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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER TO THURSDAY 26th NOVEMBER 2015 PAGES 29- 36
EDITION 538
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PAGE 64
Your fortnightly TV GUIDE inside
BARRANCO REMAINS CLOSED AFTER TRAGIC DEATH
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HE Barranco del Infierno in Adeje is to remain closed “for security reasons until further notice” following the death of a 62year-old German woman.
closed for six years following a fatality in 2009. Following the tragedy, Adeje council said in a statement: “ The Adeje council wishes to express its regret at the dreadful accident that happened in the Barranco del Infierno today which led to the death of a German woman.” “At 1pm today, news of the accident was relayed to the council and the Adeje mayor, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga. He and his local government colleagues initiated the protocol in place for situations of this nature, keeping in
constant touch with the emergency services at the scene. At the same time the Tenerife Cabildo councillor for security and the environment, José Antonio Valbuena was present and attending to the families of those affected.” “The council have placed all the available information and assistance at the disposal of the competent authorities to fully qualify how this tragedy happened.” Any news on a reopening would be posted on the website of http://www.barrancodelinfierno.es/
FIRE SERVICE ISSUE ALERT OVER MOUNTAIN RESCUES
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ENERIFE firefighters are relaying an urgent warning to hikers and visitors to Mount Teide to take extra special care as the winter approaches. They are concerned about the number of rescues they are having to carry out and say people must be aware of potential dangers. They are particularly concerned because although it might still be sunny in the south, the temperatures in the north and higher regions is beginning to drop and snow might well arrive soon on the tip of Teide. President of the Tenerife Firefightig Consortium, Florentino Guzmán Plasencia
says it is essential for people to take precautions and to follow certain rules of conduct to avoid accidents in the National Park. They are having to deal with rescues when walkers get disorientated, are injured practising sport or cannot continue on their own because of exhaustion, altitude sickness or hypothermia. In the first ten months of this year, the brigade has been involved in a total of 94 mountain rescues, mainly
around las Cañadas but also in the barranco de Masca and Los Carrizales in Buenavista del Norte. There have been several such occasions in recent weeks involving searches first and then rescues. The fire chief said people visiting such areas had to go properly prepared and stressed the great importance of taking along your mobile phone fully charged because use of WhatsApp can be a great help in locating missing people. The alert was raised before the tragic accident in the Barranco del Infierno and is unconnected to that incident.
Photos by Gerard Zenou
A full investigation is ongoing as a result of the tragedy which happened at 1.06pm on October 26th. The victim had been out walking with her friends in the famous barranco when some sort of landslide occurred and she was apparently hit by falling rocks. A report filed afterwards by the fire service said she had been accompanied by a 54year-old woman and a 67year-old man who were mildly injured but did not need hospital treatment. The emergency helicopter had to be called in to recover the woman’s body. The barranco only opened again this year under new management and with extensive safety measures, having been
Canaries livid over missing 93 million euros for jobs
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HE Canary Government has warned a huge row is brewing unless Spain repays 93 million euros owed to the archipelago for job creation. Vice-president of the islands and Minister for Employment, Patricia Hernández is already furious about the situation and says it is all going to blow up by the end of the year unless there is immediate action. She says the 93 million euros is owed to the Canary Islands to fund active employment policies and training for the year 2015. She has accused the Spanish Government of “absolute indifference” over the serious issue of unemployment and the
impact on people’s lives. The grant, she says, was approved by Spain in April but “the government of Mariano Rajoy has been unable to make effective distribution of the funds.” Venting her fury more, she said this was “unjustifiable” and “unfair treatment for the unemployed in the Canaries.” She said the unacceptable situation was repeated year after year and was causing huge damage to employment
policies and their effective management. Patricia Hernández said the Canary Government itself had stepped in to fund half of the 93 million euros because the Canary people were not to blame for the situation. They therefore demanded that the money was paid with immediacy in the next month, calling it a “scandal” that Spain was playing with money allocated to help the jobless, especially the young, the longterm unemployed and those over 45.