Islands in the first seven months of the year dropped by 8.5 per cent.

F

ollowing two months’ hard work, the newly renovated hotel H10 Gran Tinerfe in Playa de las Américas was inaugurated in early August when the doors opened to the public.

The hotel which forms a significant part of the history of this tourist resort has been open since 1969.

Adeje mayor José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga commented, “the renovation of the Gran Tiner fe sets an example which should be followed by everyone”. He congratulated the H10 hotel chain for the work on this hotel which, “represents a symbol of the development of tourism in the south of Tenerife, and especially Adeje”. He continued by reminding everyone that, “this hotel was the first to be constructed in the borough, the product of an act of faith”, referring to it as a splendid reality which has brought a hotel which has formed the history of the South, both from a touristic and economic point of view, back to life.

In 1969, Rafael Puig together with Eugenio Dominguez and Luis Diaz de Losada, sold the plot on which the five star hotel now stands, to Cándido Ruiz García San

In July the drop on last year’s figures was 5.5 per cent with 8.7 million visitors using hotels in the islands, 4.89 million from Spain and 3.88 million from outside the country. Visitors from the latter group are still coming, in the main, from the two main source countries, Germany and the United Kingdom, followed

by France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Juan who invested 20 million pesetas in the project which was seen as a big bet which was not supported by many.

The two pools were designed

by Cesar Manrique. The H10 hotel chain acquired the premises in June 1994 and since then renovations have constantly been made.

Following this most recent renovation, the avant-garde chill-out terrace has been

Back to life designed for relaxation with great views of the beach and beyond. The enlarged reception area gives the first impression of a hotel which continues to conser ve its

history without losing sight of the future. The restaurant has also been improved, with new furniture and equipment, both large and small.

The conference room, discotheque and rooms have also been renovated, all in record time and designed to satisfy the demands of the modern tourist who requires high quality.

Hotel director Rafael Dolado added, “with this renovation, for which we were closed from April 20 until July 1, we have virtually created a new hotel. We have renovated many areas and created others like the chill-out terrace”. The result he says, “has been positive, and we have already – thanks to everyones’ efforts – consolidated our product and we continue to have numerous clients returning, and these together with our staff, some of whom have been with us for more than 25 years, are our most precious assets”.

Top choice for non-residents visiting Spain were the Balearic Islands followed by Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Andalusia and Valencia, while Spanish visitors choose Valencia over Catalonia, the Canaries, the Balearics and Galicia in that order.

Hotels in the Balearic Islands had the highest occupation rate in Spain during July with 81.5 per cent, while the Canary Islands was in third place with 67.1 per cent.

Jennifer Perdomo

Relief for family The family of Tenerife teenager Jennifer Perdomo breathed more than a sigh of relief when authorities were able to confirm that the missing girl was safe after five anxious days.

The parents of the 17 year old, who they say is slightly retarded, had been on high alert following her disappearance but an island wide search confirmed a number of sightings of the girl, and five days after she had been seen by her family the girl was reunited with her parents.

According to her parents Jennifer left her home on a Wednesday evening at about 9pm to buy bread and soft drinks, but never returned. They became convinced that someone had talked the sociable girl into accompanying them, and fearing the worst, they had posters all over the islands, but luckily for this family the end result was a happy one.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

7 Islands

BRITISH EMBASSY

News in brief Mike with bar owner Bob Fearnell and Edna Goodall from Tenerife Sur Lions Club

Lions Club Tenerife Sur

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Bob and Jayne Fearnell, owners of Bar Toscales, Valle San Lorenzo kindly allowed Mike Byatt to use their bar recently when he had a year’s growth of hair shaved off.

There were many willing volunteers prepared to take the scissors and a snip of Mike’s locks, but the serious part of the shave was given to Maggie Leadbeater who effected the final coup de gras. The total sum raised was 226 euros, which Mike has asked to be used for taking under privileged Tenerife children to the UK for a holiday next year.

Historic clean-up The renovation of the Torre del Conde, the muchvisited building in San Sebastián de La Gomera, is under way, and will be cleaned and fully restored before it is open to the public again.

Those carrying out the restoration work were previously unemployed, and have been hired under the insular ‘combating the crisis’ plan. They are working under the supervision of corporation technicians. The tower is thought to be the oldest building in La Gomera and was built at the end of the 15th Century.

El Fraile

New health centre ‘saturated’ The new health centre in El Fraile (Tenerife) cannot cope with the demand for doctor’s appointments and tests, says the local PSOE party.

The centre opened a month and a half ago and was supposed to address the major gap in health care provision in one of the fastest growing parts of the island.

However, with over 15,000 people on its books it is heavily oversubscribed. The PSOE has called on the government to go and see for itself the long queues that form outside the centre every day due to the lack of space inside.

T

he padrón, empadronamiento, empadronarse. All words you may have heard since arriving in Spain, but never been quite sure what they mean, either in English, or for you as a resident. If so, read on for more information and the numerous reasons why registering on the padrón may just be worth your while.

The padrón is, quite simply, the municipal register, a list of all the people who live in a certain town, while empadronarse is the act of registering yourself on this list at your local town hall.

Of ficially all residents in Spain are required by law to register on the padrón, yet many British ex-pats still have not done so. Perhaps

some view the padrón as a means of vigilance by the state, in ‘big-brother’ fashion.

However, in reality, it is simply a way for the council to know how many people live in their area, without entering into investigations as to a person’s official residence status or financial affairs.

In addition, the information provided at registration is confidential and protected by data protection laws.

You don’t even have to own your house to register, just have an address where you usually live, no matter whether you are the owner, you rent, or live with family or friends. Nor is registration a long drawn out registration process. Simply go to the padrón office in your town

Registering at your local council

is to your advantage

hall and fill in the form they provide. Take along official identification, such as a passport, and also your NIE or residence certificate/card, a recent utility bill in your name, and the deeds to your house or a copy of your rental contract. Although you may have to return to collect your certificate, the actual registration is completed all on the same day.

Once you’ve completed this simple process, you can begin

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to enjoy all the advantages being on the padrón offers. To highlight a few, we’ve listed the top five below: FOR BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES – Central government allocates money to the different municipalities according to how many people are on the padrón. Therefore, if you are not registered, your council is losing money for the provision of health centres, police officers, fire fighters and schools.

TO ACCESS BENEFITS AND SOCIAL CARE – You must be on the padrón for a certain period of time to take advantage of some incomerelated benefits and other aspects of social care available through social ser vices at your town hall.

FOR A REDUCTION IN TAXES – Depending on the council, registration on the padrón could mean up to 50 per cent off Property Tax, as well as reductions in certain community charges and inheritance tax.

Furthermore, those on the padrón can also often enjoy discounted courses, leisure and cultural activities run by the council.

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7 Islands

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

SPANISH PRIME MINISTER

News in brief

Holiday remarks draw fire

Playa Blanca

The wife of the president of the Canaries has drawn fire for criticising Spain’s premier for keeping a low profile while on holiday in Lanzarote.

Angela Mena, a councillor in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, gave an interview in the La Provincia paper in which she accused José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of hiding from the public during his stay. The comments came days after a local reporter landed himself in trouble with the prime minister’s security detail for taking pictures as Zapatero

The Prime Minister under criticism for his low profile

took a morning jog near the Mareta Palace. Coincidence or not, photos of the Canarian president running at a location nearby appeared in all the regional media soon after.

Mena said that she and her husband had made no attempt to hide the fact that they were holidaying on the volcanic island. However, her remarks prompted fierce criticism and accusations that the couple had deliberately chosen Lanzarote at the same time as the Zapatero family to cash in on the massive media presence.

Harbour extension Plans to extend Playa Blanca harbour in Lanzarote have been announced by the regional government.

The Department of Transport has published details of a public tender to add a 300 metre outer jetty and several more berths to the existing harbour, including two which will be reserved for Fred Olsen and Armas ferries. The work is expected to take two years and the government says it will add to Playa Blanca’s attractiveness as a harbour for commercial traffic and pleasure boats. A decision on which company is awarded the project will be taken on 5 October.

News in brief La Palma

EL MÉDANO

Granadilla’s got talent!

News in brief

Musical ambassadors

Gran Canaria

School wall repairs One million euros from the State investment fund are to be spent on improving or repairing the walls of six schools in the borough of Telde.

Charlie Karlsen and his parents, with trophy and cheque for 600 euros

Around 4,000 people gathered in the El Médano plaza for the grand final of the III Festival de Nuevos Talentos Villa de Granadilla de Abona, where the lucky winners were chosen from more than 130 entrants.

The top prizes in this talent contest went to group, Aloperro; solo singer, Charlie Karlsen; dance group, Lulaya Funk; individual dance,

Ayoze González Padilla; dance (couple), Alexandra García and Sergio Padilla, and original song, Sheila García.

The total prize money won reached 4,000 euros. The first prize winners were also offered the opportunity to record a promotional video clip and to be included in the programme of the 2010 Fiestas of San Antonio de Padua and Nuestra Señora

del Rosario in Granadilla. The event which was organised by the Granadilla council’s depar tment for youth and fiestas, also featured per formances by Ballet Salseando and comedian Daniel Calero. Councillor for youth and fiestas José Domingo Regalado González thanked all the entrants and invited them to compete in future editions of the festival.

The mayor, Francisco Santiago and education councillor, Carmen Hernández recently visited one of these schools, the Juan Negrín in Las Remudas which is 31 years old. This will be the first improvement to its walls in which their height will be extended to 3.5 metres and existing materials replaced, at a cost of 253,000 euros.

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Ryanair ote are set to begin on October 30, to Tenerife South on October 31 and to Gran Canaria on November 4. Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said, “this winter passengers can beat the recession by flying at Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and no fuel surcharges to exciting destinations all over Europe”.

No doubt, these new flights will bring a new flow of much needed tourists to all three islands.

New Edinburgh flights Ryanair have announced a number of new routes to the Canaries from Edinburgh for the 2009/2010 winter season. The islands to benefit will be Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

The regular flights to Lanzar-

The northern band were very popular

Tenerife residents visiting the neighbouring island recently may have heard a familiar musical sound, the Valle de Guerra band was on tour there.

Many of the islands’ towns have their own bands and those of the north of Tenerife are particularly in demand. The Valle Guerra musical band, Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, were a great hit in San Andrés y Sauces and Santa Cruz de La Palma.

News in brief Playa de las Américas

New roundabout A roundabout is to replace the traffic lights at the junction of Las Madrigueras, by the Hotel Columbus. The work which has already begun will be undertaken in four phases. It is not expected to affect traffic and should be completed during November.

This junction, considered to be one of the worst black spots in the area and situated close to the Olympic stadium, is currently regulated by traffic lights and a confusing set of road signs. This system is to be replaced by a large roundabout which is hoped will improve road safety and the flow of traffic.

A budget of over 96,000 euros also includes new street lighting and modifications to road signs and white lining. The work is being carried out alongside modifications to the junction next to the Barranco de Troya and other works to main streets in Playa de las Américas to increase traffic fluidity and improve the image of one of the most significant resorts on the Island.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

7 Islands

7

FOREST FIRE

Credit: Family Schmidt-Hermosillo

Star turn for fire victims

Astronomers at the Roque de los Muchachos raised money for fire victims

Astronomers in La Palma have been helping raise funds for families on the island whose homes were damaged in the forest fires a few weeks ago.

As the authorities set about the task of drawing up arrangements for compensation to the victims, the astronomers came up with

their own method to raise contributions. During the recent star-gazing days organised by a local active amateur astronomy group, members of the public were asked to pay a token sum in order to be able to look through the telescopes. “The viewing has always been a free event but this year we have asked for a

small payment to help those in Mazo and Fuencaliente who lost their homes or other possessions in the blazes,” said a group spokesman.

The money raised during the popular Perseid meteor shower observation has been handed over to the island’s Red Cross for distribution.

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Extreme care required As we go to press, the Cabildo of Tenerife has banned fires in mountainous areas due to the hot weather. Specifically, it is not permitted to light fires in picnic and recreation areas, burn off agricultural or forest residues, light bonfires or use any equipment which may

generate sparks. Although the ban was issued during a specific heatwave, it is sensible to avoid lighting fires in forested areas during the summer months.

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LORO PARQUE FOUNDATION

Turtle release The Loro Parque Foundation recently released a Loggerhead sea turtle back into the sea at Playa Jardín in Puerto de la Cruz, once it was deemed ready to re-enter its natural habitat.

The majority of these turtles appears on the Canarian coasts because they often enmesh themselves in hooks or even swallow them, other reasons are the problems caused by collisions occurring in the sea, and sometimes by oil.

The turtle had been rescued by the Tenerife Cabildo and due to the agreement between the Foundation, and the Cabildos of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, it was taken care of by Loro Parque.

While this young turtle regained weight and strength in the aquarium of the Loro Parque, she simultaneously became a protagonist for the cause, and was part of a number of diverse awareness raising activities which the Loro Parque Foundation is developing together with

various education centres which are members of the educational video-conference programme.

The main goal of this programme is to educate children and young people in Spain and alert them to the environmental problems this marine animal has to face, its care and the need for conservation.

During the turtle’s time with in Loro Parque children were able to obser ve her in real time being fed, and swimming in the pool.

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8

7 Islands

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

CANARIAN LONDON EYE

Arson Attacks?

Wheel gathers pace

Playa del Inglés

Fires “suspicious” A fourth fire in the same spot in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria, in just six months is being treated as suspicious by local police.

The small blaze broke out in the early hours of the morning in a restaurant in the Anexo Shopping Centre complex in the resort. It came just six days after another late-night fire badly damaged a supermarket at the same location less than a week before.

Rumours have been rife of late in Playa del Inglés that developers have been pressuring to have the complex closed to make way for modern apartments or a hotel. The local authorities have not commented on the speculation although readers’ comments to local newspapers which have featured the fires have made it clear that there is a clear motive behind the apparent arson attacks.

PLANS TO INSTALL A GIANT WHEEL SIMILAR TO THE LONDON EYE IN THE CENTRE OF LAS PALMAS ARE ROLLING QUICKLY ALONG. City officials say the idea has been well received and the wheel should be up and running in the Santa Catalina district by the end of the year, barring technical hitches.

Stressing that the attraction will create jobs and raise the profile of the capital, a council spokesman said he expected the wheel to be as successful as similar ventures in other major cities.

However, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the plans.

Opposition parties say they want a full feasibility study, particularly of the cost of the project, presented to the council before any decisions are taken.

Under age crackdown Nightspots

City officials claim the wheel will raise the profile of the capital

GRAN CANARIA DOCUMENTARY

Tourist Minister slammed Canarian tourism minister Rita Martín has been in the firing line again, this time over her defence of a controversial TV documentary on Gran Canaria’s tourism attractions.

The programme, broadcast by Antena TV, showed less than attractive aspects of beaches on the island, with several images of obese women bathing topless and youths engaging in lewd horseplay. The documentary prompted a flood of complaints by people on the island, where the Tourist Board has already threatened legal action against the channel for

its biased reporting. However, at the height of the row, Martín irked Gran Canaria’s authorities by stressing that Antena 3 had not doctored any of the footage. “They filmed what was there so they can’t be accused of faking the shots,” said the minister, adding that she did not consider the documentary had caused a major problem.

Gran Canarian businessmen and women disagree and are threatening to boycott the channel for advertising if they do not emit a more balanced programme.

Nightspots in tourist resorts in Gran Canaria are being targeted by police in the latest attempt to crack down on under-age drinking.

Clubs and discos have been warned to expect stiff penalties if teenagers are found drinking on the premises following the discovery of almost 160 under-18s in one popular venue recently.

Officers held the teenagers briefly after a raid on the Music Factory disco in Playa del Inglés in the early hours of the morning. Parents of the Spanish youngsters, some of whom were as young as 14, received stern warnings that they could face prosecution if they allow their children to frequent adult spots.

The Music Factory also faces serious action over breaches of fire regulations and for exceeding the maximum number of customers allowed on the premises. The latest raid is not the first time the disco has been in trouble. 60 under-18s were removed by police during a previous visit in November 2008.

Cycling Path

Paca showing her attributes on the programme

On your bike

TEROR FIREWORKS

Explosion kills two Two men have been killed in an explosion in a family firework business in Teror, Gran Canaria.

The men, a father in his 70s and his 36-year-old son, died when materials they were preparing for local fiestas ignited. A third man who worked in the small business, called El Secuestro, survived because he was not close to the fireworks at the time.

The explosion caused lateral damages to houses in the area and triggered a fire on the premises and sent sparks into the nearby area, though

Teenager warning

The explosion happened in El Secuestro, in Teror

emergency teams were able to prevent the fire spreading to nearby woodland. A number of storehouses also escaped the blaze.

The factory itself was practically reduced to rubble and ashes as a result of the blast and Francisco Dávila, the company owner and his son Pablo, father of two children, lost their lives instantly, while Francisco Jiménez Dávila, the owner’s nephew, was in the factory office, and managed to escape when he heard the first small blast, running from the office. The second blast caused a shock-wave which miraculously threw him clear of the fire, causing only minor burns.

Santa Lucía saddles up The council in Santa Lucía de Tirajana are open to tenders to design a cycling path network for the town of Vecindario at a cost of €20,000.

The borough officials are hoping to encourage the use of bicycles in the urban zone and, according to mobility councillor Luis Campos, increase the numbers adopting this two-wheeled machine as a valid mode of transport, and in general make commuters and shoppers think more of non-motorised forms of getting from A to B, “from an energy as well as an environmental perspective”.

According to Campos the council want to prioritise cycle lanes as well as pedestrian areas in the town and promote healthier lifestyle habits as well as improved traffic information, increased security for commuters and an overall improvement in the quality of life for citizens

Tenerife

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Volunteers cleaning the Ballenita beach

HEALTH CARE

Surgical holidays T

he controversy over the financial cost of treating large numbers of foreign visitors during their holidays in the Canaries has resurfaced following the publication of statements by doctors’ organisations in the local media.

Tenerife daily Diario de Avisos gave prominent coverage to a study showing that up to one million foreigners, both tourists and longerstay visitors, use the health ser vice between May and October and in some cases choose to come here specifically for treatment. According to the island’s College

Teno

Clean beaches In the third of the actions of Tenerife Cabildo’s ‘La Mar de Limpia’ campaign, 80 volunteers helped to collect and remove 100 kilos of rubbish from the lovely Ballenita beach at Teno, Buenavista del Norte.

Above and below the coastline the volunteers collected plastic bottles, cigarette ends, packaging, plastic bags, glass bottles, canvas and batteries. The local council and Teno rural park technical office both cooperated as did the diving groups Asmesub, AEA, Anforasub, Abadesub, Buceo in Action and the international volunteers’ camp run this year by Esxco SL. The campaign started in Güímar at the beginning of August, continued with a visit to Puerto de la Cruz then Teno. Earlybird readers who’d like to help can join the rubbish collectors in Puerto de Santiago in Playa La Arena on August 29th or Buenavista del Norte, Playa las Arenas on September 5th .

2011 Urban transport

Park and ride The days of the long tailbacks for drivers from the north look to be numbered.

The park and ride facility at Padre Anchieta, La Laguna, has been awarded to UTE and the funds are being provided by the Canarian Government and the European Union. The contract is for almost seven million euros and the building work should be finished by late summer 2010.

The park and ride station will cover 5,000 square metres and allow for access on three levels by buses, taxis, trams, bicycles and the future northern train line.

Commuters or day visitors to the capital or the hospitals will have a less stressful journey in from 2011.

The park and ride facility from the south has taken over by the city whilst it was under construction but it’s still a great option for visitors wanting a hassle free trip. Anyone using their high tech parking facility will find lights guiding them to empty slots and an easy switch to taxis, buses or the tram service to take you where you want to go. In addition, if you pay for your journey with a discount ‘Bono’ pass (one card covers all the family or group of friends) and you pay for your parking with the same card in the special machine, you get a truly amazing discount on the regular price.

A spokesman claimed that the Canarian health system is being used extensively by foreigners

of Physicians, up to 60 per cent of consultations in some health centres in Arona and Adeje involve foreign patients and the picture is similar in parts of Gran Canaria also.

A leading doctors’ union (OMC) estimates that the cost of treating foreign visitors could be as high as 20 million euros, not counting operations carried out in

public hospitals. “Knee and hip operations, particularly for older visitors, are becoming increasingly common and there is certainly the feeling that the Canarian system is being used extensively by foreigners at present,” said a spokesman. Antonio Alarcó, vice-president of the Cabildo in Tenerife and a reputed surgeon, has repeatedly called on the Spanish government to revise its funding agreement for the regional health ser vice to take account of the extra burden of treating non-Canarians.

No demolitions The mayor of Vilaflor has promised to do everything in his power to prevent a new development of villas from being torn down after a court ruled that the planning permission granted by the council was illegal.

Mayor Manuel Fumero said he was disappointed at the court ruling in favour of an ecology group, which challenged the use of rural land for the development.

28 out of almost 80 villas in the development in the picturesque La Escalona spot have been completed but

VILAFLOR

Mayor Manuel Fumero has promised to try and prevent the demolitions

could face demolition soon.

Fumero said he, “accepted” the ruling but insisted he had acted in the public interest in

granting the permission. He denied that rural land had been used for the development and said the council’s

legal services would study the implications carefully.

Ecologists have criticised the mayor not just for allowing the development but for trying to avoid the consequences of the ruling. “Several years ago, 50,000 environmentalists and their friends took to the streets to support him in his battle to prevent Unelco from erecting pylons across these landscapes. At the time he said the greenery of Vilaflor was its most valuable asset.

Now he allows the scenery to be tarnished with expensive villas,” said one ecologist.

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TENERIFE / PROMOTION

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

TENERIFE

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

San Miguel de Abona

Better beaches The fine new hotel in San Miguel now has an additional asset, easier access to the beach at San Blas.

The cost is being covered by the Spanish Government’s Coast’s Department and works are expected to be finished by the end of August. Accessibility is to be improved for everyone, not just for the hotel, but the final restoration of the area is still waiting for the thumbs up from Madrid. The San Blas beach is in one of the most important tourist areas of the borough. Its views and the characteristic fauna and flora of the area make it one of the most important coastal areas in San Miguel.

Titsa

Buy a bus If you were thinking of starting a transport company, or you have a very large family, you may be interested in the latest offers from Titsa, Tenerife’s bus company.

Cutting out the middleman, Titsa are now selling off their old stock directly. You can view the 36 models currently available at prices starting from 2,000 euros on the Titsa website, www.titsa.com.

11

Green Titsa

Get there by bus THE MERCEDES HILLS AND THE RURAL PARK OF ANAGA ARE BEAUTIFUL NATURAL SPACES THAT CAN ONLY BE REALLY APPRECIATED BY WALKERS OR PASSENGERS, AS DRIVERS HAVE TO KEEP A FIRM EYE ON THE WINDING ROADS.

W

hen the thermometer is high it’s grand to escape the madding crowd and the heat and enter the cooler verdure of the Anaga park or discover some of the enchanting beaches in this area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna.

It’s an ideal place to recharge your batteries and enjoy the simple unspoilt surroundings.

It seems a contradiction that those who go there all too often use the least green of transports, the private vehicle. A great alternative, which helps to look after this natural area reducing to a minimum the contamination, apart from avoiding driving induced stress and even saving money, is the local bus service. Numerous Titsa bus routes go through the Anaga park,

Let Titsa do the driving and enjoy your visit to the full

even to the most surprising and hidden corners, so that the visitor can enjoy more comfortable, safer and less contaminating transport any day of the week. The area is also blessed with lots of great eateries and if you are not driving you won’t have to deprive yourself of a couple of glasses of wine

to accompany some of the most exquisite Canarian food to be found on the island.

From Santa Cruz, the 105 is a regular service to Punta del Hidalgo, the 245 follows the coast to San Andrés, Teresitas beach and the nudist beach, Las Gaviotas. The 246 goes through the hills to

Taganana (the village with the most drago trees on the island) and Almáciga, whilst the 247 goes even further and travels through the park to Chamorga, a great kick off point for walkers. Closer to the metropolitan area, the 228 will take you to Valle Tabares, María Jiménez and Los

Campitos, the latter can also be reached quickly on the 912 via Ifara and the 916 and 917 journey to Los Valles, further on than María Jiménez and to Las Cuevas, past Valleseco.

Routes from La Laguna include the 076 which travels into Anaga to Las Carboneras, Afur, Roque Negro and Las Casas de la Cumbre, the 077 takes you to El Bailadero, the 075 to Taberno and Las Carboneras, the 074 to the lovely Batán and the 073 to the Cruz del Carmen where there is also an excellent farmers’ market. Closer to the town, the 070, 071 and 072 will take you to Las Mercedes or Jardina.

Whether you are already a lover of Anaga or have yet to discover one of the verdant treasures of the Canaries, go green, get the bus, there’s lots to choose from.

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TENERIFE

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

PUERTO POLITICS

I

t was expected to have been a ver y rowdy affair given the importance of the matter to be discussed and the fact that Eva Navarro, ex-Conservative PP leader in Puerto, was using the occasion to make official her resignation as councillor.

Perhaps the peace was due to the suspicion that her going might pave the way for an imminent change in government in Puerto or that her absence would also lessen tensions within the town hall. It might also have had something to do with the fact that Eva Navarro actually didn’t turn up.

The socialist ruling group voted for their budget. The main nationalist opposition members were decent enough to abstain. The only remaining conservative PP councillor voted against the budget after accusing the socialists of always blaming everyone else for the town’s

A peaceful council meeting THE PUERTO DE LA CRUZ COUNCIL’S BUDGET FOR 2009 WAS APPROVED ON THE 10TH AUGUST, A BIT LATE IN THE YEAR, AT AN AMAZINGLY QUIET AND PEACEFUL COUNCIL MEETING CONSIDERING THE CONSTANT BICKERING OF RECENT MONTHS. mess. As Eva Navarro was absent her number two, Luis Miguel Rodríguez, read out her brief, tame and almost irrelevant farewell note. In it she said that working with everyone at the Town Hall, without exception, had been a privilege. It was Rodríguez who added a touch of truth, saying that although she had committed errors she had always made an effort to resolve people’s problems and that, “histor y would remember Navarro’s work

at the council as well as the tales of love and hate amongst politicians”.

Her resignation paved the way for a possible new governing alliance to be negotiated between the nationalists and her conservatives. The conservative PP group selects its new leader on 17th September and the party’s regional leadership is trying to speed things up so as to enable a pact to be signed to oust the socialists from power. Only then will the nationalists know

with whom, as conservative leader, they have to negotiate.

If agreement is reached, the conservatives will once again hold the balance of power.

There will again be a total of 21 councillors, 10 socialists, nine nationalists and two conservatives.

Eva Navarro’s likely successor is expected to be Guillermo Meca, her own choice as new leader. However there are two other party members who want to be candidates for the job and, by mid-August

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This might put an early spanner in the works with regards a governing pact with the nationalists. The socialists, meanwhile, who openly admit they are bound to lose control at the town hall quite soon as a result of a new opposition pact, are understandably enjoying the apparent conser vative turmoil and have told the regional PP leader, Cristina Tavío, always a very intense lady, to take a tranquiliser as she seems over keen to get Guillermo Meca elected before time.

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Eva Navarro has officially resigned from the Puerto council

they had not been permitted to participate in the leadership contest with the excuse, used by Navarro, that many of their named supporters had not paid up their party membership fees. The two candidates have complained bitterly and were apparently taking the matter to court.

One, businessman Sebastián González, threatened that his members would leave the party if he could not be permitted to run for leadership and has made a big fuss in the local media. In other words the signs are that the conservative group in Puerto will be riddled with internal

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Bringing out the best of Puerto’s charming old streets

Although the expensive touching up paint job is superficial and is by no means the profound renovation required by the old tourist resort, it has the desired effect of bringing out the best of Puerto’s charming old streets and remaining old mansions. The project makes Puerto more attractive to tourism but it also has the social effect of making inhabitants prouder of what they have. As far as the mayor, Lola Padrón is concerned, Puerto’s tourism industry is crying out for these cleaning up initiatives.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

News in Brief Santiago del Teide

Painting competition Xena Fox, whose work we are highlighting in our September magazine, has taken two prizes in the latest Santiago del Teide painting competition.

The first prize of 612 euros went to Idaira Lorenzo Carrillo, the second prize of 306 euros to Rodolfo Jorges Gutiérrez and the third and fourth prizes of 153 and 100 euros respectively went to Xena. It’s not the first time she has been chosen as a winner in this event where she has also been a member of the judging panel on occasion. Modestly she told us, “the minute I walked into the exhibition hall I immediately thought, ‘that’s better than mine… and so’s that”. Check out The Magazine for examples of Xena’s work.

TENERIFE

PUERTO ROADWORKS

Some do some don’t TAXI DRIVERS REFUSE TO DRIVE THEIR BEAUTIFUL WHITE MERCEDES UP IT.

Puerto fire

Fire at tapas bar The local fire brigade was quick to put out a fire at a popular tapas bar in Puerto de la Cruz.

It started in mid-afternoon so luckily there was hardly anyone about but the fire spread quickly and affected two other premises before the firemen arrived. At first they had difficulty getting to the source of the fire because it was in the kitchens, which were not easily accessible at the back of the bar.

Roadworks elsewhere are being carried out at great speed

The noisy street-cleaning machine thankfully can’t get up the lane to mechanically sweep.

The gas lorr y rattles so

much its driver doesn’t bother to hoot his ghastly horn any more. Resident’s cars are getting older sooner and nobody has a clean one. Old

ankles daren’t cross to the other side for fear of twisting. ¿Qué pasa? Absolutely nothing. The only thing left for residents in the old, upmarket

El Santísimo urbanisation to do now is just hope and pray that a change of government at the town council in Puerto de la Cruz might do the trick.

They have been waiting for nearly a year for work on their street to be finished.

The honest, rate-paying people who live in El Santísimo feel let down and completely forgotten by the local council.

They started work in October 2008 to put in a proper town water supply as the private supply has been in danger of failing for a number of years.

Unfortunately for the patient residents, after ver y slow progress and with the street dug up, work came to a sudden halt in December.

Not one council official or workman has been near the urbanisation ever since.

In the meantime different road works are being carried out all over town at great speed, in streets like Calle San Felipe, Sitio Litre and Los Robles and the Las Adelfas Urbanisation where work has just been completed.

There appears to be an evident case of some do and some don’t, depending perhaps on who has the most influence.

Guía de Isora

GREEN PARTY PROTEST

Parking plans

Brussels for Riquel

Neighbours of Guía de Isora will be delighted to know that new parking spaces are to be provided in the municipality.

The council is working to improve parking facilities all over the borough

Alcalá, the third most populated town in the borough, is to be provided with two floors of additional parking within the extension of the cultural centre, with room for 50 vehicles. Work has already started and is expected to be finished by 2010.

Playa San Juan is also to be given additional parking spaces within the work planned for remodelling the town square. Work will begin once the small new beach church has been built because the plans for the square include demolishing the church and the town cannot be left without a place of worship. Sixty new parking places will be created in this project.

Guía de Isora town centre is to have 100 more parking spaces in El Pilón parking facility and town planners are now looking at where and how many new parking spaces can be provided in Tejina and Chío.

Guía council is treating the parking problem as a priority. Although new legislation means that new buildings have to have garage space for their residents, there are a great many older buildings in the area without this facility and they are determined that the transport of the borough will not be brought to a halt for lack of decent and sufficient parking for residents and visitors.

13

The Green Party in Icod has gone to Brussels to report what it referred to as, “the illegal industrial activities carried out at Riquel over the past twenty years”.

The ecologists insis that over 10,000 m2 of land which has been declared LIC (a place of community interest) on the Los Perros cliffs, has been badly affected by the quarries and scrap yard activities. The party also recently accused the Icod mayor of fraud by calling

for a referendum over what to do with Riquel. Legally speaking the quarrying and scrap yard companies should be removed. Indeed their activities have been halted temporarily by the Court in Icod. Socially, 400 jobs stand to be lost if the closure becomes indefinite. Politically speaking, politicians appear to be doing whatever they believe will get them more votes when it counts. In other words the tale may well be dragged out until the next local elections in 2011.

Greens claim the land has been damaged by the activities

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TENERIFE

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

NEW FESTIVAL

Local Police

Puerto’s gay pride The decision by Puerto de la Cruz to organise its first ever Gay Pride Week, the Gay Temptation 2009 festival, in late August has been interpreted as a bid to emulate the success of Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, where such events have placed the resor t on the international gay map.

Local councillor Jonay Rodríguez says the week, which he hopes will become a permanent fixture on the Puerto calendar, was designed to, “heighten awareness of sexual difference and promote greater tolerance”.

However, others viewed it as a deliberate attempt to cash in on the growing number of gay tourists who are looking

The LGTB flag was raised

for a holiday destination that allows them to be open about their gayness. There is also a certain belief in attracting gay tourism because statistics show that gays tend to spend more money because

they have more to spend on themselves – the standard Dinky syndrome – double income, no kids.

Sixty per cent of the 22,000 euro budget for the week’s activities was contributed

by local businesses, including bars and restaurants, a circumstance Rodríguez says shows the support that exists for the initiative. The party included the raising of the LGTB flag, representing gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals and any other group which is considered to have different sexual tendencies to the heterosexuals.

There were also different shows, beauty contests and a gay pride parade through the main streets in town.

Concern has already been voiced, however, that the prominence given to the gay and lesbian community, particularly the parade closing the programme of events, could deter the resort’s traditional visitors.

LA OROTAVA WATER

Plumbers call off strike The nine plumbers working for Canaragua, the company contracted to look after the town’s water supply in La Orotava, have returned to work after two weeks on strike.

However, although the strike may be over, their union representative insists they will be taking their employer to

court. The men have been protesting against the company’s cost saving measures which implies less overtime work at weekends and consequently a loss of 1,738€ in their yearly pay packet. Speaking for the plumbers the union spokesman said the men had presented their own alternative to

Canaragua which would save 12,000€.

The company’s idea is to save 20,000€ in bonuses. The men are fed up because the company has not moved an inch to compromise and because the local council appears to have sided with the company.

Holiday from crime The local police HQ in the northern town of La Matanza closed down for a couple of weeks from 30th July.

The police union said the closure was due to the fact that almost all of the six policemen in La Matanza had either gone on holiday or were off sick. The union naturally suggested their absence caused a sense of insecurity, especially during the town’s main fiestas, and asked the council to do something about the problem, possibly by investing more in the police force.

Heat Wave Los Realejos

Hill fire extinguished The risk of another major mountain fire taking hold in Tenerife was still high as the minor heat wave continued in August.

In fact fire fighters, helped by a helicopter capable of dropping 1,500 litres of water on the target quickly put out a fire in the La Fortaleza area high in the Los Realejos hills close to the base of Mount Teide. To begin the authorities feared the worst as it was close to difficult terrain and to a nature sanctuary with 75 kids enjoying an outing. Besides the fire started very close to the one which devastated much of the north western hills as far as Masca in July 2007. People in the Erjos area who could see the helicopter flying over with the full bambi (water bag) swinging underneath watched anxiously, but the fire, which took hold in the white broom bushes, was controlled within an hour.

Arona

CABO VERDE

Candelaria cooperation A village in Cabo Verde off the coast of Africa will have electricity for the next 30 years thanks to the town of Candelaria in Tenerife.

Fazenda villagers will benefit from the power generated using 36 solar panels which have been installed under a cooperation project funded by Candelaria council to the tune of 110,000 euros. Details of the

La Matanza

School cleaners

Strike warning Schools in the Arona area face a dirty start to the year due to a strike threat by cleaning ladies.

solar project were unveiled by the council’s development officer, Cecilia Otazo, who was joined by the mayor of Tarrafal, the Cabo Verde town where the village is located.

Otaza said the rural community in Fazenda will be able to use small domestic appliances for the first time in its history thanks to the panels.

The cleaners have threatened to stay away at the end of August, when they are due to return to work, unless their firm pays them wage arrears from earlier in the summer. According to the Workers’ Commission Union, the company, which has the council contract for most schools in Arona, including Los Cristianos, Cabo Blanco, Guaza, Buzanada and El Fraile, owes the cleaners, “substantial money” from June. “They are adamant that they will not go back to prepare the schools for the arrival of pupils until the arrears are paid in full,” said a union spokesman.

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ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

MI CASA

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Dream Home MI CASA - A PROJECT TO REFURBISH AN AGEING CANARIAN HOUSE 05

From dark, damp corner to light dining space

T

he dining area was under the most dangerous par t of the crumbling roof.

This is what it looked like once the roof had been removed.

(Pic 1) The new roof is up, supported by steel poles for two weeks. In the meantime, Robert breaks up the last few bits of the old roof which will be used to raise the floor level to avoid flooding, which must have been a problem since the house was built!

(Pic 2)

06

Once again, plasterboard

IF YOU'RE HOT IT'S BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE!

comes to the rescue for walls and ceiling. All the electrics are easily hidden behind the panels. The uplights shed some ar tificial light into the corner. Using 18W energy-saving bulbs is very cost-effective. They can run for 55 hours on one unit of electricity.

by the (unfinished) roof light which was built in to t h e new roof.

The cupola fits neatly between two of the roof beams.

(Pic 4)

They last for 9-10,000 hours.

Whether or not you believe in globalwarming, these lamps make good economic sense.

All the light fittings are from Leroy Merlin, although there is a fantastic selection of lighting at the Lamp Factory here in Buen Paso.

(Pic 3)

Unfortunately. there are some parts which cannot be changed, like this load-bearing pillar on the other side of the room.

The best that can be done is to turn it into a feature, as a support for an indoor climber for example! It could also be decorated with a stencil of vines or flowers.

Natural light is provided (Pics 5 and 6)

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If you would like advice on these or any other home improvements, you can contact Robert on 922 814 073, mobile 605469352, or email rjmcalees@yahoo. com

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DIY / Interior decoration / Hardware / Gardens

16

TravelFeature

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Phil Crean is a freelance photographer based in South Tenerife. You can contact him at creanphil@hotmail.com 02

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By Phil Crean

T

en thirty Sunday morning I gingerly steer the long wheelbase Transit which is to be our home for the next eleven days out of the car park at Kea Campers and we head out on a new adventure.

10

Leaving Christchurch behind the first thing I notice is how long and straight the road stretches ahead across the Canterbury plains, something I would expect crossing the mid west of the USA but in New Zealand I thought we’d be on twisty country lanes.

Driving here is a pleasant experience. New Zealanders are amongst the most courteous drivers I’ve ever come across, unlike the demon drivers who cause havoc in Tenerife.

Soon we are crossing wide rivers which once claimed the lives of thousands of travellers who tried to make this same journey in the late 1800’s.

The trip was so hazardous that it was suggested in Parliament that drowning be classified as a natural death!

Our first stop is on the shores of lake Tekapo where we find a camper park in the shelter of some trees protected from the cold north easterly wind whipping up white capped waves on the turquoise blue waters. The unbelievable colour in the lake comes from a finely ground glacial dust in the water. After a walk by the lake and a visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd we prepare our first campers meal and settle down for the night.

With the weather worsening we carr y on with our itinerary and drive up the Pukaki valley to Mount Cook through buffeting gales and torrential rain creating an extremely dramatic landscape.

I pull over numerous times and jump out to grab some photos. We had hoped to go for a couple of hours walk in the Aoraki National Park but after a guide at the Edmund Hilary Alpine Centre tells us that the weather is likely to get worse we decide to drive on to our next halt.

Descending again we go through the delightfully named village of Twizel and

on to Omarama. We park on a Department of Conservation (DOC), site by the Ahuri River which is free to use but has no facilities so one can only stay in a vehicle with its own toilet and holding tank.

Tuesday dawns bright and sunny and after a quick stroll we’re off again. Winding through the hilly countr y that links Mackenzie country and Central Otago we cross

Highlights:

Queenstown An international resort town in the south west of New Zealand’s South Island.

Population: 10,416.

History: First immigrants were two Europeans looking for farmland, soon after gold was discovered.

Location: Built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu.

Eating out: It has a reputation as one of New Zealand’s wine and cuisine centres and lies close to the centre of a small wine producing region, reputed to be the world’s southernmost.

Pinot noir produced in this area fetches top prices.

Currency: New Zealand Dollar

TravelFeature

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

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Around the world in 71 days New Zealand campervan tour -Part 1 Christchurch to Queenstown.

Lindi’s pass and the Lindi’s conservation area with acres of brownish tussock grass.

Arriving at Cromwell I realise that the power steering has become very heavy so finding a phone I call Kea. The nearest Ford dealer is in Queenstown which is where we plan to stay so I agree that the van is drivable and I’ll take it there for them to check it out. Whilst in Cromwell we visit the old town on the banks of Lake Dunston, preserved as it was in the 1800s, stone buildings with corrugated tin roofs and no mod cons, except in the café. It is a thriving centre of artisans producing local crafts and a pleasant place to sit and enjoy a cappuccino.

Arriving in Queenstown the rain starts again. We locate the Ford garage and they order a new pump for the steering which has to come from Auckland and will arrive the next morning. Back in town we park and donning rain coats and hats we go for a wander. Queenstown is the hub of adventure tourism, a must go to place for the adrenaline junkies. Here you can partake in all the extreme

sports including aerobatic flights, bungy jumping, canyon swings, heliboarding in winter, and jet boating on the Shotover River, to mention just a few.

Returning to the van we get an unpleasant surprise. On the windscreen is an official leaflet telling us that we must not park our van overnight within 10 miles of the town except on an official campsite and that if we don’t move we will be liable for a hefty fine; this at 4:30pm. It’s the only unfriendly thing that happens to us during our 17 days in New Zealand. Queenstown is also the only place where we are disappointed in the quality of the campsite.

At 8:30am next morning we are at the garage and the courier arrives with the wrong part. After many apologies and a couple of phonecalls the pump is re-ordered for delivery the next morning. So we now have an unscheduled delay and consulting a map we decide to explore an area just to the north. First we go to the Kawarau Bridge, home to the world famous AJ Hackett bungy company

where we watch jumpers take the 43 metre dive from the bridge.

Then we discover Arrowtown, named after the river where gold was discovered in 1862, and only 20 kilometres from Queenstown. A beautiful village surrounded by forests displaying the wonderful russet colours of autumn. With tree lined avenues and an eclectic mix of cafes, shops, and small stone and timber cottages it has a very cosy and welcoming ambience.

We immediately decide to overnight here. So after booking in to the campsite we head out for a walk along the river encountering many sites where prospectors panned for gold. Then we come back through the Chinese camp at the end of the village. These enterprising people turned up wherever gold was found and planted vegetable plots and set up shops to supply the miners.

They also often managed to find gold when all the other prospectors had moved on to new strikes.

Thursday morning our van gets repaired and we hit the road again.

Pictures 01. Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd.

02. Arrowtown post office.

03. Our campervan at Lake Pukaki.

04. Long,straignt roads dramatic scenery 05. The first plane to land on the Tasman Glacier in the Edmund Hilary Center at Mount Cook.

06. An old Morris 8 parked at an antique shop in Omarama 07. A fence and telegraph line on the outskirts of Omarama.

08. Tin man at Lindi’s Pass 09. Autumn colours above Arrowtown 10. The old town of Cromwell 11. The Chinese camp at Arrowtown.

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Business NEWS

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

LA LAGUNA

Alcampo gets extension licence THE DECISION TO AWARD A GIANT SHOPPING CENTRE AN OPERATING LICENCE FOR AN EXTENSION FIVE YEARS AFTER IT WAS OPENED ILLEGALLY COULD SET A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT, LEGAL EXPERTS HAVE WARNED.

Business in Brief Air Passenger Duty

Travel taxes The World Travel and Tourism Council have joined the travel industry in condemning UK plans to drastically increase the Air Passenger Duty, which they believe, “should be scrapped”.

WTTC President and CEO Jean-Claude Baumgarten believes that UK plans to increase APD supposedly to reduce carbon emissions will backfire as indications are that customers will simply take a short haul flight to a European hub and transfer to a long haul flight from there, thus increasing not diminishing the carbon footprint for British tourism. Baumgarten added, “the APD is billed as an environmental tax, yet none of the money so far collected has been hypothecated and ploughed back into either the environment or the industry”.

Economic crisis

Recovery on the way?

Signs that a recovery from the slump in business may be closer than predicted are emerging in one of Santa Cruz’s important shopping districts.

Legalised five years later

T

he extension to the Alcampo centre in La Laguna was ruled illegal several years ago due to planning permission breaches.

The verdict has been ratified on several occasions by higher courts. However, the Canarian government issued the mandatory licence recently after receiving applications by local authorities including the council in La Laguna and the Tenerife Cabildo, which had originally opposed the extension.

Critics say the new licence is invalid and cannot be granted to avoid complying with the ruling.

The new licence has been

heavily criticised by the president of the federation of tinerfeñan commerce (Fedeco), Luis de Miguel, who stated that he is going to take the matter to the courts once again because he considers it to be a, “clear mockery of justice” on behalf of the Canarian Regional Government’s Employment, Industry and Commerce Department.

He affirmed that Fedeco hoped that the High Court, “will take the necessar y measures,” because with this licence, “they have taken the mickey out of everyone”.

Luis de Miguel confirmed that the federation wasn’t surprised by the decision to grant a licence to the exten-

sion, “we saw it coming” he announced. In the last few months they have watched how the various bodies related to this matter, “have come to an agreement, with no sense of decency whatsoever, to approve a licence and breach the 2007 court order which they have been appealing ever since, always citing nonsense, with the objective of gaining time” he declared.

The Fedeco president described the various occasions on which he had insisted that the gallery should be closed and the answer was always the same, they announced a delay of 20 days to be able to inform all the shops affected.

“And so on, until now,” assured Miguel, calling the delays, “manoeuvres which they’ve carried out with all the cheek in the world”.

Miguel claims that the impact of the gallery on the small and medium business people, not only in La Laguna but elsewhere on the island too, has meant that his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the announcement of the new licence.

The majority of the calls are from shopkeepers wanting to know if they can evade a court sentence in this way, “if this happens to a small shopkeeper, the Director General of Commerce would crush them,” he claimed.

The Rambla Zone has been hard hit by the downturn over the past 18 months and an estimated 80 businesses of all kinds had to close. However, the local traders’ association now says that around half the businesses have reopened or are about to. A dozen are now operating again on one street alone, the Rambla del Pulido, and the association expects the picture to improve further in the coming months.

“We have been hard hit by the recession and the presence of shopping centres with their late opening hours. But the signs are that confidence is returning and these small shops are willing to try again after the doldrums,” said the association’s chairman.

Mobile tariffs

Yoigo fined Madrid has fined Yoigo 17,600 euros for offering tariffs which they didn’t honour.

Consumer organisation, Facua, placed a formal complaint to various bodies against the company.

Apparently they were advertising two money saving plans but their teleoperators refused to sign up their customers for the options, or said that they would do so and didn’t.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

BUSINESS

19

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Business in Brief Summer sales

Prices down Prices in the Canaries fell by 0.9 per cent last month according to the latest Consumer Price Index statistics.

The government says the effect of cheaper clothes and other items in the summer sales has offset the rises seen in tobacco and alcohol. The regional inflation rate continues below zero, like the rest of the country. However, the authorities insist there is no prospect of deflation setting in.

Payment arrears

Debt down Bad payment amounts on credits given by banks, savings banks and cooperatives in Spain fell for the first time since July 2007.

Debts outstanding are still running at 1996 levels and at three times where they were a year ago, but it seems there is a tiny glimmer at the end of the tunnel.

Total debt reduced in July by 1,162 million euros over May’s figure. According to Spanish legislations, financial institutions classify cash owing as a bad debt when the lender owes three consecutive monthly payments.

A

ll the economic indicators in the Canaries for April and May this year show a braking in the intensity of the negative results and the Islands seem to be going into a period of stagnation, the length of which is impossible to judge at the moment.

At least that is the conclusion that the Tenerife Chamber of Commerce’s economics study ser vice has come to in its bulletin covering the second quarter of 2009. It remains clear that spending and investment continue to be weak in the Canaries, which is delaying the economic take off.

Among the factors blamed for the delay in recover y is the dif ficulty in financing projects and purchases which continues to constrict spending, investment and the

creation of new businesses.

The credit squeeze continues to debilitate the Canarian economy, not only restricting job creation but increasing the numbers of unemployed as company after company goes bust for problems of temporary liquidity, pushing more and more people onto the dole queues.

There were some positive signs outlined in the bulletin, the lowering of bad debt and an increase in the numbers of tourists over the previous two quarters, (although down 40.8 per cent in the year on year figures).

There has also been a two point increase in maritime transport over the first quarter and a descent in the negative confidence expressed by businessmen and women.

As was to be expected tourism and construction took the brunt of the downturn.

The reduction of flights and the economic situation in our main emitting destinations (UK and Germany) have meant a drop of 14.5 per cent in the number of people staying in hotels and 10.5 per cent in the number of nights they stayed, figures which are more than double the national decline which stand at 5.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively. Tour-

ist spending per person also dropped 14.6 per cent here in comparison with 5.6 per cent nationally.

Permissions for construction were down over 70 per cent and over the same period banks and savings banks lent 33.4 per cent less to 21.8 per cent less people.

Tourism and construction were hardest hit

ALL INCLUSIVE

Binter

Punctuality glory Canarian airline Binter is the most punctual regional carrier in Europe, according to a study

by Flightstats, which monitors airline performance in the form of a scorecard published on its website.

A detailed check of performance figures for companies across the continent has revealed that Binter’s punctuality rate of 97.48 per cent in July topped the table, ahead of VLM and SAS. According to Binter, the findings confirm those by the European Regional Airlines Association (ERAA) for the first four months of 2009 which showed punctuality of just below 97 per cent.

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Economic stagnation

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Holiday hell O

ver 15 British holidaymakers are taking action against four travel companies after a, “hellish” holiday earlier this year in Egypt.

They found that all inclusive in the supposedly five star Hauza Beach Hotel also included insects and stomach problems. The matter is being handled as a class ac-

tion by the legal firm Irwin Mitchell, which says the holidaymakers described the Egyptian hotel as an, “insect infested hell hole”. Experts in travel litigation are investigating the clients’ claims that food in the hotel was served undercooked and it has left them with severe gastric problems. Clients paid up to £1,000 each for their all inclusive trip of a lifetime.

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Suzi Chhokar, a partner in the law firm handling the cases, stated, “It is simply unacceptable. Why is it that the health and welfare of British tourists is put at risk time and again?

We can’t stress enough how important it is for travel companies and hotels to take the health and safety of their guests seriously. People look forward to their holidays and

it is time they can never get back.”

Egypt is one of the destinations that holidaymakers have been flocking to as an alternative to the Canaries. Maybe it’s time to think again at least until these newer destinations sort out this kind of problem once and for all.

After all we have our own pyramids too - in Güímar, Tenerife.

BUSINESS

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

PENSION PLANS

News in brief

Funds for the unemployed

Regional Government

Cash for emigrants

TWO RECENT CHANGES IN LEGISLATION MAY HELP THOSE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED. Firstly the laws regarding access to pension funds has been changed to allow those who are unemployed without the right to benefits to withdraw money they have deposited into private pension funds.

Those who have been claiming benefits and are no longer able to do so can also access their pension funds as can the self-employed who close their business or cease their business activity and sign on as looking for work.

Additional benefits have also been brought in for some of those whose unemployment benefit has ended. If your benefits ran out, or are about to run out between August 1 2009 and January 1 2010, you may be entitled to 420 euros a month for up

Additional aid has been announced for the unemployed

to 12 months. The Canarian Employment Service are advising people to ring before attending the offices to apply for the money to see if they are entitled to it. More people may take that advice if they

start answering the phones more frequently. However be warned, the offices are inundated with people applying for the funds, especially as you only have 60 days to apply for the additional monthly allow-

ance. You must also be under 65, have no right to subsidies, have an income less than 75 per cent of the average guaranteed minimum wage and have run out of all of your unemployment benefits.

Despite all the buts, it is estimated that around 23,300 Canarian unemployed are entitled to the additional funding, 12,000 in Las Palmas and 10,500 in Tenerife. And while, 420 euros won’t solve all your financial problems, at least it should keep food on the table and a roof over your head. The Canaries branch of the CCOO union have asked that all the unemployed without benefits be included and announced that 25,000 unemployed individuals in the Islands will still have no income.

UK FLIGHTS

Jet2.com expands While Jet2.com announce new flights from Manchester Airport, Ryanair announce the closure or switching of nine out of its 10 routes from Britain’s busiest airport outside of London.

In the same way that Ryanair have sought to reward Spain and other countries who have cut or abolished airport taxes, the company are punishing Manchester International Airpor t and blaming high airport charges for the decision which will lose the city 44 flights a week and up to 600 local jobs. The

airline said most of the affected flights from October 1 to Girona, Bremen, Brussels, Cagliari, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Marseille, Milan and Shannon will be switched to East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, and Liverpool airports.

Passengers affected by the changes will be e-mailed and given a full refund, or the possibility of flying to some of the destinations from alternative airports.

The company announced winter schedule cuts from London Stansted of 30 per cent for the same reason recently and claimed they had

offered to launch an extra 28 weekly flights from the city if the airport would reduce its charges but the offer was refused. A spokesperson for Manchester Airport is reported as regretting that Ryanair found the charges of as low as three pounds per passenger unreasonable. He claimed that despite all the investment in the facilities and increased costs especially in security they have consistently cut their charges for the last 15 years, suggesting that passengers should switch to other airlines.

Meanwhile, Jet2.com has

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announced three new routes for summer 2010 from Manchester, one of which is coming to Gran Canaria and the others to Kos and Venice.

They have also increased the number of flights in summer 2010 to Lanzarote, Dalaman, Sharm el Sheikh and Tel Aviv.

The Manchester hub will be base to a further 737 aircraft, which will bring the total up to seven. Flights are now on sale and some great bargains are to be had for early bookers with one-way flights including taxes to: Venice from £29.99, Kos from £69.99 and Gran Canaria from just £59.99.

The Canarian Regional Government has set aside 163,800 euros for financial aid to Canarians and their sons or daughters who emigrated and wish to return.

There are divided opinions on whether or not this is a wise or even fair action to take, some saying that we have to support Canarians abroad and others maintaining that they left of their own free will, paid taxes and earned money elsewhere so why do we owe them anything (although some undoubtedly sent cash home)? Others more cynically see the move as a straight purchase of votes from the emigrant population who maintain the right to vote in all Spanish elections at all levels. They call attention to the building and equipping of a hospital for the emigrants, something that the ruling group was boasting about during the recent election campaigns, whilst the south and north of Tenerife and other Canarian areas of high population are still without adequate public hospital care.

European Union

Travel guide The EU website has a lot of information on what to do if something goes wrong when you are travelling in Europe.

The information available covers: who to call in an emergency in any of the 27 Member States, how to avoid road accidents, flight safety, airport security, what to do if your flight is cancelled, what to do if you are denied boarding because you are suspected of having flu (H1N1), disabled persons and reduced mobility passengers rights, web site price transparency, what to do in the event of lost or damaged baggage, package deal rules and what are your rights as passengers and how to complain. Clearly explained in all the Member State languages, you will find everything you need on http://europa.eu.

Tourism statistics

Fewer visitors Official figures show that the Canaries lost 812,000 foreign tourists during the first seven months of this year compared to the same period in 2008.

The fall of just over 15 per cent was confirmed in a press conference by regional tourism minister Rita Martín, although she tried to put a positive spin on the situation by stressing the significant increase seen in certain nationalities, particularly Russians (up 17.7 per cent).

Tenerife was the most popular of the Canary Islands with tourists from abroad up to the end of July, with 1.7 million (down almost 14 per cent), followed by Gran Canaria at 1.3 million (down 12 per cent). The biggest falls were recorded in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively).

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20

Financial

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

21

Emerging markets increase in popularity as investment opportunity mies. Together, BRIC’s GDP reached 15 per cent.

By Bill Blevins, Financial Correspondent, Blevins Franks

HERE ARE SOME REASONS FOR INVESTMENT IN EMERGING MARKETS:

P

ositive data from developing economies is causing economists to think that emerging markets may lead the world on the road to economic recover y.

As the key to a successful portfolio is diversified asset allocation, for many investors emerging markets should make up a portion, albeit probably a small one, of their portfolio. Now is a good time to review your investments to establish what exposure you should have to this opportunity for potentially rewarding long-term gains.

Emerging markets have suffered less from the global downturn than developed countries, mainly due to their decreased exposure to toxic assets.

In 2008 emerging markets grew 5.9 per cent. They have greater potential for significant growth and are seen as likely to recover from the economic crisis earlier than the West be-

• Potential for long-term growth.

• Population of developing countries is expected to expand five times faster than in developed countries. This creates higher demand for necessities as well as luxuries. Emerging markets are likely to produce a highly skilled work force of younger people contributing to output. cause of lack of exposure to subprime debt; lower corporate and consumer levels of indebtedness; their larger foreign reserves and more stable banking systems.

In 2009 emerging markets will account for more than 50 per cent of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and this percentage is set to expand. They represent about 20 per cent of the

world’s economies and are home to about 75 per cent of the world’s population, all requiring food, fuel, housing and consumer goods.

Leading the way is China which is being seen as a rising superpower. It has been growing by around 10 per cent annually for thirty years, evolving from one of the world’s poorest countries into an ever strengthening economy tipped to

become second only to the US. GDP in China is expected to be 8 per cent this year. The Shanghai Composite Index rocketed over 80 per cent this year over the first seven months of the year and the MSCI China index over 50 per cent. China holds $2 trillion in foreign exchange.

China forms part of BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China, the leading emerging market econo-

• In just over a decade there will be over one billion middle class consumers.

• They have an abundance of natural resources.

• Less exposure to the global financial crisis indicates a faster recovery.

Emerging market bond and equity issuance has surged this year due to growing confidence in this market. It seems that it

Emerging markets are increasing in popularity could be an opportune time to review your portfolio for its exposure to emerging markets. Your allocation to these markets would normally be a comparatively small slice of your portfolio because although they have the potential to produce higher returns they are higher risk – and as such should be viewed as a long-term investment. It is important to consult an experienced financial adviser such as Blevins Franks in order that the level of your allocation is suitable for your circumstances and objectives.

To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www. blevinsfranksinternational.com

22

LIVING & LIFESTYLE

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

House Calls HouseCalls with Dr. De La Flor healthytenerife@gmail.com

Dear Dr. de La Flor, I’m waiting to see the urologist but my GP told me that I might need a prostatectomy. Will that cure my cancer? Is my PSA important?

JERRY

Dear Jerry, Yes and no. Yes for the first question and no for the second.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a substance produced by your prostate gland. Elevated PSA levels may indicate prostate cancer or a noncancerous condition such as prostatitis or an enlarged prostate.

Most men have PSA levels under 4 (ng/mL). Men with prostate cancer often have PSA levels higher than 4, although cancer is a possibility at any PSA level.

Just as important as the PSA number is the trend of that number (whether it is going up, how quickly, and over what period of time).

Most men with elevated PSA levels have non-cancerous prostate enlargement, which is a normal part of aging. Conversely, low levels of PSA in the bloodstream do not rule out the possibility of cancer. However, most cases of early prostate cancer are found by a PSA blood test.

Although the PSA test is used mainly to screen for prostate cancer, it is valuable in other situations: to guide treatment (PSA test

can help determine how advanced a prostate cancer is) and to determine treatment success. After surgery or radiation, the PSA level can be monitored to help determine if treatment was successful.

Surgery is one of two main treatments for early-stage prostate cancer. Radiation is the other.

Surgery may be done to remove the prostate and remove and test lymph nodes in the area to see whether the cancer has spread. The stage of your prostate cancer along with your age and general health will affect the type of surgery you choose.

Radical prostatectomy is an operation to remove the entire prostate and any nearby tissue that may contain cancer. It can be done as open surgery through an incision (cut) in the belly, or as laparoscopic surgery through several very small incisions in the belly. Laparoscopic surgery is done with a tiny camera and special instruments to remove the prostate. Surgery may completely remove your prostate cancer. But it is not possible to know for sure before surgery whether the cancer has spread beyond the prostate. When cancer has spread, it cannot always be cured with surgery alone.

Dear Dr. de La Flor, I’m 40, should I do

a density scan? Some tests are expensive, what’s your advice?

EMMA

Dear Emma, Confusion about the test is understandable because official recommendations and advice from physicians on when to first get tested aren’t in perfect agreement. Most doctors say that all average, healthy women should get a bone density test when they enter menopause. That makes sense, because bone loss tends to speed up in the years after menopause, so getting a baseline idea of where you stand as you enter menopause gives you something to compare later scans to.

Certain women are at higher risk of osteoporosis: A family history of the disease; having a small, thin frame; certain medical conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis; taking certain medications, such as corticosteroids; lifestyle factors: alcohol consumption, getting little exercise, smoking, drinking cola, a diet low in calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. If you have risk factors, you should consider performing the test earlier.

The most commonly used test is called Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry or DEXA. It measures the bone mass at the spine, hip, or total body. And a bone density scan is not the same as a bone scan.

A bone scan is a kind of

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Women who take little exercise are at higher risk of osteoporosis

nuclear medicine test in which a radioactive tracer is injected into a vein so the doctor can scan the body, looking for bone tumors or other problems such as infection.

T score – the amount of bone you have compared to someone with peak bone mass (a 30-year-old healthy adult). Like other medical tests, the bone density test isn’t perfect.

There are many other methods, most of them pretty accurate. I did perform a test on myself the other day at a local pharmacy that offers them, the machine was of good quality and the price was unbeatable... FREE! Most doctors use the

While it can help predict who will have a fracture, and may need treatment or lifestyle changes, it’s not foolproof. Bone’s architecture -- how well your bones are put together - may also play an important role in predicting fractures.

Transplant first

New face for Gran Canarian

S

panish medical experts have hailed as a major breakthough the first ever transplant of a face in the countr y.

Believed to be only the eighth ever in the world, the operation took place in a Valencia hospital on August 18th and took over 15 hours to complete involving up to

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Hearing aids consultants Founded over 100 years ago Los Cristianos: Policlínica Spreafico Edificio Simón, local 1. Tel: 922 79 05 63 Santa Cruz: Clínica Barajas C/ Pérez de Rozas, 8. Tel: 922 27 54 88 ©IC/550/2007

Dr. De La Flor, G.P. is licensed in medicine and general surgery. He holds certificates in nutrition, medical exercise and human performance from the University of Berkeley in California, the American Council on Exercise and the U.S. National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is a strong believer in work/life balance and spends much of his time outside of his surgery on the tennis court or chasing his four kids around the neighbourhood. 697.888.666.

30 medics. According to the Canarian media, the patient is believed to be a 42-yearold man from Gran Canaria, although the authorities have refused to give details to protect his identity and ensure his privacy.

Unconfir med repor ts say the face transplanted belonged to a Scandinavian, aged 35, who died recently.

The first successful face transplant was performed in France in 2005 on Isabelle Dinoire, a 38-year-old woman who had been mauled by her dog. Since then three similar operations have been carried out in France, the United States and China, with various degrees of success.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Health Directory Hospitals HOSPITAL LA CANDELARIA Carretera Del Rosario 145 Santa Cruz de Tenerife 922 602 000 hospitaldelacandelaria. com HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO Carretera Cuesta-Taco San Cristobal de La Laguna (Tenerife), 922 678 000 huc.es COSTA ADEJE HOSPITAL Urb. San Eugenio.

Edif Garajonay Adeje Tel.: 922 752 626 Fax: 922 753 636 HOSPITEN SUR Playa de Las Américas Arona-Tenerife Tel.: 922 75 00 22.

Fax: 922 79 36 18 HOSPITEN C/ Pescadores, Edf. Discovery, Carretera Gral. La Cuesta. Taco 38108 La Laguna Tel.: 922 626240 Fax: 922 614355 HOSPITEN BELLEVUE C/ Alemania, 6 Urb. San Fernando.

Puerto de la Cruz Tel.: 922 38 35 51 Fax: 922 37 03 12 HOSPITEN TAMARAGUA C/ Agustín de Bethencourt, 30 Puerto de la Cruz Tel.: 922 38 05 12 Fax: 922 38 08 50 HOSPITEN RAMBLA Address: Rambla General Franco, 115.

38001 Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Tel.: 922 29 16 00. Fax: 922 29 10 88

DIAL 112 Emergency Doctor DOCTOR DE LA FLOR Calle Tinerfe El Grande 9, Adeje 697 888 666 (Doctor), 637 245 270 Family medicine, home or hotel visits

Health SHIATSU Tel: 636 239940 T r eatment for poor circulation, pain, aches and cramps www.me-reliefnews.com ORTOPEDIA tel: 922 812 807 Ctra. Gral, Orotava-Icod 41º La Mancha. Specialist shop for or thopaedic needs. English spoken BELLISSIMA Sports Centre Los Gigantes.

Tel: 922 867 343 / San Eugenio Alto (next to Roy’s Pizza) 922 719 355 Osteopathy, acupuncture, Reiki, reflexology, chiropody and holistic massage CLÍNICA BARAJAS HEARING AID Assessments without obligation. Name brand hearing aids. English speaking personnel Los Cristianos 922 790 563 Santa Cruz 922 275 488

Gynaecology DR MICHAEL THEIS Calle La Hoya 55 Puerto de la Cruz In the south on Saturdays at Hospital Las Americas Tel 922 370897 Specialist in gynaecology

Spa HOSPITAL SAN JUAN DE DIOS. Ctra. Gral. del Norte, 53. Santa Cruz.

Teléfono: 922 64 55 11 Fax: 922 64 93 52

AQUA CLUB TERMAL www.aquaclubtermal. com C/ Galicia (Torviscas Alto) S/N 38660 Adeje Tel: 922 716 555

23

HEALTH DIRECTORY

Clínica Estética Dental Health

Gran Canaria

5ELEMENTOS Feng-Shui / Chinese Astrology / Nutrition.

Consultations on the spot, holistic health check, nutrition consultation Roger & Daniela 628 012 987. www.5-elementos.com

HOSPITAL DR. NEGRÍN

Emergency

080 092 091 062 016

FIRE BRIGADE

C/. Barranco de la Ballena, s/n. 35020 Las Palmas.

Tel. 928 450 000 Fax: 928 449 100 Plaza Doctor Pasteur 35020 Las Palmas.

Tel. 928 313 033 MATERNO-INSULAR

LOCAL POLICE NATIONAL POLICE

CLÍNICA SAN ROQUE – SUR

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Dentist CLINICA ESTETICA DENTAL Urb. Miraverde, HLS Center, 1ª Planta Derecha, Costa Adeje Tel: 922 715307 General dentistry, implantology specialists, laser technology, multilingual team DR. LANGELAND, ZAHNARZT Callao Salvaje 922 740 474

GERMAN CLINIC BUZANADA Tel: 922 767166 MEDICAL IMPLANT Science & technology Dentistr y Tel. + Fax: 922 749 742 Avda. Los Abrigos, 21 Los Abrigos Granadilla de Abona adsita@libero.it www.medicalimplant.es

DIAL 112 Emergency Beauty LOURDES SANFIEL Aesthetics Centre High Class Treatments C/Juan Carlos I. Edif.

Royal, Local A-L7 Los Cristianos Tel: 922 796 660

• General Dentistry • Specialist in Implantology since 1980 • One of the founder members of German Society of Implantology (DGI) • Dental laser technology

HOSPITAL INSULAR

Avda Maritima del Sur 35016 Las Palmas.

Tel: 928 444 500 Fax 928 444 288

GUARDIA CIVIL

High standard dentistry in a comfortable environment with the most advanced technology

Mar de Siberia 1 Urb. Meloneras 35100 MaspalomasMeloneras Tel: 928 063 600 CLÍNICA ROCA

C/ Buganvillas 1 35100 San Agustín Las Palmas.

Tel. (0034) 928 76 90 04 Fax: (0034) 928 76 12 48 CLÍNICA SALUS LAS PALMERAS

Avda. de Tenerife, 24 Centro Comercial Kasbah Playa del Inglés Tel: 928 762 992

A professional multiling ual teuam awaits yo

Tel / Fax 922 71 53 07

Urb. Miraverde, HLS - Center, 1ª Plan Planta Derecha, Costa Adeje

Hair · Beauty · N Nails · B Osteopathy athy · Acupuncture cture · R eik eiki · Reflexology og · E Chiropody opody & Holistic Massag Massage · romatherapy · Indian Hea Head L Aromatherapy Massage · Sports Injuryy · L Electrolysis Sports p Centre Los Gigantes I Tel / Fax 9 922 867 343 San Sa Eugenio Alto Pizzas) S TeTel / Fax 922 719 355(nextMonto -Roy’s Sat 10am - 6pm o open in Playa San Juan (next to Santos) S Now Tel. 697 902 361 YOUR NATURAL BEAUTY WITH I ENHANCE PROFESSIONAL AL PERMANENT COSMETICS CO M A MARY COHR PARIS

© IC/598/08

Beauty MISS NAIL Manicure & Pedicure Spa Parque Santiago III Local 6,Playa de las Américas, Arona Tel: 600 557 763 TENERGIE CLINIC Aesthetics Medicine Dentistry Personalised Programmes CC D. Antonio.

C/Juan XXIII -19º.

Los Cristianos Tel: 922 796 634 XAZZPERFUMERIA Excellent brandmarks and outstanding quality Cosmetics.

Calle Perez Zamora, 28, (close to Plaza del Charco), Puerto de la Cruz, Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10h to 13h, 18h to 20.30h or make your own appointment Tel: 922 372 937

DOCTOR De La Flor

FAMILY MEDICINE / G.P. 10 years of experience in the USA

HOME / HOTEL VISITS Best prices, honesty & €30 / €50 professionalism GUARANTEED Tinerfe El Grande, 9. ADEJE (next to Postal Office)

00 34 697 888 666 for Doctor 00 34 637 245 270 for diet advice

Interior Design INTERIOR’S DEL DUQUE All types of interior design & furnishing.

Sofas & curtains made to measure.

Av.Bruselas-Costa Adeje Tel: 922 169 091

Specialist shop for your orthopaedic needs We speak English

Carretera Gral. Orotava-Icod, 41 bajo. La Mancha (38430) Icod de Los Vinos Tel. 922 812 807 / 121 804 Fax: 922 812 911

Shiatsu

with Michael Clark

Michael is recognised as one of the top Shiatsu practitioners in the Western World.

He was Japanese trained and has been practising for over 25 years. During this time, Michael has unbelievably taken over 400 people out of wheelchairs.

If you suffer from poor circulation, causing pain, aches or cramps – you have these problems unnecessarily.

One treatment of four and a half hours with Michael is specially designed to help with these problems and will last for years.

'Life is for living – not for getting a stroke or thrombosis'.

Michael is based in Ocean View Apts., San Eugenio Alto

Give Michael a call anytime on his mob: 636 239 940 www.me-reliefnews.com

24

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

THE SPIN

The Fair:

SpinNews

SpinLatest

Cine Gransur // www.cinegransur.com

Pinolere

SEPTEMBER 4 TO 6 This is the fair of the year for crafts fans and a great place to pick up traditional and modern hand-made items for the home, jewellery, bags, treats, early Christmas gifts, great souvenirs, and to try some Canarian food. www.pinolere.org

The Show :

Disney Live!

SEPTEMBER 23 TO 27 See all the Disney characters, with all your favourite stories and songs. Centro Insular de Los Deportes, Las Palmas.

Tickets available now from El Corte Inglés (www. elcorteingles.es) or 902 40 02 22.

Spain top 10 SOURCE: PROMUSICAE

1. Pitbull I know you want me 2. C. Baute/Marta S. Colgando en tus manos 3. Inna Hot 4. Macaco Moving 5. Billie the Vision Summercat 6. Shakira Loba 7. Lady GaGa Poker face 8. Alesha Dixon The boy does nothing 9. Magan Presents Verano Azul 10. Beyonce Halo

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Company: Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Executive Producers: David Womark, Stephen Sommers, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Erik Howsam Produced by: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Brian Goldner, Bob Ducsay Screenplay: Stuart Beattie, David Elliott and Paul Lovett Directed by: Stephen Sommers Genre: Action/adventure/sci-fi/thriller Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 118 minutes Cast: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Byung Hun Lee, Sienna Miller,Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Said Taghmaoui,Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans and Dennis Quaid

The film opens in France, in 1641. An elite military unit comprising special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organisation led by the notorious arms dealer McCullen. They’ll fight for freedom, wherever there’s trouble.

From the Egyptian desert to McCullen’s base in the depths beneath the Polar ice caps, the G.I. Joe unit uses the latest military and spying technology to fight the arms trafficker Destro, and against the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organisation to avoid world chaos. It’s all connected. It’s full of good guys and bad guys, and needs to be taken in the spirit in which it is intended.

Premios Estrella

Semi-finals in Tenerife T enerife is set to be the centre of media attention on October 17 when the island will be hosting the regional semi-final for the Premios Estrella, a musical competition based in Miami. From this phase, a Canarian representative will go to Miami on November 5 to compete directly with five semi-finalists from Spain in this international contest.

The event in Tenerife is to take place at 9.30pm at the discotheque A Saudade in Santa Cruz with ten finalists who are to be selected during the first week of September by an international jury. Special guest artistes at the Tenerife gala include Virginia Maestro who is known artistically as Labuat. Virginia was the winner of the 2008 edition of Spanish TV’s Operación

G

.I. Joe is a line of militarythemed articulated ‘action figures’ produced by the toy company Hasbro.

Following the great hit with Transformers, Paramount Pictures and Hasbro have joined forces with Spyglass Entertainment for this extraordinary action filled adventure.

Virginia Maestro and Risto Mejide at the presentation of Labuat

Triunfo and is the voice on the song, Soy tu aire, which accompanies promotional advertising for the Canary Islands on TV. The show, which is seen as a great form of promotion for the Canaries, will be compered jointly by a local radio presenter and a well known Spanish actor. Spain has taken part in the Premios Estrella for the last three years, and at this first event in Tenerife the organisers will be splashing out on red carpets, limousines and photo sessions. At the final in Miami on November 7, there will be entrants from 15 countries including Canada, France, Italy and the United States, hoping to win the top prizes in categories including pop, pop-rock, ballad and tropical.

Los Realejos

Canarias at the Hotel Festival Three winners of a recent battle of the bands competition will now take part in the festival Canarias at the Hotel to be held at the Panoramic Garden Hotel in Los Realejos on September 11 and 12.

Bikini invaders credit Juan Mare

The winning bands, Los Contratiempos, Comsat and Bikin Invaders will join the list of national performers including Los Coronas and The Sweet Vandals.

The jury of the contest which consisted of journalists and musicians, took into account not only the quality of the performances by the contestants, but also their ability to blend in with artists already billed.

There will also be nine sessions by international DJs, including London’s Jeff Automatic. Bikini Invaders were chosen to complement the electronic aspect while Comsat specialise in rock and Los Contratiempos in a lighter surfing style of music.

More information on www. canariasatthehotel.com.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Summer09 Tenerife

PLACES TO VISIT / BEACHES / THINGS TO DO / FUN / SPORT / NIGHT LIFE

1.

Where to go? & how to get there

2.

Jump for Joy

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

3.

Holiday Phrases & Useful Numbers EMERGENCIES / HOLIDAY DISAPPOINTMENT

Your summer guide for

all the fun in the sun

credit: Ojster

ICOD DE LOS VINOS

What to do?

EDITION 598 - AUG 28TH / SEPT 11TH

25

Guide

SUMMER GUIDE 09

Discovering nothern treasures

26

SummerGuide09

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Locals’ Choice

Canarian/International

LA CABAÑA

Wind down at El Molino Blanco

C/El Puerto, 26 Buenavista del Norte 922 127 922 Wednesday to Saturday 10am – 10.30pm Tuesday and Sunday 10am – 4.30pm Specialities: Local wines Fresh fish Canarian casseroles *Closed Mondays

El Molino Blanco, the White Windmill.

I have driven past a number of times and felt attracted by the lights of the windmill, and recently, at last, I had the pleasure of By our Galloping Gourmet dining in this excellent restaurant.

I

t’s easy to find, just take Exit 29 off the southern motorway and drive along Avenida Austria, to No 5. Parking is easy too and soon you enter the meandering green garden and already you are in another world.

In the midst of the dry south this is an oasis of greenery, lush and exclusive, that allows the clientele to sit and dine either outside or inside the restaurant.

Whether you’re a music fan (the live offerings are worth the visit in themselves), on a lover’s tryst or entertaining a family party, there’s a special table just for you at El Molino Blanco.

We sat and sipped one of the excellent wines on offer, a red from one of Tenerife’s own bodegas, and were joined by the owner of El Molino Blanco, Felipe, a treat in itself. This 63 year old tinerfeño is well known as one of the Island’s leading gastronomes, and as we

talked he was also keeping one eye on every table in the place, making sure that everything was as it should be and that every one of his highly trained staff were where they should be.

He has been in the food business since he was 18, and has built up a wealth of experience.

It was 13 years ago that the idea for the restaurant and its name was born. He told us that where we were sitting, in the garden, was once nothing more than a heap of stones on a hillside. He was sitting in that exact spot enjoying a cooling breeze when he realized it would be the ideal spot for a restaurant. Old style windmills in Tenerife used to be used for the making of gofio, the toasted ground cereal that every Canarian is brought up on (even today its served in homes and schools as an essential part of the local healthy diet), but there are few windmills left in good condition on the island. Such was the inspiration behind a restaurant whose name would soon become synonymous with good food.

Ten years later Felipe decided to let out the premises and take a step back, believing he was too old for the busi-

ness. But he couldn’t stay away for ever and now is happily back at the helm of his famous restaurant, which has seen some of the world’s top singing and sporting stars grace its terraces, as well as world leaders in business, politics and religion.

Today you can enjoy a selection of tapas – local cheeses, Iberian cured ham, Pimientos de padrón or white asparagus with sea urchin caviar. Alternatively choose from a delicious starter selection including cheeses and hams, salad, Norwegian salmon salad or black potato soup with truffle oil. For a main course you can choose from a variety of select fish dishes – gilt head bream in salt with fresh vegetables, or rice broth with lobster for instance. If meat is more your preferred choice you can dine on roast leg of suckling lamb, fillet of beef stuffed with cheese with Boletus mushrooms and foie gras or Segovian-style roast suckling pig.

Felipe insists that at El Molino Blanco the customer comes first

(and second, and third…) and you are guaranteed a wonderful evening in an outstanding venue with a menu to match. Canarian specialities sit side by side with the best in Mediterranean dishes and all accompanied by an excellent selection of fine wines. Top entertainment is also a priority, with an excellent selection of piano music to accompany your meal, as well as a performance by The Singing Chef, a Canarian folk music group, and a virtuoso performance by a violinist from the Carmen Mota/Airam ensemble brings the evening to a splendid conclusion musically.

Apply for their exclusive VIP loyalty card to be the first with the news of events and novelties at this superb establishment, and enjoy important advantages and promotions.

You can request it by email on info@molino-blanco.com, or by telephone on 922-753 531, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.

The restaurant can hold up to 200 guests and is perfect for all events, from wedding parties to business outings, birthdays and romantic interludes.

Reservations are recommended as El Molino Blanco continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in south Tenerife and an almost mandatory visit for the top flight cruise liners – call them on 922-796282

International

CASA JUAN C/Acentejo 77 La Matanza 922 577 012 Tuesday to Saturday Lunch and evening Domingo – lunch Specialities Local wine Home smoked meat and fish German sausage *Closed Mondays

International

CASA ODÓN Carretera General del Norte, km22 El Sauzal 922 561 124 Monday to Thursday 12.30pm – 10.30 pm Friday and Saturday 12.30 pm – 0.30 am Sundays 12.30 pm – 4.30 pm Specialities Local wine Mushrooms Salt cod Grilled meat

SummerGuide09

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27

SHOPPING SPECIAL

SHOPPING CENTRES/ FARMERS MARKETS / BARGAIN MARKETS

Shopping in Tenerife W

hatever your taste or budget, and whether you are shopping for clothing or small or large items for the home, Tenerife has a wide choice of shopping centres to suit you.

We do not claim to list them all, but our favourites in the South are Plaza del Duque, an attractive and tranquil centre surrounded

by Costa Adeje’s top hotels, and the relatively new Gran Sur centre in Fañabé. Also in the Costa Adeje area are the San Eugenio, Fañabé Plaza, El Duque and San Miguel

shopping centres, each with its own charm and most with a large supermarket or hipermarket, while on the Arona side of Playa de las Américas in an area known locally as the golden mile, are the Oasis and Safari centres.

All of these contain a wide range of shops and eateries.

FOOD

Five minutes away from Santa Cruz and clearly visible from the TF-1 motorway is the Centro Comercial Santa Cruz whose main attraction is a Carrefour hipermarket and within a stone’s throw, plenty of furniture and electronics goods stores.

In Santa Cruz, next to the Recinto Ferial is the

Meridiano shopping centre which has a wide range of shops on several floors and a cinema complex on the top floor. Where the TF-2 meets the TF-5 northern motorway at La Laguna is the home of Alcampo, while another Alcampo complex called La Villa is located at La Orotava (exit 36, TF-5 motorway),

BARGAINS

Farmers markets

Markets

This is by far the best way to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, in some cases they are still moist from the morning’s dew

The biggest markets are in Santa Cruz at Nuestra Señora de África (La Recova) open daily, and outside it, the famous Rastro every Sunday morning.

Nuestra Señora de África, Santa Cruz, every day 8am to 2pm Adeje (Barranco de las Torres), Saturdays and Sundays 8am to 2pm Las Chafiras, Wednesdays 4pm to 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays 8am to 2.30pm Güímar town hall, every day except Saturday, 8am to 2pm / Tacoronte, Saturdays 8am to 2pm and Sundays 9am to 2pm / La Matanza, Saturdays 9am to 3pm and Sundays 9am to 2pm / Los Silos, Sundays 8am to 2pm / Santiago del Teide, Saturdays and Sundays 8am to 2pm

also with a cinema cineplex.

If you are in the centre of Puerto de la Cruz the Pirámides de Martiánez centre is worth a visit. All these have plenty of eateries and car parking. Also, don’t forget the range of shops in the centre of Santa Cruz.

Happy shopping!

Elsewhere around the island are markets which are popular with tourists and residents alike, including: Tuesdays, Los Abrigos, 5pm to 9pm. / Wednesdays, Playa San Juan, beside the main road, 9am to 2pm. / Thursdays, Costa Adeje, opposite CC El Duque, 9am to 2pm. / Fridays, Golf del Sur market, 9am to 2pm. / Saturdays, Costa Adeje, opposite CC El Duque, 9am to 2pm and El Médano, 9am to 2pm. / Sundays, Los Cristianos, Avda. Marítima, 9am to 2pm and Alcalá, Plaza del Llano, 9am to 2pm.

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SummerGuide09

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Titsa Bus service Get anywhere you want in Tenerife Photo: Alfredo Lainez Concepción

Where to go? / How to get there?

Línea 460 Las Américas

Icod

Línea 325 Los Gigantes

Icod

Línea 363/354 Pto.de la Cruz

Icod

Icod de los Vinos A full day’s entertainment

A

mandatory visit in Icod de los Vinos is the Cueva del Viento, one of the world’s longest volcanic tubes.

It is the fifth longest in the world (the other four are in Hawaii) and it is the biggest volcanic tube labyrinth in the world. We reserved in advance and equipped with warm jackets and hiking shoes or trainers we duly presented ourselves at the visitors centre to Alfredo our guide for the day. We were fitted out with hard hats with lamps and battery packs to wear around our waists. A quick explanation of some of the things we were about to see and off on the mini-bus to the starting point. Alfredo tells us how and when the volcanic formations took place and a little of the history of the area. A short walk uphill and it’s time to enter the cave. It’s an eerie and unforgettable experience and thoroughly enjoyable and educational for all ages. Highly recommended. There are four routes a day, with visitors restricted to 14 on each route to protect the cave so reser vation essential. 922815339.

Off to the main square for sandwiches under the Indian laurel trees and a quick ice-cream. There’s

also an excellent snack bar in the square or Restaurante Carmen in a converted old Canarian house if you want something more substantial.

After a quick play on a rather special climbing frame, it’s time for the traditional photo with the Drago tree. You can visit the Drago Parque and learn about the origins, history and legends surrounding this oldest example of its kind in the Canaries, but if you just want to take the photo, go along the elevated square to the end and there is an excellent place to pose.

No trip to Icod would be complete without a visit to the butterfly centre, particularly glorious at the moment as it is high breeding season and they have over 2,000 butterflies flying free in the special tropical ambience. Open every day from 10am to 7pm in summer and 10 am to 6pm in winter, the centre has butterflies at every stage of development to see from the eggs, to the larva (caterpillars), pupae and the moths and butterflies.

The kids loved the jewel-like pupae pinned carefully waiting for them to hatch and looking for all the world like a row of brightly coloured earrings. They also enjoyed being

given a mammoth moth to balance on their hands for the photograph and were very excited about the amount and variety of butterflies in the centre, vying with each other to find the largest/smallest/most colourful etc.

It was very warm in the butterfly centre so we decided to finish the day with a dip in the charming bay at San Marcos. It can be difficult to park there so consider leaving the car in town and getting the bus for the short journey to the coast. It’s a very popular beach with residents and tourists offering clean waters and a gently shelving beach.

A busy and great day out for each of us and we all slept like logs!

How to get there • Línea 460 Playa de las Américas - Icod de los Vinos • Línea 325 Los Gigantes – Icod de los Vinos • Línea 363/354 Puerto de la Cruz - Icod de los Vinos • Línea 362 Icod de los Vinos – Playa de San Marcos

SummerGuide09

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credit:El Cardón

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

credit:El Cardón

credit:El Cardón

What to do

credit:Lenzitenz

p m u J r joy T

fo

he Canar y Islands are a great location for a number of sports that you might not normally get to indulge in from the bottom of the sea to the clouds above you can experience nature’s wonders – quite literally the sky’s the limit.

The islands offer a prime location for paragliding, hang-gliding, and other forms of aerial sport, given the mountainous terrain, the excellent year-round temperatures and the prevailing winds (however do make sure you always jump with an experienced guide who knows

the current weather conditions).

There are many excellent spots from which beginners to the more experienced jumpers will launch themselves into the air, taking a leisurely route back down to earth.

In recent times it’s the sport of paragliding that really seems to have taken off (excuse the pun), and there are many excellent parascending clubs offering jumps for tourists as well as residents, with tandem jumps for novices also on offer. If you have never experienced the incredible adrenalin and sheer pleasure of this kind of

credit:Giselaroyo

The sky’s the limit T

sport, a tandem jump is definitely recommended. Strapped to an experienced jumper the risks are very limited and the highs very high indeed.

From your vantage point you will see the islands as never before, and without the restrictions an aircraft brings, nor the noise of the latter.

With an experienced jumper as your driver and given good winds, you can fly for a long time, finally drifting down to earth at (hopefully) a predestined spot where there will be a car waiting to bring you back to your particular base. At www.elcardon.com you will also

find an opportunity to experience a two-seater jump, different again from the tandem experience.

There are quite a number of excellent jump sites in Tenerife, including Taucho, which will take you over the Barranco del Infierno, Jama in Valle San Lorenzo, Izaña South landing in Güímar’s small port or Caletilla beach, La Corona landing in Tigaiga and Izaña North to the beach in Puerto de la Cruz.

Recommended jumps locations in Gran Canaria include Jinamar, Pico de Viento, Cumbre, Cuesta de Silva, La Isleta and Los Giles. All of the islands offer jumps for all

Choose your guide wisely

€21.50

Repsol Guide 2009 *See page 54 for more information

levels of experience, usually with pick up and drop off too, depending where you are staying. For more information check with the nearest tourist office or on line.

30

SummerGuide09

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

What’s On Gran Canaria Museums & Theatres

FIESTAS

de Tahiche, Teguise, Lanzarote

Tenerife

August 29, 6 pm, Romería Ofrenda a San Pedro de Verona 2009, Fagagesto, Gáldar

SPORT & NATURE

Auditorium Tenerife

August 29, 7 pm, Gran Romería San Ramón Nonato 2009, El Caracol, Telde

Golf:

www.auditoriodetenerife. com Av. Constitución, 1

38003 Santa Cruz Phone 902 31 73 27

Guimerá Theatre www.teatroguimera.es

Plaza Isla de la Madera, 2- 38001 Santa Cruz Phone 902 36 46 03

CajaCanarias Cultural Centre www.canarynet.com

Plaza del Patriotismo, 1 38002 Santa Cruz Phone 922 471 000

Museum of Science & Space (MCC) www.museosdetenerife. org C/ Vía Láctea, s/n

38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna Phone 922 315 265

Museum of Nature & Archaeology (MNH)

August 30, Fiestas de Melenara, Telde August 30, 12 noon, election of the Madrina (godmother) and Padrino (godfather) of Charco, followed

by Gran Paella at 2.30 pm, Santa María de Guia August 30, 1 pm, procession, La Virgen de la Cuevita, Artenara followed by folklore at 7pm Until August 31, Fiestas de Buen Suceso and San Roque 2009, Ingenio September 1 to 15, Fiestas of San Nicolás, San Nicolás de Tolentino

OTHER EVENTS

August 30, 9 am, Craft Fair, Terór September 3, 8 pm, street theatre, Terór September 6, 9 pm, XVIII Gran Canaria Folklore Festival, Terór September 13, recording of TV programme Tenderete, Terór

CONCERTS

s/n 38003 Santa Cruz Phone 922 535 128

September 5, 10 pm, Concert Dial, with national artists. Terór

www.museosdetenerife. org C/ San Agustín, 20/22

38201 San Cristóbal de La Laguna Phone 922 825 949/43

Anthropology Museum www.museosdetenerife. org C/ Vino, 44

38270 Valle de Guerra (La Laguna) Phone 922 546 300

Casa Lercaro C/ San Agustín, 20-22 38201 San Cristóbal de La Laguna. Phone 922 82 59 49

Casa de Carta Tacoronte main road to Valle de Guerra, s/n. 38270 Phone 922 546 300

Gran Canaria Cuyás Theatre www.teatrocuyas.com

Pérez Galdós Theatre www.teatroperezgaldos.es

August 29, Trofeo Lopesan Boabat Resort, Maspalomas Golf August 30, Grand Final, Maspalomas Golf

Trekking: Local councils in various areas of the island organise guided treks and other open-air activities. For more information, call UPNature, Guanarteme 928 270084 or 928 473265, Arucas 928 621754, Maspalomas 928 764201, Tablero 928 140640, Mogán 928 158805, Aldea de San Nicolás de Tolentino 928.891.252 or www. alberguelaaldea.com, or Valleseco 928 618740.

Archaeology August 29, Irvene beach party.

Electronic music and visuals. Playa del Burrero

www.museosdetenerife. org C/ Fuente Morales,

Tenerife History Museum (MHAT)

XI Circuito Canarias Golf:

Guided visits to the principal digs in the island: Bentayga (Tejeda), Cenobio de Valerón (Guía) etc. For more information 928 219 229.

MARKETS Arguineguín: Tuesday, Gáldar: Thursday, Mogán: Sunday, Puerto de Mogán: Friday, Telde: Saturday, Terór: Sunday, Vecindario: Monday and Wednesday – all 8am to 2pm.

Playa del Inglés, every day except Sunday, 7.30 to 11.30pm. Rastro, Sunday 8am to 2pm, bus station, Las Palmas.

September 12, 6 pm, organ and cinema concert with Wolfgang Seifen, Sala Sinfónica, Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas

EXHIBITIONS All summer, exhibition, De La Naturaleza by Pepe Damaso.

Puerto de Calero art gallery, Lanzarote Until September 6, MareasMigratorias (migratory tides).

CAAM, Las Palmas Until September 9, exhibition relating to French astronomer Charles Messier, Sala de la Socieded Democracia de Arrecife, Lanzarote Until September 13, Ouka Leele.

CAAM (Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno), Balconies 9-11-13, Las Palmas More info at www.caam.net Until October 10, Bamako 07 en la ciudad y más allá.

Casa África, Las Palmas Until October 18, Souvenir, souvenir. La colección de los turistas.

Where the tourists are shown to the natives, the natives shown to the tourists, the tourists shown as natives and the natives shown as tourists.

César Manrique Foundation, Taro

Tenerife FIESTAS August 29, Romería de San Agustín, Arafo August 29, 5 pm, Romería de San Isidro Labrador 2009, La Victoria followed by dinner and Baile de Magos (traditional dress essential)

FESTIVALS Aguaviva Arona 2009: Activities: August 28 and 29, 10.30am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 8 pm, workshops on Los Cristianos beach August 28, 29 and 30, 11 am to 2 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm, make contact with the sub-marine world, dive in with Aguaviva, Playa de las Vistas (free of charge)

Pinolere

August 28, 9 pm, street circus with Circo Jam, followed by concert with Confabulados, Plaza de Los Caídos, opposite the port, Los Cristianos August 29, 10 am, coastal cleaning, Playa de las Vistas

at work, and find some unique gifts or items for you and your home.

CINEMA

August 29, 1 pm, human rubbish chain from Playa de las Vistas to the Los Cristianos cultural centre

August 28, 9.30 pm, Mamma Mía, Playa Jardín, Puerto de la Cruz

August 29, 7 pm, round table to discuss the actual state of the Canarian coasts and marine floor, Playa de las Vistas (port end)

OTHER EVENTS

August 30, 10 am to 3 pm, workshops on Los Cristianos beach August 30, 4.30 pm, releasing of turtles, Playa de las Vistas August 30, 9 pm, cinema on Los Cristianos beach

Concert: August 29, 9 pm, AguavivaFest, Los Cristianos Stadium Annex with Amaral, We are Standard, Line, Ramón Rodríguez and DT Project.

Tickets in advance at 15 euros each from El Corte Inglés, Los Cristianos cultural centre or CajaCanarias, or 20 euros on the day at the box office. More information www. aguavivacanarias.com/2009

CULTURE September 4, 5, 6, 10am to 9pm, Pinolere Craft Fair 2009, includes eight exhibitions and demonstrations including world basketmakers, wheat in the culture of La Palma, patacón (a method of packing salted fish), antique photography by the cultural group La Escalera, La Orotava, photographs of crafts and craftsmen by Roberto Chico and haymakers. See the craftspeople

Santa Cruz summer activities for children.

Storytelling workshop and puppet show, 6 to 8 pm: August 29, La plaza de la Iglesia San José, El Tablero September 5, La plaza ocho de Marzo, Añaza September 12, La plaza Airán, Barranco Grande Los Silos September 6, 11 am, Canine Agility Show organised by the Happy Dog association. Juan Valiente stadium

EXHIBITIONS Bodegas Monje, El Sauzal: Until August 30, varnished ceramics by Montserrat Viera Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm, Saturdays 10am to 2pm

La Baranda, El Sauzal Until September 9, pictorial exhibition: Mitología Imaterica by Jesús Abrieu

Cultural Centre, Los Cristianos: Until September 25, paintings by José Palomares

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Cultural Centre, Parque La Reina:

XXXII Subida Barlovento, La Palma

Until August 31, paintings by Juan Martín

Every Tuesday: Montes del Agua

Cultural Centre, Las Galletas:

2nd Saturday: Masca ravine

Until August 30, Caleta de Adeje.

More information on 922 781808 or www.adejoven.es September 2 to 6, Islas Canarias SantaProJunior. Playa de El Socorro (Los Realejos). More information: www.lasantasurf.es

Until September 15, paintings by Miguel Ángel Díaz Palarea

3rd Saturday: Volcanic tube at Cueva de San Marcos

Hiking:

Civic Centre, Cabo Blanco:

4th Saturday: Kayak trip off Los Gigantes cliffs, Punta de Teno

Until September 1, paintings by Marco Dovary

Kayak routes

Cristino de Vera, Canarian collections 1954-1984.

Until September 30, Fundación Cristino de Vera, Espacio Cultural CajaCanarias.

Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm and 5pm to 9pm. Saturdays 11am to 1pm and 5pm to 8pm.

Tourist routes 922 127 938 1st Saturday of each month: Teide National Park

Tours by kayak for all abilities which may be combined with snorkelling, hiking, climbing or potholing. From mid-July until end-September, hourly kayak sea trips of 45 minutes between 12

Discover Arona. More information about trekking routes.

922 725 180 or www.arona.org

All year round, guided walks for groups through the most emblematic buildings of the lovely northern town of Los Silos. Contact Oscar in their information office on 922 841 086.

Arona Town Hall: Recortes de Africa Photographs by Oliver Yanes and Juan José Ramos

Museum of Science and the Cosmos, La Laguna:

Tenerife Espacio de la Artes (TEA), Santa Cruz Until September 6, Patti Smith, Written Portrait Until September 20, Impasse by Beatriz Lecuona (Santander, 1978) and Oscar Hernández (Garachico, 1978). Area 60, entrance free

Tenerife History Museum (Casa Lercaro), San Agustín 22, La Laguna: noon and 6pm from Punta de Teno. No booking needed. Special summer price 10 euros per person or buy a season ticket. More info on 922 127 938 or www.elcardon. com

Barranco del Infierno (Adeje): Mondays to Sundays from 8.30 am till 5.30 pm. No access allowed after 4 pm. Price: 3 euros. Max. 200 people a day. Free entrance on Sundays. Information and reservations on 922 782 885.

Surfing

SPORT & NATURE Cycling August 29 and 30, cycling trophy, Los Silos Natural. Avenida Aregume, main road to El Puertito

Golf September 3 to 6, European Tour Challenge, Tecina Golf, La Gomera

Learn surfing and body boarding.

North: Escuela de Surf y Body Board OAD La Laguna, for those aged 12 years and over. More information on 922 256 244 or wwwoadlaguna.com South: Escuela Oficial de la Federación Canaria de Surf K16 (Playa de las Américas). Groups or individual training for those aged seven years or over. More information on 922 798 480 or www.k16surf.com

Rally driving September 20, new date for the

Island hacienda used by the Island Cabildo to promote local quality wines. Autopista Gral. del Norte.

Km 21, (El Sauzal exit), 38360 El Sauzal, Tel.: 922 572 535 Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 8pm. Wine tasting and shop until 10 pm, Sunday and Bank Holidays from 11am to 6pm, closed Monday.

Castles Tours: Tenerife History Museum offers guided tours around the island’s castles for schools and groups.

More information on 922 825 949

Guided trails for the general public: The National Park’s interpretation service offers guided tours free of charge. You need to book in advance with the National Park Office (Tel. 922 290 129/922 290 183).

MISCELLANEOUS La Baranda Wine Museum

Canarian Bodyboard Challenge

A renovated 17th century Canary

31

Church Services: Living Spring Pentecostal Church Guaza Calle Almorejo 2, beside the Guaza sports complex.

Rev. and Pastor (Mrs) Nelson Olajide Tel: 609 505 915. livingspring75@hotmail.com

Masonic Meetings

The Anglican Parish of All Saints

in the south of Tenerife. Visitors always welcome. Tenerife Craft, Chapter, Mark. For more information phone 922 794 502 or 922 732 386.

Puerto de la Cruz Sunday services 9.30am and 11am 29 Carretera Taoro. Parish Priest: David Jenkins. Tel: 922 384 038 www.allsaintstenerife.com

Ciudadanos Europeos (European Citizens Group).

Saint Francis Anglican Chaplaincy

For more information contact the Secretary, Chris Stanyer on 922 751507 or the President, Harry Davies, on 922 781905. e-mail: ceten@fsmail.net

Tenerife South Chaplain Fr. Keith Gordon, phone 679660277 or 922742045

K9 and Friends of the Animals

Until December 31, Photographs: Tenerife, un balcon al Universo

Until October 4, Souvenir, souvenir. La colección de los turistas.

Where the tourists are shown to the natives, the natives shown to the tourists, the tourists shown as natives and the natives shown as tourists.

SummerGuide09

K9 car boot sales are held on the first Sunday of every month from 8am to 12 noon at Happy Days, Costa del Silencio.

Nearly new sales are held on the second Saturday of every month outside Shimmers Bar, Callao Salvaje from 10am to 1pm. K9 also have a stall on the Playa San Juan market every Wednesday and at Alcalá every Sunday, from 10am to 2pm.

The Friends of the Animals car boot sale is held on the last Sunday of every month in the Los Gigantes Sports Centre from 9am to 12 noon.

Goods are desperately needed for these events which are great for bargains and a good rummage.

For more information call the kennels on 667 638468 or Pat the Cat on 608 121081.

English Library Calle Irlanda, Parque Taoro, Puerto de la Cruz: Monday 3pm to 5.30pm, Wednesday 10am to 12 noon, Friday from 4pm to 6pm and Saturday 11am to 1pm.

Information: Julia Gaskell 922 37 25 79

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in the South: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5.45pm, Friday at 11.45am. 1st Floor Apolo Centre, Los Cristianos (next to bus terminal).

For more information call 630 478 448 (24 hrs).

Christian Fellowship Los Cristianos 1st floor of Apolo Shopping Centre Pastor Adrian McBride.

Tel: 922 790 007.

Costa del Silencio Coral Mar. Sunday Services 11am-6pm. Mothers & Toddlers group Tue.10.30 to 12 noon.

Counselling and info: Pastor Bill Jeffrey Tel: 617291751. www. silenciochurch.com

Calvary Assembly International Church Buzanada Sunday 11.00am, Wednesday 7.30pm Nursery is provided during the Sunday morning service as well as Sunday School for children under 12.

For more information, for counselling, or for information about the International Bible Institute, call: Missionary / Pastor Mark G. Baumgartner 628 107 316.

Catholic Mass Puerto de la Cruz International service Sundays (almost always in English) in the Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia parish church Los Gigantes Daily mass in English in the Espíritu Santo church

St. Sebastian’s Inclusive Church Mogán, Gran Canaria Sundays 7pm at Cordial Mogán Playa Chapel

Canarian C-Days www.diasc.com/diasc

Tecina Golf Tournament

Travel between the islands to cultural events is 50 per cent cheaper on certain days and for selected events with Fred Olsen, Islas Airways and Binter.

Discounts on hotels and car hire are also available.

You will need to book by telephone 902 292 999, Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm or via the web Make sure you know the full price of the ticket (including Canarian residents’ reduction) to ensure you receive the full discount.

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

USEFUL INFORMATION

Tourist Info points

Tenerife North Airport Tel: 922 635192 Open Mon-Fri 8am-9pm Weekends 9am-5pm Puerto de la Cruz Casa de la Aduana C/Las Lonjas s/n Tel: 922 38 60 00 Open Mon-Fri 9am-8pm Weekends 9am-5pm

La Palma Tenerife

South Costa Adeje Open: Mon-Sun 10am-5pm Playa de Troya: Avda Rafael Puig 1 Playa Fañabé: Avda Litoral Arona Open Mon-Fri 9am-9pm Sat 9am-3.30pm Playa de las Américas: CC City Center Tel: 922 797 668 Playa de Las Vistas: Paseo Marítimo s/n Tel: 922 787 011

Santa Cruz de La Palma C/O’Daly, 22 Tel: 922 412106

La Gomera San Sebastián C/Del Medio, 20 Tel: 922 141512 Valle Gran Rey Tel: 922 805458 Hermigua Tel: 922 144101

El Hierro Valverde Tel: 922 550302

Gran Canaria

Los Cristianos: Cultural Centre Tel: 922 757 137

Las Palmas Parque Santa Catalina Tel: 928 219600

Las Galletas: Paseo Maritimo Dionisio Gonzalez Delgado Tel: 922 730 133 Mon-Fri 9am-9pm

Playa del Inglés Avda de España Tel: 928 771550

Golf del Sur: Avda Galván Bello s/n Tel: 922 73 86 64 Open Mon-Fri 9am11.30am and 12 noon to 5.30pm Sat 9.30am-1.30pm Santiago del Teide CC Seguro el Sol (in front of Playa de la Arena)

c/ Manuel Ravelo, 20, Local 35 Tel: 922 86 03 48 Open Mon-Fri 9.30am3.30pm Sat 9.30am-12.30pm

Lanzarote Arrecife Parque Municipal s/n Tel: 928 801517 Puerto del Carmen Avda de las Playas Tel: 928 515337

Fuerteventura Puerto del Rosario Avda 1 de Mayo, 33 Tel: 928 851024

Granadilla de Abona Tenerife South Airport (arrivals)

Tel: 922 39 20 37 Open Mon-Fri 9am-9pm Sat 9am-1pm El Médano Plaza de los Principes de España Tel: 922 176002 Open Mon-Fri 9am-3pm (winter) 9am-2pm (summer) Sat 9am-1pm

www.webtenerifeuk.co.uk

La Laguna C/ Carrera, 7º (Casa Alvarado Bracamonte) Tel. 922 631 194 Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Weekends 9am-3pm

hello Infoturismo Tenerife

902 00 31 21

Airports

Ireland

902 404704

Tenerife South 922 759200 Tenerife North 922 635635 La Palma 922 426100 La Gomera 902 404 704 El Hierro 922 553700 Gran Canaria 928 579000 Lanzarote 928 846000 Fuerteventura 928 860500 Flight information:

Honorary Consul of Ireland.

León y Castillo 195, 1st Floor on right, 35004 Las Palmas.

Tel: +34 928 29 77 28 Fax: +34 928 29 77 28 consuladoirlanda@step.es

www.aena.es

United Kingdom

Maritime Rescue & Safety

A consular officer makes routine visits to the islands and is available to meet anyone who wishes to call for assistance and advice.

Fuerteventura. The consular officer will be available in Hotel Atlantis Palace, Corralejo.

Lanzarote. The consular officer will be available during the day in the lounge of Hotel Los Fariones in Puerto del Carmen.

Hononary Consul for Lanzarote, Susan Thain, will also be available to offer consular assistance to British Nationals.

Please call the Consulate in Gran Canaria (+34) 928 26 25 08 for information and appointments.

Santa Cruz Las Palmas

900 202202 928 467757

Emergency

DIAL 112 Emergency Single emergency line

080 092 091 062 016

FIRE BRIGADE LOCAL POLICE NATIONAL POLICE GUARDIA CIVIL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

www.aytolalaguna.com/ ayto/

www.grancanaria.com

Post Office Prices

Consulates TENERIFE United Kingdom British Consulate Plaza Weyler, No. 8, 1st Floor - 38003 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Office Hours: Mon- Fri 8:30am to 1:30pm Tel.: +34 922 28 68 63 Fax: +34 922 28 99 03 tenerife.enquiries@fco.gov.uk www.ukinspain.com

Ireland

Honorary Consul of Ireland Calle de Castillo 8, 4th Floor 38002 Santa Cruz Tel: +34 922 245 671 922 245 035 Fax: +34 922 249 957 jimken@eresmas.com

EU 0.20 gr.

Normal 0.62 € / Urg. 2.76 € Large 1.07 € / Urg. 3.58 € 21-50 gr.

Normal 1.29 € / Urg. 3.79 €

Rest of World 0.20 gr.

Normal 0.78 € / Urg. 3.10 € Large 1.38 € / Urg. 3.90 € 21-50 gr.

Normal 1.66 € / Urg. 4.15 €

Ireland

Honorary Vice Consul of Ireland C/Ginés de Castro Alvarez 12, 3B,/ 35500 Arrecife, Lanzarote Tel: +34 928 815262 Fax: +34 928 802200

Honorary Consul of India Villalba Hervas 15, 1st Floor PO Box 336, 38002 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Office Hours: Mon- Fri 9:30am to 2pm Tel: +34 922 24 35 03 922 24 14 16 Fax: +34 922 28 97 55. gopemahtani@wanadoo.es

United Kingdom

British Consulate Calle Luís Morote 6, 3rd Floor-E-35007 Las Palmas.

Office Hours: Mon- Fri 8:30am to 1:30pm Tel.: + 34 928 262 508 Fax: + 34 928 267 774 laspalmas.consulate@fco.gov.uk www.ukinspain.com This office also covers Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (please check website for dates of consular visits and how to arrange appointments).

Emergencies Emergencias ¡Socorro!

Ayudarme por favor No tengo dinero Me han robado Me han agredido Ha habido un accidente ¿Dónde está…?

La comisaría El consulado británico/irlandés The British/Irish Consulate El hospital El centro de salud Necesito…..

Una ambulancia La policía Los bomberos He perdido…..

Mi pasaporte Mi cartera Mi monedero Mi bolso Mis llaves Mi dinero

Maritime

Fred Olsen www.fredolsen.es info: 902 100 107 Naviera Armas www.naviera-armas.es info: 902 456 500 Acciona www.trasmediterranea.es info: 902 454 645

Air-transport Binter Canarias www.bintercanarias.com info: 902 391 392 Islas Airways www.islasairways.com info: 902 477 478

Good Luck Why not have a flutter on one of Spain’s popular lotteries? Look out for the ONCE kiosks, or the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado shops, and good luck!.

PART I Although most holiday companies do their best to make sure your vacation is the dream break you wanted, humans err or the economic crisis intervenes and sometimes you face a disappointment.

Expert Advice

I

f your travel agent goes bankrupt, don’t worry, your contract was with the holiday company, the travel agent was only acting as a representative and your holiday shouldn’t be affected.

Contact the tour operator direct to make sure they have all your details.

I Primitiva

Temperature Conversion Chart

GRAN CANARIA

UsefulPhrases

Island Holiday Transport DISAPPOINTMENTS

India

Spain & Canary Islands 0.20 gr.

Normal 0.32 € / Urg. 2.38 € Large 0.39 € / Urg. 2.46 € 21-50 gr.

Normal 0.43 € / Urg. 2.55 €

LANZAROTE & FUERTEVENTURA

Missing Children> 116000

24-Hour Emergency Service Out of office hours the Consulate telephone number (+34 922 28 68 63) provides details of how to contact a duty officer in an emergency.

North Santa Cruz Plaza de España Tel: 922 289394 Fax: 922 284965 Open: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 9am-1pm (to 5pm and 12 noon respectively, July, Aug & Sept) Free city guides Mon-Sat from the kiosk at 11am

Useful Numbers

24-Hour Emergency Service Out of office hours the Consulate telephone number (+34 928 262 508) provides details of how to contact a duty officer in an emergency.

ᔉ

32

Cº / F 11 52 12 54 13 55 14 57 15 59 16 61 17 63 18 64 19 66 20 68 21 70 22 72 23 73 24 75 25 77

Cº / F 26 79 27 81 28 82 29 84 30 86 31 88 32 90 33 91 34 93 35 95 36 97 37 99 38 100 39 102 40 104

f you have booked a holiday and the airline goes bust, whether or not you get a refund depens on how you paid. If you paid between £100 and £30,000 by credit card, you can claim the amount back from your card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit

La Palma

Help!

Help me please I haven’t any money I’ve been robbed I’ve been attacked There’s been an accident Where is…?

The police station

The hospital The health centre I need……

An ambulance The police The fire brigade I have lost….

My passport My wallet My purse My bag My keys My money

Act. If the flight was part of a package holiday, you can claim it back through the tour operator and if you are stranded away from home it is their responsibility to make alternative arrangements for you. If you’ve been prudent enough to take out holiday insurance, your policy may cover the loss of scheduled flights. And finally if you paid for your flight using a Visa debit card then your current account holder should be told and they will try and get your money back for you.

I

f you have already paid for your holiday and the travel company contacts you asking for more money they can only do so legally under strict circumstances. The booking conditions in the contract must state that it is allowable and the increase must be due to an increase in transport costs (for example fuel), fees and taxes for services such as landing fees have gone up or the exchange rate has changed.

Canary Islands Lanzarote Tenerife

Sta.Cruz Las Palmas

Gomera Hierro

G. Canaria

Fuerteventura

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Letters

Licence scam Dear Editor

M

y par tner John and I would like to infor m your readers of another scam which is taking place on Tenerife.

When we retired here two and a half years ago, we were informed by friends that we could drive here and did not have to change our UK driving licences for Spanish licences. As many residents told us the same and still continued to use their UK driving licences, we continued to do just that.

But once we stopped hiring cars and decided to purchase a car, by then having been resident for longer than six months, we were told we had to change to Spanish driving licences. We were recommended to contact an English motor company in the South and paid 120 euros, but after many weeks of waiting and many phone calls to them for our new licences, we were given the

LEISURE & CULTURE

Chinese Horoscope

editorial@ic-news.com

excuse, “when Mother has the time to go and get them”, etc. After being stopped by the police whilst driving in la Gomera, we made one final call to them, pleading for our licences, but were told, “to get on with it and get them ourselves”. We were then advised by English friends to contact a woman at a garage, also in the South, and she informed us that we would have to start the process from scratch. When our licences were due, and following a call to this garage, from the person who answered the phone we learned that the woman and her husband had sold the garage and left the country. We were invited to return to the garage to see if our paperwork could be found. Fortunately, we did find it, but minus our driving licences. We then had to pay a local solicitor 60 euros to collect our licences from Trafico in Santa Cruz. So in total we have paid 374 euros for two driving licences, and John’s is only valid until 20 March 2010 and mine until 3 October 2011.

I do hope that this will be a warning to other people. We have been asked why we did not do it ourselves, but what would have been the use or the point? We have visited

33

Trafico, only to be told that as we do not speak Spanish they cannot help us, and this was why we enlisted the English to do it for us. But at what cost for retired people like us who can no longer trust an English person for a fair and honest deal? We have since learned that our licences should have cost only 30 euros per person.

Scam, we say!

YOURS SINCERELY PAULINE WAREHAM COSTA ADEJE

Theft appeal Dear Editor

I

would however appeal to you to print something in your paper regarding this incident.

On Friday 14th August 9th, my son, brother and I attended the boxing event at the gymnasium on del Arquitecto Gómez Cuesta, (near the Green Hospital) Arona. Brandon is 19yrs old and trains at the gymnasium near where the

By Daniela Herzberg & Roger Keller daniela@5-elementos.com / Tel. +34 650 830 506 / www.5-elementos.com

Daniela Herzberg & Roger Keller are based in the southwest of Tenerife. They both are certified Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology consultants and Cosmic Healers and work and teach in Tenerife and Germany. Their comprehensive knowledge about Feng Shui, Chinese Astrology and the five elements is a result of their work with Derek Walters, one of the most respected Feng Shui masters in the world.

They have published several books about Chinese Astrology and how to increase your health and vitality with the five elements, with recipes from all over the world.

incident occurred. My son Brandon travelled there on his motorcycle and the others in a car. On arrival about 8.15 pm, we parked near to the stadium on the main road. Brandon placed his motorcycle jacket and helmet in the boot of my blue Citreon C3 car. We then attended the boxing event until 11.45 pm.

When we returned to the car the window was smashed and the motorcycle jacket had been stolen.

The picture here is of Brandon wearing the jacket before it was stolen. It is valued at approximately 400€, and distinctive. If anybody has any information regarding the theft or sees anybody wearing or trying to sell the jacket, could they contact us or the National Police.

THANKS GARY ORD ADDRESS WITH EDITOR

Click Pastimes

Rat (1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008) It may be quite difficult for you to decide whether to concentrate on your career or whether to opt for more leisure time and more fun.

Ox (1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009) Do not lose track of your goal, Ox! If you allow yourself to be distracted too much, you might not get what you wanted in the first place.

Tiger (1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998) You may feel the necessity to show that you are the person in charge. Choose your words carefully, if you don’t want to destroy the team spirit.

Rabbit (1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999) If you really want something, you have to ask for it.

You cannot expect colleagues, family or partners to be able to read your mind. So please, ask.

Dragon (1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000) It is a good time for all kinds of creative work for the Dragon. Make sure you find the perfect time and place to present the results of your efforts.

Snake (1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001) You should tend to your financial matters, Snake. It is quite a good time for investment. Don’t trust unknown sources, but rely on your intuition.

Horse (1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002) Your wealth luck should be constantly strong. If you could be just a little more inventive, you could set the foundations for the rest of the year.

Sheep (1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003) Sheep should take special care of their health now.

Take enough time to recharge your batteries and ensure that you don’t overdo it at work.

Guided visit to La Palma’s Astrofísico/ Family Schmidt-Hermosillo

[ For Crossword and Sudoku solution see classifieds section ]

Across

1 - pompous talk (7) 4 - laughs with (5) 7 - representation (5) 8 - fixing (7) 9 - ceases (4) 10 - cook (3) 11 - fasten together (4) 15 - gaucheness (9) 17 - fixed costs (4) 19 - set up (3) 20 - wagon (4) 24 - panaceas (7) 25 - silly trick (5) 26 - engross oneself in (5) 27 - nuns (7)

Down

1 - newlywed (5) 2 - curve (7) 3 - imitated (4) 4 - magic spell (4) 5 - tiny sea creatures (5) 6 - imply (7) 8 - opaqueness (9) 12 - cobra (3) 13 - swine (3) 14 - fenders (7) 16 - distance (7) 18 - top flight (5) 21 - creates (5) 22 - hobble (4) 23 - musical work (4)

Monkey (1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004) Have fun, Monkey! You cannot work 24 hours a day.

It’s much better to take some time off and enjoy your achievements with friends and family.

Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005) Nobody is perfect! It’s far to exhausting for the Rooster to be impeccable all the time – so relax, and just be your irresistible self.

Dog (1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006) Do you feel a lack of energy? Then you really should take a break. Do not worry about things that you cannot change anyway.

Pig (1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007) Your communications must be very clear for your dreams to come true. Make sure that everybody understands exactly what you mean.

The Chinese solar year starts around February 4. If your birthday is in January or at the beginning of February your Chinese animal sign belongs to the year before. Example 27.1. 1967 still belongs to the year of the horse.

Living & Lifestyle

34

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Fashion

Last minute back to school All photos: Marks & Spencer

Eco-uniform, Recycled E-leather (TM) shoes, Recycled polyester blazers and Recycled Skirt

I

n our previous edition we featured more casual schoolwear. For those who need clothing that is more like a school uniform, check out the latest from Marks & Spencer. Available, and very suitable for tight budgets, from your local store or online at www.marksandspencer.com

Sportswear Hooded Sweat Top and Sports Joggers

Schoolwear, Pack of Puff-sleeve blouses, Junior Cardigan and Bias Cut Skirt

Shoes, Traditonal patent shoes

Schoolwear, Shorts, Polo shirt pack and Wool blend Pinafores, Traditional Pleated and Embroidered jumper

Pinafores

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Part I

LIVING & LIFESTYLE

35

Beauty

Permanent Cosmetics

By Nicola Roberts

state-of-the-art technique of an experienced technician permanently applying make-up via interdermal micro-pigmentation, whereby permanent make-up will be more natural and realistic compared to conventional cosmetics.

Is it expensive?

Not if you look at the long term effect, how much you pay for liners, lipsticks, mascaras etc. over the years, not to mention how long it takes to apply. It costs very little compared with the number of years that it will last, it doesn’t run, smudge, or wash off. The cost of the procedure should not be the most important issue when consulting a potential practitioner.

Why permanent cosmetics?

Permanent make-up is ideal for anyone who wants to look and feel great every day without having to spend hours in front of a mirror.

With permanent cosmetics you can have – all day and ever y day – larger looking eyes with eyeliner and thicker looking lashes, or amazing lips that look fuller and give a younger looking mouth using permanent lip colour and lip liner. You can also have perfectly shaped eyebrows which make your eyes look much bigger and your brow line smoother, in effect an instant eyelift without surgery or botox.

And remember you are always in control of your look – you can go for a subtle, understated or more obvious effect. Whichever look you want, permanent cosmetics can help.

The objective of these procedures is to raise self esteem and self confidence, allow for a more active lifestyle and personal freedom as well as saving time. Both men and women who need, or are experiencing the following, realise the positive results of permanent makeup.

How does it work?

Permanent make-up is a type of cosmetic tattooing where pharmaceutical grade pigments are applied to the lower dermis of the skin to give a wonderful shadow of colour that looks like the most perfectly applied make-up.

People of all ages are discovering per manent eyebrows, eyeliner and lip colour that looks completely natural.

Who benefits from permanent cosmetics?

On the go men and women who want to look their best at all times benefit from the most incredibly beautifying time saving procedures. More and more men and women are taking advantage of permanent cosmetics and creating that natural, refined appearance; permanent make-up could be what you have been waiting for.

Here are a few reasons why we can choose permanent make-up: * It is quick and easy to apply for those with a busy, active life * Essential to those who cannot see to apply make-up without the help of glasses or contact lenses * Prevents wobbly make-up lines from shaky hands * Avoids the risk of allergic reaction to cosmetic products * Enhances eyebrows and prevents drooping or sparse eyebrows * Combats lipstick bleed and thin or pale lips * No chance of make-up coming off due to oily skin * Make-up doesn’t disappear due to hay fever * Alopecia sufferers – no frame to face * Re-pigmentation of areola/ nipple – lost through surgery * Colour can be re-introduced where it has been lost due to surgery or illness * Permanent make-up is smudge and smear free – great for sporty people * Described as “the best investment I’ve ever made” by many people What is permanent makeup?

Permanent make-up is a safe and natural looking alternative to the daily routine of applying make-up in the morning and throughout the day. It is a

NEW MANICURE AND PEDICURE

How long does it last?

Permanent cosmetics are permanent in that you will always have a permanent marking in your skin, however over time you will notice a gradual softening of colour occurring. Many clients feel that this is an advantage as they feel their make-up will age with them. A colour enhancement for those who wish to keep their make-up looking as fresh as possible would take place after around 18 months to three years depending on colour, body chemistry and lifestyle.

Is all the equipment sterilised?

Safety and hygiene is a priority – only sterile, disposable needles are used and they are disposed of after every treatment.

Does it look natural?

Your friends and family would never know, subtle colours are chosen for that particular reason, having the correct shape and style makes all the difference.

Many clients have gone home to their partners who ask “what’s different about you?”, and compliment them on how well they look.

Latest Special Offer Freshen Up: File and Polish (hands and feet) , Eyebrow Shape, Mini Facial 49.00 euros (normally 58.50 euros) Cool Down: Pedicure, Mini Facial, Back Neck and Shoulder Massage 60.00 euros (normally 73.50 euros) Nicola Roberts is the owner of Bellissima Hair and Beauty in Los Gigantes, Playa San Juan and San Eugenio Alto. For information or appointments please call 922 867 343 or 922 719 355.

www.tenerife.com/missnail

Tel. 600 557 763

Parque Santiago III, local 6, Arona

€21

36

PetsCorner

Pets Portrait

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

n namo e

DOLPHIN BIRTHS

Only happy and well kept animals breed

No name This three week old kitten is being hand raised by a kindly benefactor who has asked your help in finding it a name - answers to The Editor please.

Baby boom

Los Silos Dog show

Happy Dogs Organised by the Happy Dog association and Los Silos council, the second canine agility show takes place from 11am on Sunday 6th September at the Juan Valiente stadium in Los Silos.

Why not enter your canine friend, so that he or she can take advantage of the opportunity to socialise with other dogs, and show just how quick and nimble they are.

Loro Parque

A

Tenerife water park has been recognised as one of the most important centres for dolphin births in Europe.

The reproductive cycle of this species last between three and five years and, the park is among the elite of the European dolphinariums with a success rate of 100 per

cent. Aqualand Costa Adeje, in Tenerife is considered to be one of the best equipped centres in Spain with top technology and the recreation of the animals’ marine habitats so that the species adapt to their living space.

The latest visit from the dolphin stork to Aqualand came on August 12th when

Yemaya gave birth to her son after a 52 week gestation.

The one and a half metre baby dolphin weighed in at 15 kilos and both mother and baby are doing well.

This is Yemaya’s second calf and she is an exemplary mother according to park staff. The technical director of the Aqualand dolphi-

Parrots galore

ANIMAL CHARITY

Over 700 parrots of 136 different species were born at Loro Parque in the first six months of the year, according to the Loro Parque Foundation.

Live Arico News

This confirms the belief that the Foundation’s biologists are doing a fantastic job in their efforts to preserve certain species. One of the new babies is a short tailed graydidascalus brachyurus, a beautiful little green species. The mother actually laid four eggs but only one hatched. The parents live happily at Loro Parque

Thanks this week go to Mark, Lesley and all at the Albatros Bar, Costa del Silencio, where a Caribbean night was held in early August, raising €230 for Live Arico.

Peruvian Indians with short-tailed graydidascalus brachyurus

together with a couple of red-faced pionopsitta pileata which have been classified as an endangered species.

John and Ginene provided an excellent barbecue and face painting for all, and the kids enjoyed the bouncy castle in the car park. Keith Lucas entertained the crowd in the car park with his excel-

lent tribute to the sound of reggae while Live Arico´s Adrian and Nicole kept the afternoon together.

Grateful thanks too to Linda, Emma and Camilla from Winter Gardens Gym and Spa, Golf del Sur, where a ladies night was held and raised €158. The five euros entrance fee got participants heavily discounted treatments, and clothes, make up and jewellery were on sale too. This is to be a regular feature at the gym, so watch this space for the next one.

Upcoming event Still in the planning stages is a family fun day at the Central Station, Las Américas, on Sunday the 6th September. It’s hoped

Digs 4 Dogs Professional dog care at our purpose built

KENNELS 6 mins from San Isidro Only 10 € per day • Collection and return Service • Quarantine & UK return Service For rates and availability phone Allen or Lesley on 680 278 254 or 922 772051

that there will be a children’s entertainer, barbecue, music, face painting, fun and games.

Live Arico Shop News We have new stock in the shop, come along and bag your bargain. Our regular shop opening times are Monday to Friday, 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday, 10 am – 2 pm.

We are happy and grateful to receive any donations of cat and dog food at the shop.

For any questions about the shop, the dogs, Live Arico or if you would like to make a donation and need somebody to pick it up, call Nicole or Karen on the numbers below.

narium, José Luis Barbero, commented, “Yemaya is a very sensitive animal who requires special attention from her carers. In exchange she gives all the park team enormous shows of confidence and affection”. This is one of the reasons she is one of the females included in the dolphin therapy group.

Important Telephone Numbers Eugenio 649 001907 (Please call if you find a dog abandoned or in distress) Suzy Q 629 388102 (For fund raising, press releases, prize donations etc) Nicole 647 176341 (For shop enquiries and dog rehoming) Pete Holland 661 099365 (For Poochies Pet Hotel for boarding your dog) Karen Clack 687905511 (For shop and general enquiries, donations and horse care and advice) Regina Queder 669668512 (For cat rehoming, care and advice) Lastly, as we have said before, please think hard about what will happen to your pet if you are re-locating to the UK. A dog is for life, not just for the duration of your stay in Tenerife.

Do you want to make your pet a star or find him or her a partner? Maybe you’re looking for good homes for your pets’ offspring or a lost or abandoned animal, or need help looking for a missing animal. Send us a photograph and all the relevant information for our Pet’s Portrait. (Unfortunately photographs cannot be returned and please note that e-mails need to be accompanied by photos in JPEG or GIF format.)

Food FOR THOUGHT

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

37

Rachel Dearden and Ricardo Caceres (L) toasting the Chiringuito Deseo with friends

Seasonal Food

Cold soups

CHIRINGUITO DESEO

Chill out T

S

panish i h cookery k is i full f ll off recipes i for f summer soups. Gazpacho is perhaps the most famous of Spanish cold soups, but there are a whole range of tasty alternatives.

Our recipe in this edition is a healthy and beautiful starter which also helps us to keep our liquid levels topped up in hot weather.

Melon soup Ingredients • 1 ripe melon • 4 slices brown bread without crusts • 4 tbl cream • Water • 4 tbl virgin olive oil • Salt • Pepper • Juice of 1 lime/lemon • 1 tsp thyme • Slice of water melon • Snips of wild fennel • Mint • Black olives without pits.

Preparation 1. Blend bread and set breadcrumbs aside.

2. Open the melon and remove seeds onto a plate.

3. Remove flesh and blend.

4. Pass blended fruit and seeds through a sieve to get all the juice then chill in the fridge for one hour.

5. Finely chop the thyme and soak in the lime or lemon juice.

6. Chop the olives.

7. When the melon juice is cold, whisk in the cream, breadcrumbs, thyme, lemon juice, olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste and water to desired liquidity. It should be slightly thick, not runny.

8. Decorate with the water melon, fennel, mint and chopped olives.

CROQUANT British Bakery & Coffee Shop

he luxur y five star Europe Villa Cortes hotel and spa, situated on the front line in Playa de las Américas, introduces the ultimate chill-out club.

This fine hotel which is inspired by the architecture of an elegant Mexican style mansion of fers its own exclusive gourmet restaurants. Additionally, there is a private beach and seawater pool which is always full of water, and next to the beach on this idyllic part of the natural coastline lies the Chiringuito Deseo Beach Club and Terrace.

The Beach Club not only offers refreshment during the hot sunny days, but now also a full menu of lunches and evening meals.

Chiringuito Deseo

Before sundown this daytime drinks and lunches venue is transformed as the tables are expertly laid in preparation for the evening meals. Climb the stairs and you are in the chill-out bar which includes a lounge area, where you

can enjoy drinks, listen while the DJ plays gentle relaxing music, watch the surfers and stunning sunsets, and hear the sound of waves crashing on the rocks.

This is an extremely popular part of the coastline for

walkers and photographers, and if you are one of them, you have probably walked past the Chiringuito Deseo many times. Next time, pop in, stay a while and relax. See the boards outside for current offers and promotions.

PARMESAN

Worth its weight…

I

n Emilia Romaña in the centre of Italy, Parmesan cheese is really worth its weight in gold – or at least coin.

The banks accept wheels of this wonderful Italian speciality as guarantee for bank loans until they mature enough to be sold. This system which is unique in the world began in the 1950s and is still used by four banks in this Italian region. A wheel of Parmesan weighs about 40 kilos, has a value of approximately 300 euros and reaches maturity two years after its creation.

SET MENUS

Summer flavours T wenty prestigious bars and restaurants are taking part in a special promotion in the Playa de las Américas area over the last weekend in August.

Typical Spanish, Canarian, European, Hispanic and Asiatic set menus are on offer at just 12 euros and include

a first and second course, dessert and a drink (wine, lager or water). Step into one of the following establishments on the 29th or 30th of August for a great meal at a bargain price: Asador Argentino La Martina, Steak House Grill Tex Mex Hacienda Miranda, Royal Garden, Xoti, La Montería, La

Rana, Doña Juana, El Arrozal, Little Italy Pompei, La Karina, Country Grill Karina, Balkonen, Little Italy Martini, Toro Tapas y Grill, Malibú y Mayte, Pasta y Vino, Trattoria Mamma Mia, Michelangelo, Rosy’s, Bier Pinter and El Mesón castellano Mojo Picón.

COOKERY COMPETITION

Sandwiches, sausage rolls, pasties, etc.

Arona’s 1,000 flavours S

Special cakes for special occasions The Apolo Centre - Los Cristianos Avda. Gral. Franco - Los Cristianos Mon - Sun 8am - 5.30pm Tel: 922 798 133

©IC/572/08

outher n council, Arona, recently announced the winners of their second Marine Gastronomic Route competition.

This year the action took place in Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio and El Pal-Mar and participating restaurants were loud in their praise of the initiative which they affirm brought them in new

clients. The judging panel was made up of members of the international chef’s organisation, Euro-Toques, and they visited each establishment to taste the tapas on offer to judge them on taste, originality, ingredients, presentation and service. After a long deliberation, Tasca El Escondite in Costa del Silencio was awarded the first prize of 1,000

euros for a tapa of finely sliced tuna with a sweet and sour sauce of lime juice and palm honey. The second prize of 800 euros was won by Tasca de Punta Rasca in El Pal-Mar with a tuna pudding and Churrería Tenerife in Las Galletas took the third prize of 600 euros for their fishballs in green sauce.

38

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FoodIDEAS

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Fun Cooking

Cooking for Kids HEALTHY AND FUN FOOD FOR ALL THE FAMILY. CORN & SESAME SQUARES

PUFF PUDDINGS Filled pancakes.

Ingredients

www.williams-sonoma.com

• 200gr ecological cornflour (it’s yellow) • 50gr best quality butter • 80gr mild grated cheese • 15 gr freshly ground sesame seeds • 1 tbl toasted sesame seeds • Sea salt • Water

SINGLE COOKWARE

Preparation

Slow braiser.

www.williams-sonoma.com 1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Put 1 ½ litres of water in a saucepan to boil.

3. Add the flour slowly stirring all the while with a beater to avoid lumps.

1

4. When it’s creamy and not sticking, add the butter and whisk.

2 Nutritional values Vitamin E: 5.38mg/100g RDA: 8-10mg/day

ELECTRIC MILLS

Iodine: 30.77mg/100g

One-handed grinders.

RDA: 90-125mg/day

www.williams-sonoma.com

Magnesium: 45.38mg/100g

3

RDA: 250-350mg/day

O

ur recipes are translated with the generous permission of the author, Teresa Pérez Hernández, from the superb series of books, La Cocina Encuentada.

In the original Spanish, this series of books

BROKEN HEART Novelty knife block

These squares are a delicious treat on their own, as a garnish for a main dish or as a base for sauces and vegetable patés.

* Information and images from La Cocina Encuentada – Las cuatro estaciones (in Spanish) by Teresa Pérez Hernández. ISBN 978-84-96509-84-9 (around 12 euros).

As

Asiaticoo Asiatic Buffet Libre As

Japanese, Thai and Chinese Cuisine Choose your sauce and our chef’s will prepare your Wok, Grill & BBQ in front of you.

A variety of Asian snacks, fresh meat & seafood

EAT WHATEVER AND HOWEVER MUCH YOU LIKE We invite you to eat whatever and however much you like from our wide variety of cold and hot dishes, desserts and ice-creams of all kinds.

combines healthy, fun recipes with original short stories to feed the body and the mind. They are highly recommended for anyone who can understand the Spanish language.

All day buffet

7,99€ ONLY

Tel. 922 797 168 • Fax 922 795 618 Lunchtime 1 pm – 4.30 pm Evenings 6.30 pm – 11.30 pm B Blvd. Chajofe 10 • Los Cristianos (Formerly Mercedes-Benz)

sushi

5. Continuing to stir all the time, add the grated cheese and ground sesame and turn into the baking tray. It shouldn’t be deeper than one centimetre.

6. Leave in the fridge until set.

7. Dust with whole seeds and cut into squares.

8. Just before ser ving, flash

grill the squares on a hotplate or in a dry non-stick frying pan.

Suggestions The squares are delicious as a dessert, or afternoon tea treat with a Canarian banana (plátano) or a dribble of honey.

Restaurante

La Romántica International cuisine, flambées a speciality Superb food, stylish service, a touch of class in Callao Salvaje

Tel. 922 741 518 Open daily 12 midday - 11pm

El Ancla, nº 21. C/ El Jable Callao Salvaje, Adeje

WineGUIDE

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

WineGadgets

Chill out Do you spend fruitless hours wondering just how cold to serve your Chardonnay or what exactly constitutes room temperature?

Ponder no more. With this intelligent wine chiller all your temperature questions are answered. A built-in cooler and heater, the chiller knows the correct drinking temperature for no less than 33 different types of red wine, white wine and champagne. http://www.bb-shopping.com/products/Intelligent-Wine-Chiller.htm

Abracadabra All wine experts will tell you how important it is to aerate a wine before serving, but how much, and for how long do you need to let a wine ‘breathe’ or ‘stand’ before serving?.

According to the Philip Stein website, “letting a wine breathe helps to rid it of the vapors of alcohol, sugars, tannins and acidity that make it ferment”, a process that could take up to two hours, however with the Wine Wand the same result can be achieved in minutes. http://www.philipstein.com/catalog/list2. aspx?CCode=5202^Wine

39

ROYAL PRINCESS

Esser literally means ‘eater’ in German H

aving just got back from an amazing cruise on the Royal Princess I must tell you of a wine that is seriously good. It’s called Esser plain and simply, but it belongs to a family that has a stor y.

Manfred and Barbara Esser moved from Germany to the United States in 1974, for what they thought would be one or two years. Still in the US over 30 years and two children later they only go back to Germany for business and vacations. On arrival in the US, not speaking a word of English, they lived in Evanston, Illinois, and remained there for 12 years before moving to the Napa Valley. Manfred became President and par tner of Cuvaison winery for 12 years before he moved to consult worldwide for various companies. Manfred was also responsible for the wine company Pieroth, which I know most of you have heard of, in fact when Manfred left, there were 30 sales offices and 500 employees selling an inter national wine portfolio.

In 2002 Esser started his own winer y. Sales in the first year were 20,000 cases and 47,000 the second year. The winery continues to grow, especially with the help of his daughter Sophie-Maria who joined the family

Maitre D Francisco Patricio and assistant Cristian Adrian who gave wine lectures on board ship

business in October 2004.

In 2005 Esser merged with the well known marketing company Deutsch and sons who represent Esser Vineyards in the USA. Barbara Esser who is a Bavarian Princess, holds a masters degree in photography, she is the senior consultant for all design decisions including labels, packaging etc. She also organises all the wine events held on their estate on Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. As you can imagine Manfred has a strong marketing background which in any competitive market is very important, in fact we have all experienced how badly we as customers are treated by the very people who are looking for our repeat business. Manfred says, “I believe in the philosophy of guilt marketing, which means that you treat your customers so well that they feel a little guilty if they forget

about you. You have to take care of your customers. For instance during harvest we go into the vineyard and cut a bunch of grapes and tissue-wrap them, and then we send them to important people - FedEx overnight, with a note - we thought you might be interested in the new vintage. With over 80,000 different wines from around the world to compete with, you have got to have a good product and excellent marketing.”

In the Esser range of wines are Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet. It was the Pinot Noir that Vivienne and I were drawn to time and again.

It had a ripe, spicy complexity usually found in much more expensive wines, one of the best we have tasted for some time. The well balanced 2003 Cabernet helped by ageing in American Oak also deserves praise.

The Napa Valley starts at San Francisco Bay and runs

for about 54 kilometres nor th and west to the foothills of Mount St Helena. Temperatures range from cool to warm, the altitude of the area ranges from five to 122 metres. There are a vast number of grape varieties grown in this area, however a lot of the wineries are small boutique operations producing, say, no more than 5,000 cases.

Next time you join a Princess Cruise or fly to America, keep a lookout for Esser’s wine, you will not be disappointed.

One point that is interesting to note is that to be able to supply wine to Princess Cruises, the grower has to be able to guarantee 25,000 cases, as the fleet has 18 ships and all the wine lists are the same. It is important that the quality and supply are maintained.

BLANCO O IN L O M EL ITH YOUR FIVE SENSESNCO

RESTAUR A

NTE

OLINO BLA ENJOY W IC OF EL M THE MAG BRITIES DO AS CELE

RICH ARD AND HIS

MAG IC VIOL IN

Serve it, store it Online vine fans will love it, a perfect gift for wine geeks, the ideal way to store all the information you need on your favourite grape.

A wine cork USB, small and discreet. Not for use in bottles. http://www.gearfuse.com/usb-wine-cork/

MA STER PIA NIS

T VIC TOR

THE SINGING CH

EF

EVERY NIGHT

LIVE MUSIC

TO 5PM) PHONE (9AM CARD EMAIL OR P VI R U T YO TO REQUES days.

Closed Tues hted to and is delig olino Blanco staurant. Enjoy a re is back at M Felipe Neri u to his beautiful from 6pm to midnight restaurant from 6pm til late. welcome yo nner in our ils delicious di and join us for Cock ta e m co or

eje 922 796 282. o, Costa Ad Reservationsstria 5, San Eugenio Alt lino-blanco.com Avda. de Au blanco.com • info@mo olin mo www. each table

r house wine fo of Free bottle ofdining on presentation rty in the pa rt. ve ad this

40

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Dive and Sea Tenerife

Underwater wonders

D

ive and Sea Tenerife have just been awarded their PADI Dive Centre Status. Alongside this they have also just opened their office in San Miguel Marina, Amarilla Golf.

If you have any questions or would like to make a booking please go along to see them as they are available every day between 10:00 and 16:00. If they are are out diving or outside of these hours please call 609 666 865 or 9227 38289.

Dive and Sea Tenerife offer you a first class diving experience, they only use PADI certified instructors and dive masters. They visit a variety of different dive sites offering you the opportunity of visiting wrecks, deep dives, night dives and give you the

chance to see a huge array of different sea life such as Sting Rays, octopus, turtles, Puffer fish, Barracuda, sea horses, Moray eels, and Trigger fish as well as many more exciting sea creatures.

Dive and Sea Tenerife offer diving courses from age eight upwards with the PADI Bubble Maker and Seal Team Mission experiences based in the swimming pool. These courses offer children a chance to have fun in the safety of the swimming pool, yet still gain valuable scuba diving experience. They also offer the Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) experience available from age 10, which upon successful completion certifies you to dive with a PADI professional for 12 months. They currently have a special offer

New dive site

available to do a DSD and a Dive for just €75. Continuing in your diving education they are able to offer all of the different PADI courses starting with your Open Water course all the way through to beginning your career as a PADI professional diver with the Dive Master Qualification.

They are offering a low priced residential special

every Sunday, for certified divers, one dive for €20, two dives €30, and three dives €40 including kit hire.

For the certified diver there are great value dive packs to choose from, as well as the opportunity to take speciality courses such as Deep Diver, Drift Diver and Boat Diver. You can also take snorkelling trips and boat excursions from just €12 per

person, which can include food and drinks. The local excursions give you a relaxing opportunity to swim in the sea, snorkel and see the beautiful coastline of southern Tenerife.

To see videos and photos of their local dive sites visit their website, www.diveandseatenerife.com or their Facebook page Dive and Sea Tenerife.

TCuida

Looking after yourself I

n the TCuida beauty salon in Icod de los Vinos wellness and the feel-good factor are complemented by the most up to date equipment in the beauty world.

High quality cosmetic brands combine with the latest in technology to guarantee your comfort and

an effective improvement in your skin texture. The clinic offers a beauty and aesthetics programme combined with a nutrition consultation.

Other treatments include Photodepilation as well as Pulsed Light which works to remove age spots and leave the skin looking and feeling younger and toned.

TCuida houses the most modern apparatus which break down fatty deposits and move the lymph fluids remodelling your figure.

Muscle tone and figure shaping is achieved through electrical stimulation. The appearance of

your skin can also be greatly enhanced. Or perhaps you would enjoy a vibration based body muscle toning treatment. This is just one of the many programmes available alongside the more traditional forms of circulation and muscle toning. 15 minutes three times a week will give you the same effect as an hour of intensive training.

TCuida is part of the Sánchez Gijón Pharmacy and Orthopedic centre, on the main street in Icod de los Vinos. Driving from Puerto de la Cruz you will find it on the left hand side, opposite the large car dealership. For an appointment call 922 815 718.

There is a new site based in San Miguel Marina, Amarilla Golf which Dive and Sea Tenerife have named Pequeño Valle (small valley). It is virtually undisturbed and there are always some surprises in store. From the boat divers descend to approximately 16 metres and then swim along to a small wall and this is where the Moray eels can be found.

Unlike most dive sites in Tenerife the aquatic life here is not used to divers so the inhabitants may treat you with suspicion! Huge schools of sardines and roncadores nestle in between the two rock formations and huge Roughtail Stingrays are regularly spotted.

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

BUSINESS PROMOTION

41

Hotel Gran Rey

Where kindness is king T

here are some things five stars can’t buy or guarantee, which is why choosing to stay at the Hotel Gran Rey in Valle Gran Rey (Valley of the High King) is about opting for a holiday with the human touch, where you and your family’s needs come first, second and third.

An extremely well run establishment, small enough to give you that sense of belonging, the staff at the Hotel Gran Rey really are quite exceptional, from the reception to the restaurant staff. From day one they are intent on remembering names and preferences, and its no surprise to overhear guests at the buffet breakfasts or dinners treating the

waiting team as old friends, telling them about their day, asking for advice on where to ramble or bathe, and watch younger guests run to their favourite waitress to show them a new toy or book or scratch. Where else will you be able to feed your newly acquired baby dragon (in reality a stuffed iguana, but not to a four year old!) at the table. Hailing from all over the world, the staff speak a variety of languages, with Spanish, English and German the most frequently heard.

Canarian residents as well as Spanish guests from the Iberian peninsula are keen to discover the delights of this region of La Gomera and the comforts of the hotel, and certainly during a recent visit it was obvious that the excel-

lent price:quality ratio combined with the comfort and cleanliness of the rooms, the roof top pool and the aforementioned superb service is tempting many residents to choose this establishment over others which may offer glitz but little else. Rooms are well apportioned, with mountain or sea views (the sunsets are quite dramatic), and pool towels are available at reception for all family members.

While it may in the past have been seen as the reserve of the rambler, and the hotel does offer walk suggestions and packed lunches for those who so desire, Valle Gran Rey too has seen some welcome changes in recent times, with the beach in front of the hotel renovated and sandy, making this an excellent spot for sun seekers and those with small

children looking to relax by the sea. The nearby Charco del Conde beach (about five minutes walk back towards the port) is also an excellent spot for families, as the natural barrier created by the rocks means it is safe for young bathers pretty much all day regardless of the tide and the state of the sea beyond the natural barrier.

The hotel is also very conscious of its surrounds, and has won numerous international awards for its environmentally friendly working practises, and is considered a leader in this regard in the Canary Islands.

For a weekend break or a longer family holiday the Hotel Gran Rey is an excellent choice. Visit their website, www.hotel-granrey. com for more information and reservations, including some discount offers.

Linea Directa

Fully comprehensive insurance with excess for motorbikes * PRICES 30 PER CENT MORE ECONOMICAL THAN THE MARKET AVERAGE

L

ínea Directa Aseguradora has strengthened its position as market leader in the motorbike world by launching Fully Comprehensive Insurance with Excess and Extended Third-party Insurance.

Two new products, which are going to revolutionise the whole sector for those who love getting around on two wheels.

The launch of these two products gives the insurer the edge over its competitors, who offer products with minimum amounts of excess, which are too high, often meaning that it is the customer who has to assume the total cost of the

repair work. The two new insurance policies presented

by Línea Directa include an excess of 20 per cent, which means that the company, according to the type of insurance being taken out, assumes 80 per cent of the cost of the claim. So, for example, in a claim costing 500 euros, 400 would be assumed by Línea Directa and only 100 by the customer.

In addition to these two new products, Línea Directa is also offering an insurance policy for electric motorcycles and courtesy motorcycles for the first time in Spain. In this way, the company, which revolutionised the Spanish sector back in 2003 when it offered the possibility of taking out a quality motor-

bike insurance policy for the first time at a very competitive price, furthers its ongoing commitment to the twowheel world.

It will come as no surprise to learn that Línea Directa now has over 230,000 motorbike customers who can benefit from the very best service, offered by a team of over 125 professionals who have first-hand knowledge of the specific requirements of motorcyclists.

For more information on these or any other of Línea Directa Aseguradora’s products, please consult www.lineadirecta.com or call 902 123 157.

Claim €500

Línea Directa:

Customer: €100 Company: €400

Other Insurance:

Customer: €500 Insurer: €0

42

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

CLASSIFIEDS / PROMOTION

www.islandconnections.eu

Update your current affairs knowhow Read the online edition of Island Connections’ newspaper daily

Constantly updated news Information & tourist guide Interviews & feature Yellow pages Newspaper archives Island Connections Media Group Calle Francisco Feo Rodríguez 6 38620 San Miguel de Abona

Tel. 922 750 609 Fax 922 795 810 info@ic-news.com

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

Island Connections Media Group

CLASSIFIEDS / SITUATIONS VACANT

REPS, ADMIN AND CALL CENTRE STAFF REQUIRED

Karen Swift Classifieds Manager

OPENING HOURS: MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9AM – 5PM

FUTURE RESORTS MARKETING

Collection Points

Las Chafiras Calle Francisco Feo Rodríguez 6º- first floor. Pol. Industrial Las Chafiras 38620 San Miguel de Abona.

Tel. 922 750 609 Fax: 922 795 810 To Cho - Guargacho - Las

ISLAND CONNECTIONS LAS CHAFIRAS FIRE STATION

TF-1 to Los Cristianos Las Américas

Galletas

ITV

To San Miguel

To Golf MERCADONA del Sur

TF-1 To Airport Santa Cruz

To Los Abrigos

Royal Palm Los Cristianos.

Calle El Rodeo.

Apt. Royal Palm Reception.

Tel. 922 750 609 Los Alisios

Castle Harbour

Paradise Park CC Passarella Oasis

Cristian Sur

Atlántida

SUNDAY MARKET

Reverón Victoria Court Mar y Jardines Sol Canarios

Beverly Hill

ROYAL PALM

Rates Lineage classifieds: From 15.75 € Boxed Ads: Black& White 57.75€ Coloured 68.25€ Long Term: Ask for our special rates Island Connections Newspaper http://www.ic-news.com Daily News Site http://www.newscanarias.net Tenerife Office Tel: 922 750 609 Mob: 609 581 632 Fax: 922 795 810 Classifieds Section: classifieds@ic-news.com Sales Department: sales@ic-news.com Gran Canaria Office Tel: 928 353 279/ Fax: 928 359 744 grancanaria@ic-news.com

Class. Info For personal and professional help in placing your classified in Island Connections all you need to do is pop along to our new offices in Las Chafiras and speak to Karen.

Not only is Island Connections here to ensure that your advertisement reaches it’s target market, we will also advise on sizing requirements for maximum exposure, with prices to suit your pocket.

Circulation controlled by: Distribución Gratuita

Publisher & Proprietor Tina Straub, Joe Schacher

Island Connections S.L. C.I.F: B-38748315 Printed by Artes Gráficas del Atlántico S.A. Dep. Legal: TF-287/93

group ales ale a e es s rwanted re reps eps snted

Scandinavian, English and Russian, to promote 5* hotel accommodation in Tenerife.

Basic wages, plus excellent commissions and spiffs.

For more information please contact Info@resortpromotions.co.uk or phone 922 736 119 between 12 and 8pm

01.

Situations Vacant

Promotions company with more than 10 years experience in selling attractive, high quality products in Tenerife markets, 5 star hotels and superstores is looking for open minded full/part time promoters, which like to present and sell in live promotion. No selling experience is required. Contract + Social Security + fixed salary + commission is guaranteed. Feel free to contact us for further information. Office 922 781548, fax 922 781548, 629 493799

Tenerife Pearl / Perla Canaria is looking for models for its campaigns If you are between 18 and 30 years old, female, and you have all it takes to convert yourself into one of our models and do NOT possess a contract with any model agency, please e-mail us with the following information: • Personal info (full name, date and place of birth, phone nº, city, e-mail) • Measurements (height, breast, waist, hip, weight, eye and hair colour) • 3 photos (face, profile, body) - to marketing@tenerifepearl.net

MEDHOTEL

Sales reps wanted for beautiful resort in Majorca in quiet location Timeshare experience necessary.

You will be dealing with in-house clients.

Very good conditions, daily spiffs.

For more information please contact us on tamara@restotel.net

Legal secretary / assistant required Salary: Excellent / Negotiable Contract: Yes Working hours: 9.30am - 6.00pm (One hour lunch) Mon - Fri

CLASSIFIED’S DEADLINE The deadline for edition 599,which is published on 11th September is Thursday 2nd September at 5pm.

No classified’s will be taken after this date.

43

Club Atlantis, San Eugenio Tel. 922 717 845 info@tenerifesolicitors.com www.tenerifesolicitors.com

Other information: Due to our continuing success and expansion, Tenerife Solicitors are now looking to recruit a Legal Secretary / Assistant for our office at Club Atlantis, San Eugenio.

The successful candidate will be totally fluent in both written and spoken Spanish and English and must have a working knowledge/experience of property transactions on the island, including Sales Contracts and Notary Procedures.

Any knowledge / experience of Spanish Wills, other areas of Spanish Law and / or Gestoria / Administrative procedures would be an advantage. Applicants must have good written and verbal communication and administrative skills.

The role will include full secretarial and reception duties, office administration and liaising with clients. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to gain experience in English legal matters by virtue of assisting our English Solicitor.

An excellent salary and package is available to the right candidate.

Succeed At The Highest Level Advertising Consultants (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera)

Night Owl (Sales person) (Tenerife)

Even in the current economic climate we need extra help in order to fulfil our customers needs... We require the best in the marketplace. Have you got what it takes?

Our media group has traditionally led the field and will continue to do so by hiring the best and remunerating them accordingly.

Do you possess: Positive attitude and strong character. Self discipline and sales experience. Spanish or German language to negotiation level.

Self motivation and team skills. Teachability and 100% integrity. Trustworthiness and references.

If so then you could be what we are looking for. Media experience would be an advantage, but not essential as training will be given.

If you would like to apply for any of the above positions, send your CV, two references, an up-to-date photo and covering letter to director@ic-news.com henrycruz@ic-news.com Fax: 922 79 58 10

44

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

CLASSIFIEDS / MOTORING / CONTACTS

150000kms Year: 1984 Petrol Convertible Doors: 2 Price: 19500€ Tel: 670834117 Mercedes-Benz Clase A Engine: 1.7litres Kms: 120000kms Year: 1999 Diesel Sun Roof Doors: 4 Price: 10000€ Tel: 651837544

02.

Motoring CAR RENTAL All models, PSV, 4x4 & minibus Daily, short & long term hire

697 2

Renault Megane Scenic 1.9 Diesel Conquest.

March 2008, 22000kms, 1 years Manufacturers War ranty r emaining, Immaculate condition. One careful owner, genuine reason for sale. Cost 22.000 euros new. Price 15.995 euros. Contact Colin on 608643843

For the best car hire around ring

Niza Cars Fully insured Quality & reliable service Door to door service

Call 697 292 399

on 922 792 919 or Fax 922 793868

CARS TO RENT LONG TERM 250€ - 300€ PER MONTH INCL. INSURANCE Phone Terry on 661 264 080 Email: terrybury@gmail.com The family friendly car hire company

Audi A3 - 1.8t Engine: 1.8litres Kms: 209000kms Year: 2000 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 6800€ Tel: 606552281 Opel Astra G Caravan Engine: 1.7litres Kms: 172000kms Year: 2000 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 3900€ Tel: 617878616 Rover Rt 1.6 Engine: 1.6litres Kms: 77000kms Year: 1997 Petrol Doors: 4 Price: 1800€ Tel: 625692869 Nissan Patrol GR Engine: 3litres Kms: 114000kms Year: 2000 Diesel Sun Roof Doors: 2 Price: 13000€ Tel: 922716931 Ford A Doble Phaeton Engine: 0litres Kms: Year: 0 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 15000€ Tel: 669767092 Toyota Land Cruiser Engine: 3litres Kms: 150000kms Year: 1997 Diesel Sun Roof Doors: 4 Price: 13000€ Tel: 620398646 Jaguar X-Type 2.0d Cla Engine: 2litres Kms: 83000kms Year: 2003 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 16500€ Tel: 685501440 BMW X5 3.0 D Engine: 3litres Kms: 85000kms Year: 2003 Diesel Doors: 4 Price: 25500€ Tel: 651826200 Ford Mustang Cnvrtbl Engine: 4litres Kms: 165000kms Year: 1998 Petrol Convertible Doors: 2 Price: 15000€ Tel: 922743578 Seat Ibiza Engine: 1litres Kms: 150000kms Year: 1996 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 1300€ Tel: 617507199 Nissan Patrol Gr Engine: 2.8litres Kms: 100000kms Year: 2000 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 11950€ Tel: 669705242 Ford Focus Engine: 1.8litres Kms: 100000kms Year: 2002 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 4800€ Tel: 634239960

Family company 27 years on Tenerife

DANISH RENT-A-CAR We guarantee:

· A reliable and friendly service · Fully comprehensive insurance, no extras · Free child seats, GPS (3 Euros a day) Special offer: · Special long term rates Citroen Saxo 7 days only €139, · VIP hire car service all included Hotel drop off and collection Airport service, street maps, tour information Voucher for free entrance into theme parks

Poul's Auto – your car-hire company in South West Tenerife Mon-Fri, 8.30am – 12 midday, 5pm – 7pm / Sat 8.30am – 12 midday / Sun 10am – 12 midday

Tel: +34 922.740.742 · www.poulsauto.com

Audi A4 Avant 1.9tdi Engine: 1.9litres Kms: 127000kms Year: 2002 Diesel Doors: 4 Price: 14900€ Tel: 606304345 Mercedes-Benz Case 40xt Minip Engine: 2.5litres Kms: 5100kms Year: 2002 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 19650€ Tel: 678239156 Ford Ka Engine: 1.2litres Kms: 60000kms Year: 2002 Petrol Doors: 2 Tel: 653158704 Citroën Berlingo Engine: 1.6litres Kms: 40000kms Year: 2008 Diesel Doors: 2 Price: 5999€ Tel: 639255741 Mini Cooper S Engine: 1.6litres Kms: 3000kms Year: 2008 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 22600€ Tel: 645912014 Mercedes-Benz 500 Sl107 Engine: 5litres Kms:

Mercedes-Benz Sportcoupe 180k Engine: 1.8litres Kms: 65700kms Year: 2002 Petrol Sun Roof Doors: 2 Price: 16000€ Tel: 666228830 Mitsubishi Montero Engine: 1.6litres Kms: 240000kms Year: 1997 Petrol Doors: 4 Price: 2200€ Tel: 605627067 Mini Cooper Engine: 0litres Kms: 90000kms Year: 2003 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 14900€ Tel: 661547561 Volkswagen New Beetle Engine: 2litres Kms: 115000kms Year: 2000 Petrol Doors: 2 Price: 7000€ Tel: 922265753 BMW 318i Engine: 1.8litres Kms: 180000kms Year: 0 Petrol Doors: 4 Price: 6000€ Tel: 687902736

Yamaha R1 1000CC Horsepower: 172HP Year: 2005 Kms: 19500kms Price: 7300€ Tel: 616811530 Kawasaki Z750 750CC Horsepower: 110HP Year: 2008 Kms: 6300kms Price: 4900€ Tel: 616997396 YamahaYZF 1000R 1000CC Horsepower: 145HP Year: 1998 Kms: 46000kms Price: 2800€ Tel: 660979848 Honda CBR 600 RR 600CC Horsepower: 119HP Year: 2006 Kms: 8000kms Price: 6300€ Tel: 695200325 Lanvertti Radom 250CC Price: 2500€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti Goes 125CC Price: 999€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti Quat 110 Quad 110CC Price: 1800€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti BBR- 2 125CC Price: 999€ Tel: 922636211

Insurance :

Suzuki LTZ400 Quad 400CC Year: 2004 Price: 2200€ Tel: 617628716

Car Insurance

Suzuki ltz 400CC Year: 2006 Price: 2000€ Tel: 651163432

TM

linea directa 902 123 157

Items Wanted : Wanted 4 ring ceramic, electric hob for a domestic kitchen. Call 665 545 041 We buy your unwanted household and garden items big or small. Complete house clearances or single items bought for cash. Call 922 703 617 / 645 389 207.

We work 7 days and evenings.

Kawasaki Versys 650CC Year: 2007 Kms: 20000kms Price: 4000€ Tel: 633317211 Piaggio NRG 50 Power DD 50CC Year: 2006 Kms: 99999kms Price: 1300€ Tel: 686907008 Lanvertti mini buggy 49cc Quad 49CC Price: 525€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti Xeno0n reload 125CC Price: 995€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti mini moto cross 49CC Price: 270€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti quat 49cc cross Quad 47CC Price: 365€ Tel: 922636211

NEED CASH?

We buy used gold and diamond jewellery

BEST PRICES PAID We sell new gold & diamond Jewellery up to 50% discount Joyería Classic. C/ General Franco, 22, Los Cristianos Mob. 626 234 284 · joyeriaclassic@telefonica.net

clothes) artistic, relaxing, stress relief, sport massage, erotic and more... harmonise your body, heart and mind. natural and clean. Magic hands 627 114 090 Butterflies, south, four ladies, hot, bold, blonde and dusky, young, lesbian, couples and more…erotic massage, spectacular sculptured bodies, sensual, passionate, visiting hotels,…payment by credit card and direct debits, 646 466 948 Cristianos, sweet, beautiful, sexy lady, nice body, big breasts, you have a great time, stress relief, erotic massage, other ser vices, discreet, apartment, home, hotel visits, 630 723353 / 667 217814 Hot, hot, girls, Cari and friends, in front of Aguamar apartments, all services, hotel and home visit, 24 hours, contact 664 513700 / 686 111493 Transexual, new, beautiful woman, dusky, super feminine, sweet, well endowed, big breasts, volcanic, no hurry, French, ½ hour 50 euros, infront of Gran Arona, urb. Cristimar, 699 635040 New, south, Chayofa, various ladies, no hurry, very hot for you, extinguish the fire and your body and enjoy repeatedly. 627 170904 Danna, new Cristianos, two friends, beautiful, sexy, erotic massage, discreet apartment, 634 273126 / 664 077390 English gentleman seeks passive women for mild BDSM friendship. I’ve lived in Tenerife for 10 years, own a restaurant in Las Americas, I’m genuine, affectionate and caring. Interested? Email me gentlemanjim2you@yaoo. co.uk Come to a gentleman’s adult party held twice weekly in Tenerife south. Horny girls and hot fun for hours.

Free refreshments. Call 672 841658 for an invitation.

Items for sale : Fender Bassman 135 amplifier 1972 silver face, excellent condition €1,500 Tel. 630 604 058 Romeo

Motorbikes : Lanvertti City 125CC Price: 999€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti mini supermotar 47CC Price: 225€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti Vipper 250CC Price: 2399€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti Nitro 49CC Price: 999€ Tel: 922636211 Lanvertti mini trial 49CC Price: 330€ Tel: 922636211

03.

Contacts Los Cristianos, near the church square, Julia, discreet apartment .Nice and pretty girls. Open and visiting 24 H, tel: 666 773 761.

Las Américas. professional massage (without

• Full set of ping G5 irons • Ping G5 driver • Ping G5 putter • Ping rescue club • Ping woods and white tour bag 4PME BT UPUBM QBDLBHF GPS Ŏ

$BMM

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

CLASSIFIEDS / GENERAL SERVICES

45

Conveyancing • Criminal law • Wills Employment law • Family law • Personal injury

04.

General Services

RESIDENT SPANISH LAWYERS & ENGLISH SOLICITOR DIY / Decoration / Hardware / Gardens

922 719 520 for friendly professional advice

Adeje ¡ La Cuesta La Orotava ¡ Tacoronte

Residencial Villaflor B20, San Eugenio, Costa Adeje. Email: tenerife@decottalaw.net

CHEAPEST IN • Tiling • Plumbing • Electrical • Bathroom refurbs

Celebrating 25 years of expertise - www.decottalaw.com

BEGINNERS’ DANCE CLASSES Adults’ Ballroom, Latin American, Tap or Freestyle Childrens’ ( 2 1/2 - 7yrs).

Introduction to Dance.

Many other classes in ballet, hip hop, modern, musical theatre for all ages.

At Vamos a Bailar - Let’s Dance. CC Perla Blanca, Callao Salvaje ¡ Ring 636 817 265 or 646 067 471

• Kitchen refurbs

All other DIY needs

4)& &6301& JT B DPOGJEFOUJBM IFMQMJOF GPS XPNFO PG BMM BHFT XIP OFFE B GSJFOE UP IFMQ UIFN JO UJNFT PG EJTUSFTT XIFO FWFSZEBZ MJGF TFFNT PWFSXIFMNJOH

697 292 399

8IFO UIF DBMM JT SFDFJWFE TIF XJMM CF HJWFO QSBDUJDBM BEWJDF SFMFWBOU UFMFQIPOF OVNCFST PG QSPGFTTJPOBMT BCMF UP IFMQ BOE UIF GSJFOEMZ TVQQPSU PG $ISJTUJBO XPNFO GSPN UIF &OHMJTI TQFBLJOH DIVSDIFT PO UIF JTMBOE

SPANISH CLASSES Fed up of not being able to speak the `lingo´? Never too late to learn or improve!

Individuals or groups - tailor made to your level. Home visits available.

0VS XFC QBHF JT XXX TIF FV DPN BOE UIF IFMQMJOF OVNCFS JT

Telf: 649 882366

Air conditioning & heating units Summer Special Air conditioning with heating from

â‚Ź450 Repairs,re-gassing & quality with experience

Tel. 664 826 505

HOMESTYLE DIRECT S.L. QUALITY FURNITURE IMPORTERS

HOMESTYLE DIRECT Quality Furniture Importers.

Pol.Industrial Las Chafiras. Tenerife South 922 736 849

Tenerife Intermediary Services

SOLAR FANTĂ STICO

Skilled Builder Robert McAlees

Translation in English, Spanish and German Health, motoring, legal, utilities and much more Call Carmen on 606 790075 or 922 716988 Fax 922 718421 Email info@tistenerife.com

Foreign guy from Armenia

Reasonably priced reforms, professional, painting and decorating 10 years experience

Tel 659 576 865

As seen in “Dream Home DIY�

Tenerife Lifestyle magazine

I listen to what you want and make sure you get the best.

I can replace that faulty tap or renovate your home.

Over 30 year’s experience. UK qualiďŹ ed to advanced skills status.

Call any time 922 814 073 / 605 469 352 rjmcalees@yahoo.com

www. tenertodo. com we have everything in the Canaries

Aron

Video tapes copied.

Super 8 and VHS to DVD. Make it safe for the next generation.

Phone 922 797 104

Spanish lessons at your home in the south of Tenerife.

Special prices for groups. I also speak English.

Tel 671 314367 Piano/keyboard lessons for children and adults Home tuition available (south Tenerife).

Custom made lessons to suit all levels and musical interests.

Telephone 686 014355 www.pianointenerife.eu

FREE, no obligation survey & quotation

Polígono Industrial Las Chafiras III, C. Caracas Nave 4 - 38639 S. Miguel de Abona ¡ Tenerife Tel: +34 922 736738 Fax: +34 922 735 123 Email: info@canariesbritish.com ¡ web: www.cbas.eu

Canaries & British Aluminium Systems S.L. A British owned company - Established in Tenerife 1992 VISIT OUR COMPREHENSIVE SHOWROOM "See the best display in Tenerife" We manufacture, supply and fit: All types of doors and window systems, insect screens, mirrored wardrobes, balcony screens and partitions. All types and sizes of gates, electric, manual and telephone entry etc.

Garage doors, louvered shutters, fixed or adjustable louvers, pergolas, balustrades, cupboards, roofing, mobile roofs (manual or electric),extensions, conservatories, shower screens and cubicles, tiling, building. All types of glass mirrors.

Security shutters, high security locks and glass. Take advantage of our free security survey.

NEW - GLASS CURTAINS 'Why spoil the view" *Frameless folding glass doors and windows* Ideal for balcony/terrace enclosures and for existing patio areas See all the above in our showroom and watch the manufacturing process.

WE ONLY SELL WHAT WE MAKE - WE ARE NOT MIDDLE MEN. Directions: With Iceland on your right, take the second turn left after the ITV station and we are on your left behind Autos Tenerife.

46

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

CLASSIFIEDS / GENERAL SERVICES

Be forever comfortable – whatever the weather!

04.

SPECIAL OFFER!* Only

General Services

1699€

Lounge & Two Bedrooms

Items For Sale:

1 x 12000 BTU & 2 x 9000BTU

Real Bargain!!

Operational modes: cooling, heating, fan only or dehumidifying · *While Stocks Last

Swimming pool cold? Now use all year round! Pool Heaters – Latest Technology - Whisper Quiet – Maximum Efficiency.

Affordable and Economic (from less than 1€ per day!)

Private or Community - from 4499€ fully installed.

Computer for sale Compaq Presario PENTIUM 4 (2007) with Printer/Scanner HP Photosmart C6180

A.C. Direct

Tel. 677 799 475

Experienced professionals. Established more than 15 years in Spain.

Qualified by C&G and CITB to conform to EU refrigerant gas regulations.

Masonic Meetings:

Scheduled Maintenance Agreements available – Call for details

MASONIC MEETINGS

500€

TOTAL CLIMATE CONTROL

902 789 189

For all your climate control solutions - Call for free no-obligation site survey

Get the legal help you need Full Range of legal services Leading name in Tenerife Free call 900 809 212 Villalba Hervas 4,1ºC Santa Cruz de Tenerife www.lawbrokers.es

TAX ADVISORS GENERAL ACCOUNTANCY

DIY / Decoration / Hardware / Gardens

Qualified British Community Administrator 8am - 1.30pm Mon to Fri For appointments only 2.30pm - 5pm

Tel: 922 753 432 Fax: 922 798 326

Email: info@asesoriacondado.com www.asesoriacondado.com

www.lasafortunadas.com

Drawn to the world of beauty?

www. tenertodo. com we have everything in the Canaries

are recruiting; Beauty consultants Free training

922 127 679 or cv to MarcelCluny@gmail.com

San Miguel Puerto de la Cruz

Reformas

DO MORE THAN HOPE FOR THE BEST

FULL RENOVATION WORK Would you like to change your house or apartment into a beautiful & cosy home? Or maybe all you need is a small renovation job? All with top quality finishing?

tel: 677 799 475

Tony the Welder • Security Grilles • Gates • Railings

902 886 226 www.todocancer.org

Tel: 659 489 690

Join us and combat cancer

ALL WELCOME

LODGE TEIDE meets in Puerto de la Cruz on Wednesday evenings contact John Hughes on 922 38 22 29 email taffy007naeve@ yahoo.com

• Steel Fabrication • On-site Welding Fully Qualified Legal Craftsman 27 years experience, 14 years Tenerife

aecc

©IC/534/2007

TENERIFE LAWYERS & SOLICITORS

LODGE AVE FENIX MEET REGULARLY ON TUESDAY EVENINGS IN THEIR OWN NEW TEMPLE AT LOS CRISTIANOS ................

Please contact the Secretary John Donaldson on Tel. 922 17 91 74 e-mail: donaldsonjh@yahoo.co.uk

Property Secured, Quality Assured

Horse sharing!

I am offering horse sharing for my 5 year old gelding. He is a very quiet horse and enjoys rides.

Interested?

Please call 609 929 278

ROTARY MEETING Every Monday at 8.20pm in the Hotel Conquistador. All visitors welcome

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

05.

Property

Puerto de la Cruz: Well kept Studio for short/long term rentals (450 €/month).

Communal swimming pool, off-road parking, full reception service. 660731913 Apartment Guargacho Location: central 1 room 440€ Phone: 663805740

For lease restaurant

Apartment Santa Cruz De Tenerife Location: central Views: mountain 85.00m2 3 rooms 600€ Phone: 922273239

For Sale: Chance of a Lifetime to aquire an entertainment bar in Tenerife’s finest area ‘Parque de la Paz’.

Excellent Turnover; offers over € 100,000.

Tel: 922781952 or 696336936.

FANTASTIC BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Supermarket for sale, north Tenerife. Est. 6 years, large and ever increasing customer base, excellent revenue all year round. Phone 0034 667 759 753 for more info.

Restaurant with 2 bed apartment above in the south of Tenerife. For rent 2500 euros per month, rent to buy option, tel 650 406911

Wanted : The island’s premier Cash Buyers of freehold property.

We complete within 28 days.

No agents, no viewings, no delays. Call (0034) 922 720222 or visit www. tenerifehomebuyers.com Room, studio or apartment on a finca in south Tenerife wanted in exchange for cooking/ cleaning services, tel 638 332447

Rent : Near Costa del Silencio – lovely 2 bedroom apartment, 2 bathroom (one en-suite), kitchen, living room, ver y spacious, balcony, superb mountain views, underground parking, quiet area, 500 euros per month plus bills. Tel 607 765473 Callao Salvaje, 3 bedroom large ground floor furnished apartment 8non complex).

Lounge, kitchen with dishwasher etc. dining room, 2 bathrooms, enclosed garden, private splash pool, pictures at www.thedataweb. com, 800 euros per month plus bills. Tel 628 430734, no dogs.

47

Studios, 1 and 2 bed apartments from 400€ for rent to mature-minded people in Tor viscas Alto. UK TV channels. For details, phone Nadine: 922 715 162

Business Opps :

working with good client base Beautiful local with a family feel, ample parking Tel 637 560 700

CLASSIFIEDS / PROPERTY

GREAT INVESTMENT OFFER IN SAN EUGENIO ALTO

Tabaiba Alta

Studio Puerto de la Cruz Location: central Views: sea 35.00m2 400€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Puerto de la Cruz Location: outskirts Views: mountain 166.00m2 3 rooms 800€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Torviscas Alto Location: outskir ts 45.00m2 1 room 550€ Phone: 922751064 Apartment Fañabé Location: outskirts 2 rooms 795€ Phone: 922751064 Apartment Valle San Lorenzo Location: central 60.00m2 2 rooms 495€ Phone: 922751064 Apartment Bajada al Pris 59.00m2 2 rooms 450€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Los Frailes 60.00m2 2 rooms 550€ Phone: 670242080

Sunny 3-bedroom apartment, 103 m2 , garden, 2 bathrooms, huge terrace with a wonderful ocean view, garage, small urbanization, sat TV, 5 minutes from the German school, 700 euros per month plus extra charges.

Tel: 922 710 515

Apartment Urb. Paraíso 52.00m2 1 room 650€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Durazno 166.00m2 3 rooms 800€ Phone: 670242080 Studio San Fernando 33.00m2 400€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Armeñime 77.00m2 3 rooms 500€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Maritim 80.00m2 1 room 800€ Phone: 670242080 Duplex Maritim 80.00m2 1 room 800€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Armeñime 49.00m2 1 room 380€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment La Longuera 74.00m2 2 rooms 650€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment San Antonio 70.00m2 2 rooms 680€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Las Candias 100.00m2 2 rooms 1000€ Phone: 670242080 Chalet San Jose 70.00m2 2 rooms 550€ Phone: 670242080

Restaurant with 2 bed apartment above in the south of Tenerife For rent 2500€ a month, rent-to-buy optional.

Tel: 650 406 911

Furnished two bedroom, two bathroom apartment for long term rental in Costa del Silencio. English TV (Sky, BBC, ITV etc). Swimming pool. Lovely well maintained complex in a quiet location, but close to all local amenities. 650 euros per month.

Tel 690 769899 Terraced house Green Golf 135.00m2 3 rooms 850€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Green Golf 135.00m2 2 rooms 850€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Santa Cruz de Tenerife Location: central 190.00m2 5 rooms 850€.

Phone: 922273239

Terraced house Green Golf 150.00m2 3 rooms 750€ Phone: 670242080

Studio Puerto de la cruz Location: central Views: sea 35.00m2 400€. Phone: 670242080

Apartment El Amparo 50.00m2 1 room 450€ Phone: 670242080

Terraced house Urb. Green Golf 135.00m2 3 rooms 950€ Phone: 670242080

Terraced house Green Golf 135.00m2 2 rooms 850€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Puerto Viejo 54.00m2 2 rooms 550€ Phone: 670242080

Very spacious 1 bed bungalows.

Fully furnished. Ideal for retirement, holiday home or rental income.

ONLY 115.000 EUROS THIS IS AN EXCLUSIVE OFFER FROM THE PROPERTY GALLERY. CALL 922 719 925 E-mail: thepropertygallery@teide.net www.thepropertygallery.org

Villa Tagoro San Eugenio Alto

Terraced house Green Golf 120.00m2 3 rooms 850€ Phone: 670242080

Property Finder reference: B1102

Residencial

La Duquesa Playa Fañabé

Apartment Piedra Hincada 2 rooms 700€ Phone: 670242080 Studio Plaza Del Charco 20.00m2 420€ Phone: 670242080 Studio La Paz 550€ Phone: 670242080 A p a r t m e n t E l To p e 75.00m2 2 rooms 650€ Phone: 670242080 Studio Plaza Del Charco 40.00m2 400€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Puntillo Del Sol 43.00m2 1 room 450€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house La Quinta 130.00m2 3 rooms 800€ Phone: 670242080

New 3 bedroom luxury villa 750,000€ Tel. (0034) 655 914 691 (0034) 922 71 33 56

Port Royale Los Cristianos 2 bedroom apartment

Chalet El Durazno 275.00m2 3 rooms 1500€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Durazno 150.00m2 3 rooms 800€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Green Golf 150.00m2 3 rooms 750€ Phone: 670242080 Studio Playa Jardín 35.00m2 450€ Phone: 670242080 Studio San Fernando 27.00m2 360€ Phone: 670242080 Chalet Playa Paraíso 3 r ooms 2000€ Phone: 670242080 P re m i s e s P l a z a D e l Charco 133.00m2 2500€ Phone: 670242080 Chalet Las Candias 100.00m2 2 rooms 1000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Santa Cruz de Tenerife Location: central Views: mountain 85.00m2 3 rooms 600€. Phone: 922273239 Premises Santa Cruz de Tenerife Location:central 120.00m2 750€. Phone: 922273239

If it's great views that you're after then this lovely 2 bed, 2 bath apartment has some of the best. Great views over Los Cristianos out to sea with La Gomera on the horizon.

To be sold furnished & fully fitted, the property consists of an American style open plan kitchen and dining area combined with the large airy & light living room with patio doors leading onto the large 36m2 terrace which enjoys the afternoon sun.

Master bedroom is en-suite with patio doors leading out to the terrace and both bedrooms have fitted wardrobes.

The complex benefits from a large communal pool, reception, supermarket and many other amenities within a short walking distance.

Reduced from € 270,000 to € 225,750 for a quick sale.

Contact Horizon Property Group on 922 777 652 quoting ref C-1456

3 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom, front and back garden, comunity pool. €425,000 Tel. 629 244 958 Excellent opportunity in Costa del Silencio

Apartment, 73m2, 2 bed, 1 bath, American kitchen, fitted wardrobes. Terrace, 40m2 with views over Teide and the complex.

2 community pools, one heated and one salt water, playground and other services.

Price €82,000.

Tel. 629 244 958

Sale : El Médano, dir ectly from the owner!!! New, precious detached house, 3 bedrooms, 2 moder n bathrooms, indep. kitchen, 3 terraces,bbq, luxury complex with 2 swimming pools, 42m2 closed garage, ver y exclusive furnished. Quiet zone, Price: 330.000 euros, Tel: 650 792 742 La Gomera, peace lovers, rustic palm fringed natural retreat. Three dwellings (123m2), residence and letting for rural holidays.

Matur e patio gar dens, beautiful mountain views.

For sale 196,000 euros, tel (0034) 922 800888, email davina@gmx.com

48

CLASSIFIEDS / PROMOTION

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 Finca (4,400m ) with main house and outbuilding for sale. Various uses, ie tourism / agriculture. Tel 650 980719 2

05.

Property

Rustic Land La Hoya Location: outskirts Views: mountain 12000.00m2 2 rooms 300507€ Phone: 670804067 Apartment Los Cristianos Views: sea 56.00m2 1 room 150000€ Phone: 606394368

Sale : L u x u r y, n e w s e m i detached house, 178,000 euros, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, nice, furnished, 50m2 terrace, 240m2 plot, no community, sea and mountain views, Tor viscas Alto, info 629 300139 Torviscas Alto/ Resid.

Casablanca, directly from the owner!!! Very beautiful apartment (53m2) in the most exclusive zone of Tenerife, 1 bedroom and an small officeroom, ver y big bathroom, 35m2 terrace with precious views, luxury complex with swimming pool and gardens.

Garage and store-room. Only 6 months old!!! Price: 183.000 euros, Tel: 650.792.742 Detached Villa in Callao Salvaje. Quiet cul de sac facing a barranco.

5 bedrooms,5 bathrooms, lounge,dining room,kitchen, utility and study. Garden, courtyard, heated swimming pool plus store rooms. Sea and mountain views. Can be divided into 2 apartments.

Plot 400sq m. € 650,000. tel 607310854

Apartment Sta Cruz de Tenerife Location: central 157.00m2 3 rooms 235000€ Phone: 922273239 Apartment La Laguna Location: outskirts 110.00m2 3 rooms 270000€ Phone: 922273239

CLASSIFIEDS / PROPERTY

Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central Views: sea 105.00m2 3 rooms 126000€ Phone: 663805740

Apartment Los Realejos Location: central Views: sea 74.00m2 2 rooms 225000€ Phone: 922245178

Terraced house Aguamansa 190.00m2 3 rooms 200000€ Phone: 670242080

Terraced house Tabaiba Alta 186.00m2 4 rooms 355000€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 3 rooms 126000€ Phone: 663805740

Chalet Candelaria Location: outskirts Views: mountain 180.00m2 4 r ooms 222375€ Phone: 922273239

Premises Santa Cruz 125.00m2 2 rooms 540000€ Phone: 922245178

Terraced house Cruz del Teide 3 rooms 342577€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Los Abrigos 62.00m2 2 rooms 115000€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Las Dehesas 50.00m2 1 room 200000€ Phone: 670242080

Duplex Las Aguas 3 r ooms 167000€ Phone: 670242080

Hotel 4900000€ Phone: 670242080

Terraced house Santa Cruz Location: central Views: sea 187.00m2 3 rooms 525000€ Phone: 663805740 Apartment Tabaiba Baja Location: central Views: sea 86.00m2 3 rooms 250000€ Phone: 663805740 Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 140.00m2 4 rooms 370000€ Phone: 663805740

Terraced house Guayonje Location: countr yside Views: mountain 350.00m2 3 rooms 330000€ Phone: 922245178 Apartment Los Cristianos Location: central Views: mountain 50.00m2 1 room 100000€ Phone: 670804067 Apartment Los Majuelos Location: outskirts Views:

Terraced house San Clemente 174.00m2 3 r ooms 250000€ Phone: 670242080 Chalet El Monturrio 190.00m2 4 rooms 189000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Piedra Hincada 2 rooms 244300€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Arona / Valle San lorenzo Location: central Views: sea 85.00m2 2 rooms 118000€ Phone: 627180081

A p a r t m e n t E l To p e 108.00m2 3 rooms 208000€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 210.00m2 5 rooms 619000€ Phone: 922273239 Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 120.00m2 3 rooms 174300€ Phone: 922273239

Apartment Los Abrigos 62.00m2 2 rooms 115000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 84.00m2 3 rooms 252500€ Phone: 663805740

mountain 113.00m2 3 r ooms 285000€ Phone: 922245178

Apartment Los Majuelos Location: central 103.00m2 3 rooms 183682€ Phone: 663805740

Apartment El Médano 1 room 125000€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Santa Cruz Location: central 105.00m2 4 rooms 162200€ Phone: 922245178

Terraced house Tegueste Location: central 3 rooms 247000€ Phone: 663805740

Chalet Barranco Hondo Location: outskirts Views: sea 169.00m2 4 rooms 438000€ Phone: 663805740

Apartment La Laguna Location: outskirts 55.00m2 2 rooms 138200€ Phone: 922245178

Apartment Chalet Playa Paraíso 3 rooms 475000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment El Médano 1 room 125000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment El Médano 2 rooms 175000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment El Médano 2 rooms 175000€ Phone: 670242080 Terraced house Carmenaty 174.00m2 4 rooms 299000€ Phone: 670242080

Rates including 5% IGIC tax

6 Months 12 editions

12 Months 25 editions

*All prices are plus 5% IGIC tax per edition

Canary Islands / Spain Europe / UK

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49

Cut out this coupon and send it with Euro cheque, to: Subscriptions Department, ISLAND CONNECTIONS S.L., Calle Francisco Feo Rodríguez 6, Las Chafiras 38620, San Miguel de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Contact: classifieds@ic-news.com for UK bank details.

Apartment Puntillo Del Sol 80.00m2 1 room 160000€ Phone: 670242080

Apartment Playa Jardin 70.00m2 3 rooms 225000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment San Luis 115.00m2 3 rooms 188500€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment San Luis 105.51m2 3 rooms 176000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment San Luis 120.00m2 3 rooms 192500€ Phone: 670242080 Chalet Los Naranjos 225.00m2 3 rooms 499000€ Phone: 670242080 Apartment La Zamora 71.38m2 3 rooms 147218€ Phone: 670242080

Tabaiba Alta Sunny 3-bedroom apartment, 103 m2 , garden, 2 bathrooms, huge terrace with a wonderful ocean view, garage, small urbanization, 5 minutes from the German school, parquet floors, 2 storage rooms.

Private sale: 230,000 euros (o.n.o.).

A p a r t m e n t E l To p e 58.00m2 1 room 196350€ Phone: 670242080

Phone 922710515

Valle San Lorenzo Wonderful Villa with four seperate Living areas seaview, the second free plot is with building licence, 965m2, special offer, 550,000 euros for more information 667 387 459 / 922 765 446

3 bed, 2 bathroom duplex apartment for sale in Los Girasoles, El Madroñal Independent kitchen, downstairs toilet, office, living/dining room, 2 terraces approx 20m2 each.

For more information email ventasol@terra.es

Urb. Arco Iris Playa

Urb. Oasis Dakota, Playa Fañabé 3 bed semi detached, toilet, complete bathroom, separate kitchen, totally equipped, furnished, 35m2 terrace, secure access to pool, infant park, good views, beside commerical centres, 800m from Playa Fañabe, community feees 30/month, 185,000 € Tel 629 244958

Second line from the sea in Callao Salvaje.

Duplex, totally furnished, 75m2, separate ktichen, totally equipped, toilet, dining room, complete bathroom, 2 bedrooms, SAT-TV, solarium 30m2 with views to Gomera and Teide, garage space, community areas with 2 pools, automatic gates, community fees 54/month, 145,000 euros

Tel 629 244 958

50

Motoring

New Opel Astra S

porty and elegant, this new sleek and sculptured design language which has been attained with the usual German precision was used for the first time on the Insignia.

The new Astra’s sporty lines and elegant details add a new and attractive aspect, creating a chunky and yet graceful looking vehicle which marks the

sixth generation of Astra in 30 years. Due to debut at September’s Frankfurt motor show, the silhouette of the Astra is extremely fluid.

Inside, high quality materi-

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

als and a total new design make the idea of driving a relatively compact car seem rather attractive. It is to be supplied with new high performance, low consumption engines with reduced emissions.

According to a survey, most drivers don’t keep their gloves in a glove-box, so more useful storage space has been created including the option of an under-seat drawer beneath the passenger seat which is big enough to hold a pair of

shoes. Rear passengers also benefit, with a 12-volt connection available for mp3 players, in addition to space for drinks bottles. Ambient lighting enhances the quality feel of the interior, and special attention has been paid to the design and engineering of the Astra’s seats.

The front seat height can be raised by up to 65mm, while their fore and aft range extends to 280mm, allowing all drivers and passengers to find their ideal seating position. In addi-

tion, the Ergonomic Sports Seats (depending on model chosen) have improved tilt adjustment, four-way power lumbar support, superior side support and supporting foam pads.

The quality of the materials used in the new Astra can be seen in the grained surfaces, the textured panels, the chrome trim elements and the feel and operation of its buttons and switches.

In addition, all the Astra’s main surfaces are textured with upmarket materials

and top grains to give a strong, premium feel. The Astra’s interior employs the wing and blade motifs which were first introduced in the Insignia. The blade theme is expressed in details like the gooseneck shape of the door grab handles and the trim for the gearshift moulding and steering wheel.

As you look at the Astra’s wraparound instrument panel, which embraces both front seat occupants, the wing design is immediately visible as it arcs across the cabin into the door-top mouldings. The dashboard has a black, grained finish with a subtly different texture to other mouldings in the cabin. The new Astra’s boot has been redesigned too. A recess has been created in the side of the boot to accept either a first aid kit or warning triangle, a patented Flex-Floor was devised to offer further under-floor storage, and the floor itself can be fixed at different heights.

The FlexRide system, first seen on the Insignia, offers drivers three settings – Standard, Sport and Tour, while at the same time all four dampers fully adapt to changes in road conditions, driving style and cornering speed, further enhancing safety. The electronic brain behind this system uses vehicle dynamics information and constantly monitors all these conditions to optimise the behaviour of the chassis and provide maximum stability.

More information available soon on www.opel.es

SportNews

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

51

INTERVIEW

Rally round THE ONLY BRITISH RALLY DRIVER WITH A LICENCE TO COMPETE IN THE CANARIES NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT. and Canal Azul as well as extensive radio coverage and articles in magazines like Motor 2000.

Your company’s name could be speeding around the roads, shown on local television and national press if you decide to join his group of sponsors. It’s not a cheap sport, the entry fees for a rally are 350 euros and for a hill climb 300. Tyres for the season cost 2,560 euros and fuel for each event takes another 175 euros out of the wallet. In addition there

G

il Gouveia, known to his friends as Geno, cut his rallying teeth in the Channel Island of Jersey where he competed for 20 years and was a member of the Jersey Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. Events he took part in included: the annual rally, three annual hill climbs, and various sprint events organised throughout the year. Over the years he was awarded various trophies in all categories and the last event he took part in, a hill climb, he was the group A winner with the fastest time.

Exchanging one sunny island for another Gil moved to Tenerife, but his racing hobby continues.

A mechanic by trade he builds and improves both his racing vehicles himself.

He currently races with a Clio Williams GRA and a Subaru Impreza and looks to continue fine-tuning both cars with the aim of being competitive.

Now aged 46, this is Geno’s third year racing in Tenerife.

In the near future, he hopes to prepare cars for racing and lease them to visiting or local drivers who have a competition licence.

Geno is looking for sponsorship to cover competition costs and the maintenance of the car. He has tagged three events he would particularly like to take part in because they are the most popular occasions in the southern calendar, the Villa Adeje Rally, the Tamaimo Hill

Climb, and the Guía de Isora Hill Climb.

Normally, you can become a sponsor for as little as 500 euros a year and the cost of the stickers which you order yourself for the car and the support van. However in the present financial climate, Geno would be happy to accept smaller amounts from sponsors, it’s negotiable.

To whet the appetite of all you motor fans, Geno gave us a rundown of the V illa Adeje rally, www. escuderiavilladeadeje.com/.

His co-driver for the event is an 18 year old local, son of an ex-pat, called Daniel Salazar. The four stage event is to be held over two days, September 11th and 12th.

The first stage is Cueva del Polvo which starts behind La Caldera in Santiago del Teide goes in the direction of Guía de Isora and down a

LA LAGUNA Basketball

link road to Playa San Juan, finishing just before the road smoothes out. The second stage is Arona-San Miguel which star ts at the same place as the hill climb, after the bridge on the main road from Arona to La Escalona.

The cars race all the way to La Escalona and then downhill towards San Miguel where it finishes by the football pitch.

La Concepción-Taucho stage is where most cars finish the stage with no brakes. Geno’s were on fire last year. It starts at the bottom of the hill road to La Concepción from the TF 82 between the Atalaya roundabout and Guía de Isora, passing through an incredible ravine to link to Taucho and downhill again towards the TF 82 main road.

The final stage, Atogo, is famous because one of Spain’s top racing stars once raced here. At just six kilometres,

it’s the shortest of the stages, but it is possible to see the cars airborne in one of the sections. It starts behind Las Chafiras, about 500 metres towards Las Galletas from the Las Chafiras roundabout and races to Atogo, above Los Abrigos.

Rallying is the largest and most popular spectator sport on the island attracting huge international crowds. The road rally season star ted in April this year and will end in December. There are around 14 local events and various more in the rest of the Canaries which he hopes to take part in if he can get enough sponsorship.

Awareness of local motor sport has grown enormously within the local ex-pat community and media and there is always plenty of television coverage by Canal 4, Teide Visión, IC Canaries

are the maintenance costs which for rallies works out at 500 euros and for the hill climbs 200. Geno already has the expensive obligatory suit, boots, neck brace and fireproof under wear (they check you’re wearing it by putting a hand up your trouser leg!) Make the most of a great opportunity to get your company’s name or brand better known by sponsoring Geno. You can contact him on 922 850 291, 637 077 864 or via email at GG.MotorSport@ gmail.com.

Archiauto

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86

SPANISH SUPER CUP FC Barcelona

Tenerife stay in the Four cups on the Hamburger cards?

Tenerife basketball club have turned down the chance to move their home games to Santa Cruz from their current stadium on the motorway in La Laguna.

Far too early for even the most dedicated of fans to speculate, but already they are talking about FC Barcelona’s chances of winning four cups this season.

After weeks of overtures from Santa Cruz council to make the move, the club decided to stay in the stadium, which is known popularly as the ‘Hamburger’ due to its shape.

Insiders say the financial offer from the capital fell short of the club’s demands although some directors were still keen on the switch to try and attract bigger crowds. Last season’s averages of under 2,000 were dwarfed in the Hamburger, which has a capacity of over 5,000, and players frequently complained of a frosty atmosphere compared to neighbours Socas Canaria’s compact venue, where the crowd is one of the most intimidating in the league.

The Catalan club, who achieved the historic triple last year (league, King’s Cup and Champion’s League), won the Spanish Super Cup in style, with a 1-4 aggregate over rivals Athletic Club Bilbao, with winning goal in the first leg coming from Tinerfeño Pedro, who has just signed his first full professional contract with the club. Pedrito, who has been with the Barcelona youth squad for a number of years, has signed up to stay with the club until at least 2014, with an opt out price tag of €75 million. His pre-season form has been excellent, scoring in almost every game, and would seem set for a regular spot in the first team this season.

FREE ENTRY FOR MAINTENANCE WORK CARRIED OUT TO THE VALUE OF €200 OFFER VALID UNTIL 15.09.2009

All Makes

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Las Chafiras Avda. Siete Islas Canarias, 92 Polígono Industrial llano del Camello Las Chafiras - San Miguel El Mayorazgo Polígono Industrial El Mayorazgo s/n. Parcela 47 Santa Cruz de Tenerife La Orotava Polígono Industrial San Jerónimo, 58-62 Las Arenas - La Orotava

52

SPORT

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Megabowl

Tenerife 8 Ball 1. Palms Bar A 2. Ten. Hammers A 3. Trap Door A 4. Toscales 5. Target Bar A 6. 44 Oxford Street 7. Amigos Bar 8. Nauta A 9. Atlantis Sharks 10. Men of Atlantis 11. Trap Door B 12. Phoenix Knights 13. Legends 14. North & South 15. Lupain 16. Ten. Hammers B 17. Rat Pack

PL W D L P

TEAM

PL W D L P

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2

1. Hoops Bar 2. Rinconcito 3. 44 Oxford Street B 4. Nauta B 5. Dreamers 6. Globe A 7. The Office 8. Nauta C 9. Palms Bar B 10. Summerland 11. Terrace Bar B 12. Whippys 13. Barracuda 14. Globe B 15. Terrace Bar A 16. Trap Door C 17. Ten. Hammers C 18. Oasis Bar

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 0

2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 2 1 2

6 6 6 6 6 4 3 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 0

6 6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

10 pin bowling league results

FOOTBALL CD Tenerife

However, players such as defender Manolo Martínez insist that there is no cause for concern.

“The pre-season games are meaningless in terms of points. We start the season in the same position as all the other teams in the top flight. The games have helped us spot things that need to be corrected

Tuesday Singles League Week 9

Damián)

Miguel Rodríguez (7) Chris Rose (1) Avril Capper (6) Frank Saunders (2) Allan Billing (8) No Player (0) Forfeit Rhiannon Russell (4) Dave Dixon (4) No Player (0) Duncan Wallace (8) Forfeit Steve Carter (8) Martin Gronvall (0)

Week 29

Week 10

Credit. www.clubdeportivotenerife.es

“Trust us” plea by players Players at Tenerife have urged fans not to worry at the poor form shown in pre-season games. Successive defeats to Real Sociedad (0-1), Elche (1-4) and Cartagena (1-3) sent alarm bells ringing and fears are increasing that the lack of new signings, as mentioned elsewhere in this edition, could spell trouble as the club makes its return to the first division.

Compiled by Doreen Lemm

DIVISION TWO

DIVISION ONE TEAM

TENERIFE

Frank Saunders (2) Chris Rose (6) Sue Long (6) Duncan Wallace (2) Shelly Masson (0) Jeff Lemm (8) Dave Simpson (0) Dave Dixon (8) No Player (0) Jacquie Gibb (8) Forfeit No Player (0) Ron Howling (8) Forfeit A superb 234 for Sue. A 6, 10, 7 split for opponent Duncan.

Saturday Doubles League Week 35 No matches completed

Week 36

News that Alfaro is back on the island has eased some fan fears

and overall we have played very well”, said Martinez, who urged fans to, “trust the team like they did last year”.

Not everyone is as optimistic although news as we go to press that one of last season’s star players Alfaro, the source of 20 goals last season, will probably be back in the side, a new loan from Sevilla having been agreed, is easing worries somewhat. Added

to that the late loan confirmation of forward Dinei (from Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense) who spent last season with Celta, has eased concerns about the strength of the club’s forward line.

However, and worryingly, Tenerife are already among the pundits’ favourites for relegation, along with Xerez.

Gran Canaria

Cuban flight mystery

The news led to speculation that the players had absconded to try and stay in Spain rather than return to the Caribbean island, where their movements as elite athletes are strictly controlled. However, the basketball federation said later that

Saturday International League Doubles Canal Ocio Dayu Week 28 Golf Costa Adeje (8) Delfin Computer San Isidro (8) Tasca de Tranvia (4) Megabowl Poppets (12) Canal Ocio Dayu (0) Tasquita Damián (16) A fine 210 for Frank March (Tasquita

Sunday Doubles League Week 6 Nothing But Trouble (7) Pinseekers (1) Him + Her (0) Buccaneers (8) 201 for Dave Stell (Buccaneers).

Week 7 Him + Her (0) Pinseekers (8) Nothing But Trouble (4) Rack ‘Ems (4) Market Taverners (0) Buccaneers (8) Buccaneer, Dave Dixon, set off in excellent style with six consecutive strikes and a 225 total followed by a 223 and a final superb 628 series. Ron (Pinseekers) had a 200.

Monday Fun League Week 13 Dumb + Dumber (0) The Super Whites (8)

Monday Pub League Week 12 Fisherman’s Bar (8) Cherry Bakewells (0) Café Royale (8) No team (0) Forfeit Buccaneer Bar (8) Tenerife Royale (0) Maurelly (4) F.C.U.K.’Em (4)

FOOTBALL

BASKETBALL

Cuba’s basketball authorities have played down media reports that almost half the team tried to defect immediately after the recent friendly against Spain in Las Palmas.

According to reports, at least four senior players left the team hotel on Playa de Las Canteras with all their belongings and failed to show up for an engagement.

Monkey Foreheads (6) No team (0) Forfeit No team (0) Megabowlers (8) Forfeit An excellent 242 for Ron Howling (Megabowlers).

Golf Costa Adeje (8) Megabowl Poppets (8) Delfin Computer San Isidro (0) Tasquita Damián (16) Tasca de Tranvia (8) Canal Ocio Dayu (8) The Tasquita Damián duo were on excellent form, Pamela March had a superb 600 series which included a 203 and 202, and partner Frank bowled a superb 223.

it had been a “misunderstanding”, and the missing players had an “official reason” not to be at the hotel. However embarrassingly for the Cubans, the players failed to show at Gran Canaria airport the next day to catch a flight to Madrid.

Four players concerned have been named in the media as Georvis Elias Sayus, Grismay Paumier, Taylor Garcia and Geofry Silvestre and it is reported that they have now made a preliminary request for asylum, with 30 days to formalise it. Any decision on their request will be taken by the department of the interior in Madrid.

Local station TV TV Canarias Canarias have presented their team for the Champions League, the games from which they will be showing exclusively in the islands next season.

Zona Champions

Already up and running with qualification matches having been played, the excellent skills of Mayte Castro, who will be live from the stadium, with the reporting team of José Antonio Pérez and Jesús Alberto Rodríguez and commentary from Alexis Trujillo and Pier Luigi Cherubino.

The transmission team: Pier, J Toledo, J Bethencourt, I Bonales, J Muñoz y A Trujillo

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

By George Reed

Boxing

Giants of the ring Don King (Promoter), on his time before boxing, “intellectually, I went into jail with a peashooter and came out armed with a nuclear bomb.

I made time serve me, rather than me serve time�.

(Photocredit:Winkler Collection)

T

here’s a saying in the ďŹ ght game that, a good big ‘un will always beat a good little ‘un, and because of that the heavyweight champion of the world is ‘The’ champion, the man who can lick anybody else alive.

It may not be so at the present time, but over the years it’s been the heavyweight champion who has attracted the most attention, the largest crowds, the most money and the most fame.

None more so than the great Muhammad Ali, who for a time in the 1970s was regarded as the most famous man in the world.

In the olden days, there was great excitement when a heavyweight title ďŹ ght was due to take place. The crowds ocked to New Orleans in 1892 to watch ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett beat John L. Sullivan, to become the ďŹ rst champion – it being the ďŹ rst heavyweight title ďŹ ght in which boxing gloves were worn by the contestants.

There were race riots in 1908 after Jack Johnson became the ďŹ rst black champion, by humiliating and taking the title off Tommy Burns.

The riots would cause the death of a number of both blacks and whites. In 1921, the title ďŹ ght between Jack Dempsey and the French idol Georges Carpentier would take the ďŹ rst million dollar gate.

There was still great enthusiasm for a heavyweight title ďŹ ght in 1988, for Mike Tyson earned himself over 20 million dollars for 91 seconds of ďŹ ghting, which was the time it took him to knockout Michael Spinks for the ‘richest prize in sport’.

At the turn of the last century many heavyweight boxers were considered as giants, but would hardly merit a second look these days.

In fact, Canadian, Tommy Burns, the smallest man in boxing history to win the world heavyweight title, was only ďŹ ve feet seven inches in height and barely 12½ stone in weight, when winning the crown in 1906. Even by the 1940s any heavyweight

Primo Carnera’s record stood for seven decades until Valuev came along

standing much taller than six feet was thought of as a giant, but by the 1990s, most of the heavyweight boxers stood over six feet, the likes of Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe, who were both six feet ďŹ ve inches, yet even they are fairly average compared to the heavyweight champions of today, with the W.B.A. world title belt having to be altered to ďŹ t around the massive waist of the new champion, Nikolay Valuev, who is around the 24 stone mark and stands at seven feet two inches. The Russian may look awesome but the Klitschko brothers Vitali and Wladimir from the Ukraine, who hold the remaining three world title belts are not exactly pygmies themselves, for Wladimir who is the I.B.F. and W.B.O. champion is six feet seven inches and ďŹ ghts around the 18 stone mark, while elder brother Vitali is bigger still at six feet eight inches and some 19 stone. He is the cur-

rent W.B.C. king. Britain’s former cruiserweight world champion David Haye was contracted to ďŹ ght Wladimir for his titles in June, but had to pull out because of an injury sustained in training.

Then there was talk of him challenging Vitali Klitschko for his W.B.C. belt, but negotiations fell apart due to money problems apparently.

Which left Haye with only one option, and that was to take on the only other major belt holder, the biggest world heavyweight in history, who is nicknamed ‘The Beast from the East’, Nikolay Valuev. Terms have been agreed and the ďŹ ght is expected to take place in Germany on November 7th.

The gigantic Valuev ďŹ rst came to the fore in December 2005, when he shattered the record set by the Italian Primo Carnera seven decades ago, when he beat the American John RuĂ­z to win the W.B.A title, to become the largest ever

world heavyweight champion. Valuev may have been considered by many to be a freak, but after years of knocking out no-hopers and debutants, he has proved himself good enough to call himself a world heavyweight champion, even though the split decision verdict was highly controversial with the

Berlin crowd who booed lustily at the outcome of the ďŹ ght. The most exciting incident came after the ďŹ ght when Ruiz’s enraged manager snatched the belt off Valuev’s shoulder and held it in the air, only to be hit by the best punch of the night from one of the new champion’s corner men.

Not surprisingly the notorious American promoter, Don King, jumped on the band wagon and tried to see the Russian as, “the eighth wonder of the world,â€? when he took him to America a few months later. Don King hand-picked the ďŹ rst challenger for the goliath’s title in the shape of American heavyweight, Monte Barrett, who was a foot shorter and over 100 pounds lighter.

For his entrance into the ring in Chicago, Valuev didn’t do the customary climb between the ropes, he literally hauled his massive long legs over the top rope as if he were stepping over a pile of leaves. As with most of Valuev’s ďŹ ghts it looked like Frankie Dettori wrestling King Kong, until ďŹ nally in the 11th round Barrett collapsed to the canvas on two occasions, more through exhaustion than any of the punches thrown at him.

As he rose to his feet the second time he was completely spent, so his chief corner man jumped into the ring to make sure the referee stopped the contest.

The American fans were far from being impressed with Valuev’s lack of the techni-

53

cal boxing skills that they expected to ďŹ nd in a heavyweight champion, and when he lost his title in April 2007 to the Russian Chagaev, it appeared as if ‘The Russian Giant’ had been exposed, as Chagaev made him look ponderous as he clobbered him with sharp bursts of accurate punches. However, to everyone’s surprise “the big ‘unâ€? revived his career last year with a dominating performance against former W.B.O. titleholder Sergei Liakhovich, winning every round in a W.B.A. eliminator, and showing a sharpness and demonstrating versatility that was sorely absent when he lost to Chagaev.

In June, Valuev hoped to get his revenge against Chagaev and regain his old world title belt, but to his dismay the ďŹ ght was cancelled the day before, when traces of hepatitis were found in Chagaev’s system by the doctors.

Nikolay Valuev must have been in a bad temper then, as he must have been on the day last year, when the 35 year old was ďŹ ned 5,000 dollars in ďŹ nes and compensation for punching 61 year old Yuri Sergeyev outside a Russian sports complex.

Apparently the man insulted the boxer’s wife. Valuev said that he had only tried to, “shake off� Sergeyev. I think it would have been better if he had taken a leaf out of the great Joe Louis’ book. After Joe was bawled at by a truck driver, he was asked why he hadn’t decked the offender. He answered, “if somebody was to insult Caruso, would he sing the guy an aria?�

Londoner David Haye may be small in stature at six foot two inches and 16 stone compared to Valuev, but with his speed and punching power he may do more than just, “shake off� ‘The Beast from the East’ come November.

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54

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Sport

Soccer Experience Sponsored by : Island Connections Media Group & www.windowsplus.co.uk

Soccer Experience teams

Two league champions crowned PREMIERSHIP 7S LEAGUE In the last week of Soccer Experience’s Premiership 7s league big Christian Lee’s Living Room Christian centre finally received their well deserved crown. Their first season with Soccer Experience has seen an amazing 17 match unbeaten run, wonderful goals and some of the best football seen on the Soccer Experience field.

In the last match of a terrific season they took on Pablo’s ever improving España side who had already consolidated the second spot. This match could not have been more intense with no team giving way and with more than a few full blooded challenges, as true champions Living Room held it together and eventually saw off the opposition in style, winning 8:4.

In the other game there was a battle for third place with Morfitt Properties and Taylor’s Lounge, with the two old rivals knowing fourth is not good enough.

Morfitt Properties had been on an amazing run of form going from the back end of the table to third in a matter of weeks even beating the Living Room boys on the way, Taylor’s Lounge have had an indifferent season with as many wins as they have losses, but against Morfitts, form counts for nothing as Taylor’s proved, they dominated the game with some great football and a Gary Boyd goal from within his own penalty area saw them take the game 11:3 and take the third place finish resigning Morfitt Properties to fourth.

The last game saw early pace setters Exiles take on a very unlucky Eclipse Café.

Exiles, who started the season so well but could not find consistency with captain Blair at the helm, rallied for the last game and pulled off a great performance winning the game 10:4, but a mention must go to Big Rhodri’s Eclipse Café side though as they have had numerous last minute defeats and few debatable referee decisions which has put them at the bottom of the table, but they will be hoping that lady luck will give them a break in the coming season.Well done to all players involved in this season’s Premiership league campaign, making it the most exciting and competitive in our history. It’s been a credit to all.

Warrior Master title

MASTER’S DIVISION SUMMER 09 LEAGUE (Now proudly sponsored by De Cotta McKenna y Santafé, resident Spanish Lawyers and English Solicitors).

In the final week of Soccer Experience’s Master’s 7s league there was still all to play for as the title could have gone to either of the top two, leaders Tenerife Warriors or, just three points adrift, Taylor’s Masters.

Tenerife Warriors knew that a point would be enough to take the title, yet needed to gain it off stiff competition from Hoops Bar. Taylor’s Masters had to hope results went their way and needed to take three points against a strong Harley’s team.

First up was Tenerife Warriors. They have been a delight to watch this season playing some wonderful football, with captain Lee

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Living Room title

Martin pulling the strings and a midfield dynamo in form. They rode the early Hoops Bar pressure and in the second half took a hold on the game, with Hoops Bar having no answer. Tenerife Warriors went on to win in true style 8:2 and dash any hopes of a Taylor’s title.

Taylor’s Masters fresh off the disappointment of losing the title race had to play their remaining game against Harley’s knowing a loss could see them slip to third, but they made no mistakes turning in a great performance and winning 7:2. Harley’s American Restaurant have been a rev-

a Car

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neither side backing down.

Dreamers Bar under captains Rob and Mark have gone from strength to strength this season and this game was no exception as they defended brilliantly and with young Warren and James on fire in midfield they beat the Canarian Team for the second time this season, the only team to do so, winning 4:2. Next up saw Cyril’s Creations take on Tenerife S. Both sides are on a rich vain of form of late so this was bound to be a classic and it didn’t disappoint. A cracking game saw Tenerife take a three goal lead only to see Cyril’s Creations bounce straight back and with their new star striker Pete they overturned the deficits and took the win 8:5.

The first foreign Rent a Car in Tenerife!

elation this season. Having just notched up three points throughout last season there wasn’t too much expectation, yet they have defied the odds and had their best season yet and take a well deserved fourth place finish.

Cold Flow, who rested on the final week, also get a mention as captain Damo has done a great job taking them into a third place finish. Morfitt Masters round up the best of the rest. Last season’s champions could not repeat the same form but managed to cause a few upsets along the way. New boys Hole in the Wall had an up and down season with as

many wins as they had losses and Britannia FC along with Planet Football will both be looking to strengthen their squads after disappointing seasons.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE With just two weeks left in the season the championship is really heating up. Our first game saw a battle of the top two league leaders Canarian Team and in-form Dreamers Bar. This turned out to be one of the games of the season with end to end action,

Are you 35 years + and do you remember the hat trick in the schoolyard as if it was yesterday? If so Soccer Experience 7s would like to tell you about their new over 35s league, coming soon! It will have up to seven teams and the teams need a few extra players in each squad, so please get in touch ASAP and we will help place you with an over 35 team!

If you have a starting team we need two new teams for the next season of The Championship league.

Also, if you are interested in putting a team in to any one of the other Soccer Experience leagues or maybe you would like to play and join one of our existing teams or just fancy a friendly game, please contact Soccer Experience on: Phone: 654200470 or email soccer@soccerexperience.com

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Sport NEWS

ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009

55

CD TENERIFE PRE SEASON

The good, the bad and the ugly

Choose your guide wisely Repsol Guide 2009

By Chris Todd

CD

UNIQUE DISCOUNT FOR ISLAND CONNECTIONS READERS

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lan your trips in detail with one of the most comprehensive guides in existence, now at a special discount for Island Connections readers.

The new kits were presented at the end of the month

Stadium improvements are ongoing

sulted before the sale leaving more bad feeling. Fringe players Aitor Nuñez and Carlos Bellvis were brought in to be followed by Roman Martinez from RCD Espanyol who appears to be a very good reinforcement for the centre of midfield, but there is no money for new players according to the club president and so far this summer Tenerife have just spent €400,000 with the whole budget set at €18 million for the season. This is the second lowest budget in La Liga behind Xerez and way behind even small clubs like Getafe who have a budget of over €80 million!

Improvements to the sta-

dium were guaranteed by the Cabildo and apparently the work would be finished in time for the first home match on the weekend of September 12th/13th, or so we thought! Delays upon delays have meant that with two weeks to go before the big kick off none of the refurbishments were complete, in fact they have hardly started! The new media area, lifts to the main stand, VIP boxes and other stadium upgrades will bring the Heliodoro up to the standards required by the Primera division but the LFP (Spanish Football League) held an emergency meeting last week in Tenerife as they were concerned about the

lack of new CCTV cameras, PA system and emergency exit safety. The pre-season results have been regular but manager José Luis Oltra has been experimenting and giving run outs to many young players as he waits for the promised signings. The recent victories against Real Betis (2-0) and Lanzarote (5-0) have created some optimism but we still need to strengthen the squad.

Another negative blot against the board at CD Tenerife is the failure to take full advantage of the increased marketing potential that a club playing in La Liga can enjoy.

The merchandise available at the club shop in the capital is pitiful, the new kits have only just been presented (although Puma are possibly partly to blame) and there is no on-line store on the official website which in this day and age is inexcusable. Recently the Presentation match in the Stadium against Dutch outfit NEC Nijmegen drew a paltry crowd of just 3,800 fans.

This was due to the fact that the club forced all fans to pay an extra €10 entrance

Repsol has been publishing its prestigious tourist guide for over 30 years and now it is available in English. If you are visiting Spain, southern France, Andorra and Portugal, the Repsol Guide 2009 is an indispensable addition to your pre-trip plans and your day to day travels. Of course it also has full coverage of the Canaries and the Balearics.

You will find the best options for tourism, leisure

and gastronomy together with a guide to over 1,700 wines and a special routes guide showing gastronomy fairs and events in Spain and 34 tourist routes taking in exquisite Spanish guaranteed quality products.

Normally retailing at €26.90, readers can purchase their copy for just €21.50 – a discount of over 20% –at the Island Connections offices in Las Chafiras.

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IC598

Tenerife’s l o n g awaited return to the elite of Spanish football is upon us and this Saturday 29th August they take on Real Zaragoza at 9pm live on La Sexta television, and on Sky Sports 2.

The pre-season has not gone exactly to plan with few additions to the squad and off-field problems that have affected the harmony between the club and the fans.

In fact the friction started at the tail end of last season when the club promised the fan clubs that there would be special charter flights organised to take supporters to the historic promotion match in Girona. In the end the club chartered one plane which was exclusively used by the players, employees and politicians leaving the fans scurrying about days before the game and having to pay huge amounts for flights. Promotion won, the celebrations went well with 200,000 people taking to the streets of the capital to welcome the players back to the Island and the charter flight deception was largely forgotten.

As the summer rolled on the lack of signings were concerning many but it did not affect season ticket sales and the scenes witnessed outside the stadium surprised everyone. Thousands of fans wishing to purchase new season tickets queued for over 20 hours despite the price hike of around 60 per cent (renewals have until the first game of the campaign to buy their ‘abono’). The club may say that the campaign was a huge success, managing to sell 17,000 season tickets but many of the original fans have been either priced out of the stadium or did not get a chance to buy.

Amazingly the CD Tenerife fan clubs were not even con-

Tel: 922 750 609 / Fax: 922 795 810 / classifieds@ic-news.com fee with all proceeds being donated to people affected by the recent forest fires on La Palma. A worthy cause maybe but fans were furious as the game is always included with the season ticket and they thought there must be other ways to raise funds. Chants included “first division team! Third division board!”

Another total PR disaster by the club but hopefully the players will not be affected by all the off field problems.

The team spirit is as good as at the tail end of the last season and we wait with baited breath to see if sports director Santiago Llorente can attract Alexandra Alfaro back to the Island, on loan once again from Sevilla FC. For those of us who love the club it has been a difficult, frustrating summer but now it is time to concentrate on getting behind the players and cheering them on without fail. Staying in La Liga is the only goal.

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56

00598

EDITION 598 :: 28/08/2009 - 11/09/2009:: ISLAND CONNECTIONS

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