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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EDITION 589
FRIDAY 24th NOVEMBER TO THURSDAY 7th DECEMBER 2017 MOVIES AT ...
EATING OUT & ABOUT
PAGES PA 25 - 27
Your dining experience aroundd our o restaurants
No change for Brits in Canaries after Brexit?
FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT NT
property
PAGES 41 -48
guide
Cocaine network based in Tenerife brought in a million euros a month POLIE MAKE SEVEN ARRESTS
B
REXIT should mean no change whatsoever for the relationship between the UK and the Canary Islands, local leaders are stressing.
Cabildo president, Carlos Alonso says the connection between the two will continue to revolve around four fundamental pillars, that of the free movement of people, capital, goods and services. His view, aired during the World Travel Market in London, has been backed up and echoed by Ashotel, the Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Alonso’s proposal states that by virtue of the specific provisions provided for in the EU Treaty for the outermost regions (ORs), among which is the Canar y Islands, the archipelago can maintain its current conditions in its relationship with the United Kingdom. The president of Ashotel, Jorge Marichal, has welcomed the proposal for a region like the Canary Islands, which has the British as its main issuing tourist market, regardless of the consolidated commercial relations that both territories have had since historical times, much earlier than the entry of Spain into the European Union. “The possibility that the islands can maintain a special regime, as they already have with the Common Agricultural Policy or with other economic aspects such as fiscal policies are, according to Ashotel, a point in favour of the economic and social development of Canary Islands, thanks to the
main engine of this advance, tourism,” said a spokesman for the hotel group. Sr. Marichal added: “Although we know that this is not a simple matter and that it depends on the negotiations that the EU is carrying out with the United Kingdom, from the hotel sector we consider the analysis to be adequate to allow the archipelago, which like other RUP regions, has a specific link with the EU, and can maintain these four freedoms, once the consequences of Brexit become effective.”
P
OLICE in the Canary Islands have dismantled a major drug smuggling and money launder ing operation said to have brought in over one million euros a month for the masterminds behind it. Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the regular shipment of cocaine from the mainland to the archipelago and a restaurant closed down in north Tenerife which was alleged to be the cover for the huge amounts of money being produced. The Civil Guard led Operation Tridentis which involved raids and arrests in the municipalities of Granadilla de Abona, Arona and Los
Llanos de Aridane. The cocaine was hidden in secret compartments in lorries. Police said they were so cleverly constructed that only a secret sequence of instructions involving switching on the lights, windscreens etc would open up the hidden spaces. Another system consisted of the manufacture of a compartment attached to the chassis on the underside of the car, which was closed with a
metal cover with anchors provided with a hole that, using a punch key, mechanically activated the opening of the access cover to the hiding compartment. One shipment was caught in the act as cocaine was being loaded onto a truck in the port of Santa Cruz and destined for Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. Police said the cocaine network was expanding its activities in Tenerife and Gran Canaria. During a series of raids, a total of ten kilos of cocaine were seized, three of hashish, a high value real estate, 21 vehicles, more than 9,000 euros in cash, numerous mobile phones, a
hydraulic press, as well as various chemical compounds for the cutting and adulteration of cocaine. In addition, a company was intervened, a restaurant was sealed and numerous bank accounts were blocked. The seven people arrested included three of Colombian origin, two men and one woman, three Spanish men of Canarian origin and one man of Moroccan origin, aged between 36 and 50 years. All of them have been remanded in custody and further arrests have not been ruled out although police are confident the network has been thwarted.
Islands unite to press for 75 per cent travel discount
T
HE Canary Islands are teaming up with the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla to press for an increase in the residents’ travel bonus from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. Government representatives are meeting in Palma, Mallorca this week to address the problems the islands face due to their distance from the peninsula, especially in terms of transport. The meeting will take place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Territory, Energy and Mobility and will be the first to be held jointly by these communities and autonomous cities to address the transport problem in the non-Peninsular territories. The first Transport Summit of
Extra-Peninsular Territories, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Officials will discuss the possibilities of obtaining more bonuses and solve the different problems of transport between the islands, as well as between the two archipelagos and the two autonomous cities with the Peninsula. The summit will bring together the councillors responsible for the transport of the Canary Islands, the Balearic
Islands, Ceuta and Melilla and the representatives of shipping companies and major airlines. The representatives of the business organisations most involved in air and maritime transport, such as ANAVE, will also attend as guests; the Association of Spanish Air Transport Companies (ACETA);
the Spanish Association of Airlines (AECA), and the Association of Airlines (ALA). During two days, the different delegations will analyse the transport problems that affect these territories when communicating with each other and with the peninsula. Among the problems and
measures that will be studied are the possible extension of the current subsidy in air and maritime transport, between the islands and the peninsula. The objective would be to increase the subsidy to residents from 50 per cent to 75 per cent.