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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EDITION 595
FRIDAY 23rd FEBRUARY TO THURSDAY 8th MARCH 2018 MOVIES AT ...
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PAGES PA 25 - 27
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FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT NT
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PAGES 41 -48
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“DON’T PANIC” MESSAGE OVER LA PALMA QUAKES
Island steps up “best ever” monitoring
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CIENTISTS on the Canary island of La Palma have ruled out a volcanic eruption either on land or under the sea “in the short term” but say it isn’t impossible in the future. An emergency committee meeting confirmed there had been a “new magmatic intrusion” of low volume and very deep at 25 kilometres below land. There have been 928 seismic movements since February 10th, of which 85 were in the same area. Regional director of the National Geographic Institute, María José Blanco said there was no need for local residents or tourists to panic but they had to remember they lived within a “volcanically active territory”. In 1971, she reminded, there had been an eruption of the Teneguía cone on La Palma,
preceded by earth-quakes. One elderly fisherman died when he got too near the lava and was asphyxiated. Populated zones were not affected but there was some damage to properties and a beach was destroyed. There was also an underwater eruption in El Hierro, another of the Canary islands, in 2011. The new flurry of earthquakes on La Palma occurred in the region of the Cumbre Vieja volcano and follow on from similar movements detected last October. Measuring between 1.5 and 2.6 on the Richter scale, the
new quakes are much deeper than the previous ones but no changes to the surface have been detected. None have been felt by the public. Monitoring has been stepped up and it is now at the highest level it could be across La Palma, with around 20 seismic detection stations and geochemical testing. The specially-convened meeting of the Scientific Committee of Evaluation and Monitoring of Volcanic Phenomena was attended by a range of experts in direct response to the swarms. Deputy Minister of Environment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Blanca Pérez said that between March and April, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography will under-take a new campaign to
Tenerife celebrates Carnival fever
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ANTA CRUZ has been leading the way with its spectacular Carnival attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
The packed programme which has lasted several weeks came to a close on Sunday, with organisers hail-
ing it as another huge success for local people and visitors alike. The city ’s carnival isn’t
confined to one day but featured two Carnivals of the Day on Sundays, as well as the main Coso with its incredible procession and costumes. The streets of Puerto de la Cruz were also flooded for the annual carnival with an estimated 25,000 people turning out for the main Coso. This year ’s event was dedicated to Greek mythology which gave rise to some fantastic costumes. The carnival has been held for 108 years and the 2018 edition was as colourful and brilliant as ever. As usual, there was an official delegation from Puerto’s twin in Dusseldorf. One of the highlights of the Puerto carnival week was the hilarious obstacle race for
study this seismology but has asssured that there is nothing to indicate that an underwater eruption or on land will happen. An official statement released after the meeting said: “The increase in earth-quakes detected in recent days on the
island of La Palma is due to a new magmatic intrusion of low volume and deep (30 kilometres), which scientists do not link with a volcanic eruption in the short term.”
Scientists have assured that if there is a further swarm of quakes, the emergency committee will meet again and provide further information for the public.
Traffic relief on the horizon?
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COLOURFUL PARADES
RAFFIC relief for some parts of Tenerife has moved a step nearer following the award of the contract for the long-awaited Armeñime roundabout in Adeje.
men wearing fancy dress costumes and high heels! The “Mascarita Ponte Tacón” attracted 441 participants and was watched by 30,000 people. Other areas of Tenerife are still celebrating their carnival and in Los Cristianos, the fun will begin on March 1st until March 12th when the “Pirates” come to town.
The island’s government has awarded the works to Promotora Punta Larga SA. It will involve an investment of 953,877 euros which will consist of the construction of a roundabout “whose purpose will be to reduce the bottleneck of vehicles produced in the area and improve mobility.” The road has almost 21,000 vehicles per day as it is a key
link to the south and to the areas of Los Gigantes. The project will take between eight months to a year. Discussions have also started about the remodelling of the Los Cristianos rounda-bout, another traffic bottleneck, and are ongoing over a third lane for the TF-1.