Thursday, December 04, 2008
Longer opening hours, free wi-fi and other news
Employers in the tourist sector are worried that the Canary islands' Government's proposal to increase opening hours of bars and restaurants in commercial centres could seriously prejudice tourists who visit the islands, because it would impede them from getting their normal rest. The proposal wants to move closing times from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. or even 6 a.m., depending on various factors.
Icod de los Vinos is promoting its stores in the run up to Christmas with ads on the backs of the 106 and 107 buses; routes which travel across the north of the island from Buenavista del Norte to Santa Cruz. Other novelties are the forthcoming installation of free wi-fi in the streets of the town centre and various concerts and street theatre performances during the holiday period.
The Three Kings have asked to be allowed to arrive from the Orient by sea to Puerto de la Cruz this year and, it seems that the town hall has given them the necessary permission, because their procession in Puerto de la Cruz, on the evening of January 5th, will start from the old fishing port.
In other news ...
- Brussels proposes to advance 25 million euros in aid to palliate the effects of the crisis in the Canary Islands.
- The Fred Olsen Ferry: here you can see where it stands parked now with the CostaMar hotel and the Gran Arona hotel in the background.
- The town hall in Buenavista del Norte is to promote stores in the town and is giving away raffle tickets to customers as a Christmas campaign.
- Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz, is to receive 38 million euros of government money to invest in "infrastructures" and to create jobs, mainly in construction.
- People in the Canary Islands will spend around 94 million euros buying El Gordo Christmas lottery tickets. Sales, so far, match last year's levels.
Do you have any friends? Don't forget to send them to Secret Tenerife.
Nativity Displays in Santa Cruz, Tenerife
The capital unveils its belén (nativity scene) in the Plaza de Candelaria at 18.00 on 17th December, so here's one we made earlier (from there last year.)
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The traditional Nativity display inside the Cabildo de Tenerife (Island Corporation) building in Santa Cruz was opened on Monday and can be visited between now and January 6th. It's open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m and 4 p.m to 9.30 p.m. (December 24th and 31st, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. December 25th, January 1st and 6th, from 4 p.m. to 9.p.m.)
The display, with over 1,000 unique, hand-made pieces, has been described as a real jewel. Constructed at the beginning of the 20th Century and, over 100 years old, it's the first time that it's been on show in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz town hall has installed the traditional nativity display on the steps of the Municipal Palace (Calle Viera y Clavijo, No 46.) It can be visited by members of the public on working days, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Follow The Route of the Nativities in Tenerife
From the huge, life-size nativity outside the town hall in La Orotava.
The Nativity, Belén or Nacimiento is still the most important of the Christmas decorations in Tenerife, where Christmas still revolves around the birth of Jesus, unlike those "developed" countries, where it's become an equal opportunity (just to make a profit) multi-denominational feast! :)
There are specialist belenistas (nativity makers), contests and organised routes to go round and see them; private family nativities (some of which open their homes to the public), then there are regular public nativities in squares (such as the life-size nativity outside the town hall in La Orotava, see above), in the Plaza de Candelaria in Santa Cruz, in shops and malls, such as La Villa in La Orotava, inside the Cabildo (Tenerife Island Corporation) building in Santa Cruz, in town halls, most churches (of course) and, even hotels.
The aboriginal nativity at the Hotel La Quinta Roja in Garachico, which each year depicts Jesus being born into a pre-conquest family on one of the Canary Islands, has become a regular feature. This year, theirs depicts the island of Gran Canaria (more images); in 2007, El Hierro and in 2006, La Gomera.
These "Holy Model Villages" full of detail usually reserved for model railways, are fascinating to see and won't be difficult to find, all around the island.
Not every detail is serious mind you, as this and Jack Montgomery explains.
Most of the nativity displays will be available to see from around now, usually until Los Reyes (The Three Kings Day) on January 6th. The display at the Hotel La Quinta Roja will stay on view, until Candelmas on February 2nd.
Spain's Licence Point Lottery
Here's another of those "strange but true", farcical stories about Spain's infamous bureaucracy: Apparently, in a fractured system, described as a "failure", it can be simple luck of the draw what happens if you're stopped for a motoring offence, depending if the locality's town hall is hooked up to the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) system, or not.
For instance, the article says, if you drive around Madrid without a seatbelt, the Municipal Police will do two things (providing they catch you):
- Firstly, they'll fine you 300 euros and ...
- Secondly, they'll send a report to the DGT, which will get 3 points deducted from your licence.
But, if you're stopped by the Local Police in Alcobendas (Madrid), Collado Villalba (Madrid), Altea (Alicante), Granollers (Barcelona), Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña), Estepona (Málaga), Dos Hermanas (Sevilla).
... or in any one of 5,711 districts all over Spain, all you'll get is the fine.
As the headline says, those 5,711 municipalities, cannot take the points off your licence, because they're not connected to the points system and so nobody is going to inform the DGT of your infraction.
Even the Director of the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Pere Navarro, admits that the licence points system is not being applied equally all over Spain.
The "bad" news, although newspaper 20minutos has had access to the full list of the 5,711 municipalities, sadly, I haven't, so I can't tell you how many, or which ones in the Canary Islands are connected to the system or not. And now it's out in the open, they're bound to fix it sooner, rather than later.
Guess you're just going to have to obey the rules of the road after all! :)
The evil weed, still reigning supreme
On January 1st, 2009, we are reminded, it will be 3 years since the Ley del Tabaco (Anti-Smoking Law) came into force in Spain.
In that time, public health authorities in the Canary Island archipelago have carried out some 2,400 inspections in more than 1,800 leisure establishments, where as many as half were found to be in breach of the rules, with poor signage and incorrect sizing of areas destined for smokers and non-smokers being the main complaints - not an ideal situation, in a sector so visible, in an area reliant on tourism.
Non-smoking in closed working areas, on the other hand, is being observed correctly 90% of the time; the prohibition on tobacco advertising, 100%.
In general terms, in Spain, tobacco consumption has dropped just 2 or 3%, bringing the percentage of the population that smokes down from 31% to 29%. There are constant proposals to make the prohibitions stricter.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The train to Tenerife South has been delayed
Works on the north-south train, uniting Santa Cruz and the south of the island, that were originally planned to have started during the second quarter of 2008, are now being slated to begin in 2011.
The Corporation says that the south train project is going to suffer a delay because, not enough money had been allowed in the budget. Works on the north train will begin in 2013.
(With the economic crisis and budget cuts everywhere, we just hope it hasn't been reduced quite as much as our "artist's impression" might suggest!)
Loro Parque gets a defibrillator
The Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz has become the first and, so far only, theme park in the Canary Islands to have a semi-automatic defibrillator, which along with the correct training, means park staff will be able to give visitors rapid assistance in the event of a cardiac emergency. So take heart: you should be in safe hands if the excitement gets a bit much for you!
Loro parque se convierte en un espacio cardio protegido con la instalación de un desfibrilador
Follow the Tapas Route around Garachico
Until December 8th, the northern Tenerife town of Garachico is holding its first gastronomical event, "de Tapas por Garachico", where bars and restaurants are offering delectable little dishes at no more than 2.50 euros, per person.
La Villa y Puerto celebra esta semana su primer concurso de tapas
Christmas Program in La Orotava
La Orotava's mayor, Isaac Valencia, may not be famous for saying the right thing, but his town hall appears to be walking better than he talks in efforts to mitigate costs in the current economic crisis. At least in one area: that this year's Christmas Program isn't going to be printed on costly dead trees, being available only online:
The program of events certainly doesn't look lacking, but has already been slimmed down. However, if rumours are true that Valencia is even considering doing without a children’s favourite, the procession of the Three Kings on January 5th, I'd say that could be viewed as being a cost cut too far.
Being a Jackass in Tenerife
... despite the picture generally painted by the press and media of all persuasions, doesn't necessarily require a British passport:
For top prize in this week's foot-in-mouth contest (and it's still only Wednesday) goes to La Orotava's mayor, Isaac Valencia, who made comments, referring to immigration arriving from Africa, about the Canary Islands being "at the mercy of the Moors".
It doesn't seem terribly insulting when translated to English, but the islands' press has its knickers in a twist over it, his own party, the nationalist Coalición Canaria, call the remarks "unfortunate", the socialists call them "racist and xenophobic" and the Moroccan government apparently want it rectifying.
"Canarias está a merced de que el moro venga un día y nos lleve por delante"
Returning to your regular program of tom foolery ....
Lots of local youngsters in Icod behaved like proper jackasses skidding down the near-vertical town streets last weekend, but "After half a dozen varieties of both red and white had been tasted and points awarded, I would have had a go on one of Icod’s ‘tablas’ had one been handy", say's Real Tenerife Island Drives' Andrea Montgomery, who has a full report of the night's events, both there and in Puerto de la Cruz, here: Jackass and wine, a lethal combination.
"Think of Las Americas in relation to Tenerife and it's likely you'll imagine a lively resort town in the South of the island renowned for its nightlife, high-end hotels and tipsy tourists." As if you would? Tenerife and The Americas.
And silly U.S. cyclist Chris Horner of Astana team, led by Lance Armstrong, was stopped by police because Horner wasn’t wearing a helmet during the training on the road from Los Cristianos to Santiago del Teide. Tut, tut.
Pro cyclists Chris Horner stopped during training for not wearing helmet | Cycling Central
