Tenerife in the news and around the web

Although Melchoir's original idea of bringing Obama, disguised as Baltasar in the arrival of the Three Kings to the Heliodoro has been discounted, Tenerife remains certain that the President-Elect of the United States will come to the island and, says this illustrated report (with its tongue stuffed firmly in its cheek), he'll visit such "embematic" sites as the roadworks on the Tenerife South highway, the works on the Granadilla port, the works at las Teresitas beach and for a ride on the tram to see the works being carried out on that in La Cuesta. Oh and it all began with a friendship that united David Hasselhoff with Canarian soil, apparently. :)

In the almost 10 years of life of the Agency for the Protection of the Urban and Natural Environment (APMUN), they have opened a total of 12,214 cases for illegal constructions in the islands, but only a small part of those works end up being demolished.

This is why there's no word for 'planning' in the Canario vocabulary.

The (hugely expensive and long awaited) El Guincho tunnel between Garachico and Icode de los Vinos is to be inaugurated on November 29th, with all the appropriate fanfare, in a ceremony to be attended by the President of the Canary Islands Government, Paulino Rivero; the councilor for public works and transport, Juan Ram�n Hern�ndez and the mayor of Garachico, Ram�n Miranda.

The Tenerife Island Corporation, through the Teno Rural Park Management Office, has this week distributed close to a thousand fruit trees to residents of Los Silos and El Tanque in the Teno Rural Park, with the object of recuperating the areas affected by the fire last year.

The prize for World's Best Cheese was presented to the cheese makers of Arico, Tenerife at 11 a.m. Friday morning.

The Christmas flower campaign (almost military!) in Santa Cruz is to begin next Tuesday, November 25th and will carry on until December 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve. In this time interval, you may be interested to know, that a total of 106,430 poinsettias, of various colours; red, white, yellow and varigated, will be planted in the gardens and green spaces of the city. Also 2,500 white and 6,500 red cyclamen persicum will be employed.

The principal Spanish language newspaper in Florida, El Nuevo Herald, announces a direct flight between Tenerife and Miami starting in 2009.

A new report claims the Canarian camel as a separate breed.

The Gran Telescopio de Canarias (Grantecan) on the island of La Palma explains the history of the universe.

More than 2,000 women per year receive protection from their partners in the Canary Islands, that's almost 6 cases per day.