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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FRIDAY11th DECEMBER TO THURSDAY 24th DECEMBER 2015
Your fortnightly TV GUIDE inside
WINS MICHELIN STAR
PAGE 9
FALSE ALOE PRODUCTS
PAGE 17
EDITION 540
NEW SCULPTURE PARK
PAGE 44
A SEA OF PINK T
ENERIFE south will be turned into a sea of pink on Sunday, December 13th when the “Walk for Life” takes to the streets for yet another year.
Organisers are expecting to beat the 2014 record when just under 3,000 people tackled the route of approximately 4.8 kilometres to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer. It will be impossible not to spot the tide of volunteers dressed in pink or with pink accessories as they make their way from the Magma centre in Costa Adeje (next to the bus station at Playa de las Americas) to the Plaza del Pescador in front of the cultural centre in Los Cristianos. The start time is 10.30am but you are recommended to come early because there are stands and entertainment for those who just want to give their support, to warm up or to register at the last minute. There will also be a huge raffle at the end of the walk and more entertainment. The Carrera Por La Vida is Tenerife’s biggest and most successful sponsored walk and a cause close to many people’s hearts.
Second runway row: Promises need fulfilling! CEST RAISES MORE PROBLEMS
M
AYORS throughout the south of Tenerife have joined forces to press home the “absolute need” for a second runway at the main airport. The leaders of the municipalities of Granadilla de Abona, Arico,San Miguel, Arona, Adeje, Guía de Isora, Vilaflor and Santiago del Teide say expansion is imperative and they have been backed by the Association of Businessmen and Professionals of South Tenerife (Cest). They all say a second runway at the south airport is vital for the future development of the island as a competitive tourist destination and for longhaul flights. But there are still many hurdles to overcome, not least the government go-ahead in the first place, the multi-euro funding which will be required and possible environmental challenges.
The issue is very much back in the news following an incident involving a Norwegian airline which aborted take-off and was stuck on the runway for five hours after its tyres blew out. This caused a major blockage, with flights being cancelled, postponed or diverted until the runway was clear again. The mayors of the south say such a situation which affected thousands of passengers should not happen and a second runway would have avoided the disruption. Tenerife south, they say, is supposed to be one of the leading airports in Spain but this incident showed “structural weaknesses” and “lack of response alternatives”
and would have generated uncertainty among the tour operators using the island. In their pact, the mayors called for unity amongst all the groups, authorities and organisations on Tenerife and the drawing up of a masterplan with budgets, requirements and timescale. They want a working group formed and priority given to the second track in the next legislature. They say the last thing they want to see is a collapse of the south airport on which the economy of the island is so dependent. Cest shares the same view and says any queues or incoveniences for passengers is unacceptable and give a very negative image of Tenerife. They say it is no good having “make-shift solutions” but a proper answer and that is the provision of a second runway as a matter of priority,
especially if visitor numbers continue to grow as predicted. “It is now that we must unite
to demand this fundamental work for our future and not in a few years,” said president,
Jordi Esplugas. The business group has also raised their dissatisfaction with other issues including the general state of the island’s roads, no lighting on the motorway, constant delays at Las Chafiras, the general look of the access to major tourist areas such as Los Cristianos, La Caleta and Playa de las Americas, the unfinished port at Granadilla and the south hospital.