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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EDITION 637
FRIDAY 25th OCTOBER TO THURSDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2019 MOVIES AT ...
EATING OUT & ABOUT
PAGES PA 25 - 27
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FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT NT
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PAGES 39 -48
guide
TENERIFE VICTIMS OF “DON’T PUT OUR AIR CONNECTIVITY MOTORHOME SCAM IN PERIL!”
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massive fraud across Spain which has seen private buyers of caravans and motorhomes being duped by an elaborate plot has claimed victims in Tenerife, says the Civil Guard.
Tourism leaders now worried about EU plane fuel tax
T
OURISM chiefs in the Canaries say the islands are NOT in crisis following the collapse of the Thomas Cook group but now hoteliers have an additional looming problem to deal with: the prospect of an EU eco-tax on air fuel. The four major tourism groups of Ashotel, Asofuer, FEHT and the Tourist Federation of Lanzarote are concerned about the possibility of applying a tax on air fuel (kerosene) in the European Union to flights with origin or destination Canary Islands. They stress that the islands are “absolutely dependent” on air transport, given that due to their outermost situation they do not have any other alternative means of transport, unlike other countries of the European continent. Air connectivity is seen as vital for the economy of the region, with tourism its main industry. “The usual numbers of travellers arriving by air would be completely unimaginable if they did not have these connections,” said a spokesman. “Ballasting the price of flights to the Canary Islands with a tax on air fuel will have a
deterrent and impeding effect for the many users who year after year choose the Canary Islands as their favourite place of vacation, while penalising less well-off economies to access destinations like ours, which makes it an absolutely antisocial measure.” “It should be remembered that the tourism sector in the Canary Islands represents 35 per cent of the direct GDP, 70 per cent of indirect and brings together 40 per cent of employment, which is why this measure will have a generalised and negative effect on the entire socio-economic scope of the archipelago. It prevents its proper development, which already has an unemployment rate of over 20 per cent. Therefore, if this tax is applied, it will have an immediate and negative effect on the economy of the islands.” In this regard, tourism
employers consider that the European Union’s Outermost Regions (RUP) must have adequate treatment and have “absolute exemption”. They believe that any possible polluting effect of the flights will be cleared by the rest of the environmental protection measures applicable in the continent. “FEHT, Ashotel, FTL and Asofuer are convinced that it is necessary to reduce pollutant emissions in all areas and to adopt the corresponding measures that contribute to this end,” said the spokesman. The employers insist that if this tax were applied, it would be a very serious inadmissible error which would once again reveal the “lack of sensitivity” with the Canary Islands. Meantime, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, has confirmed that 91 per cent of the places lost through the demise of Thomas Cook have already been replaced.
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Lugo, A Coruña, Pontevedra, Albacete, Menorca, Madrid, Toledo, Salamanca, Cáceres, Cuenca, Córdoba, Málaga, Ourense and Seville are just some of the other locations where police are investigating the scam. It is estimated that at least 45 people have fallen foul of the plot which advertised nonexistent caravans and motor-
homes for sale via the internet and took deposits or payments of up to 40,000 euros. So far, ten people have been arrested for fraud and five motor homes, used as hooks and previously stolen, have been recovered, valued at 160,000 euros. A total of 22 bank accounts have been blocked, of which seven were under the names
of people outside the investigated group in order to receive the income from the money from the scams, based in Lugo. Purchasers made contact with the bogus sellers by phone, transferred money and then never heard anything again. Bank cards were used to withdraw cash, usually just minutes before midnight and again just afterwards to get away with as much as possible.
Woman charged with causing death of diabetic husband
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woman in Tenerife has been charged with “homicide by omission” after failing to help her husband when he suffered a fatal diabetic attack.
Police say she knew exactly what was happening as she had sought medical help several times before but “did nothing” on this occasion. An allegation is also being investigated that a few weeks before her husband’s death, she had made enquiries about his life insurance. The woman, aged 55, was living with her sick husband in La Laguna in the north of Tenerife. He suffered hypoglycemia, where the level of sugar in the body drops too low, and was unable to help himself because of the severity of the attack. His wife has been charged with homicide by omission on grounds that she is alleged to have known about his illness and what steps to take if he became ill, say the police, and the possible fatal consequences if this didn’t happen.