Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Canary Islands After the Storm
Tropical storm, winter storm, hurricane ... the distinctions do not seem all that important when what one sees looks like a hurricane whipped through.
Mudslides, missing roofs and trees, often hundreds of years old, have been uprooted all over the islands. Among many others, eight of the large trees on Santa Cruz', Avenida de Anaga, alongside the the capital's port have been uprooted and in the Plaza Weyler, the gardens have been totally destroyed. A sculpture by famous artist, the late Cesar Manrique, has been reduced to scrap metal in Lanzarote. Meanwhile, in Gran Canaria, God has lost his finger. The famous landmark stood for millions of years and had been the symbol of the area.
Before and after images, courtesy Gran Canaria Info
"The famous Dedo de Dios, or Finger of God, at Puerto de Las Nieves on Gran Canaria has collapsed due to strong winds." More »
Whilst it is sad that such things have been destroyed in one frenzied night and day, TV reports show carnage, but victims mostly dismissive of their material damages and grateful they had no lost lives to lament. Indeed, only one man died, on the Canary Islands themselves, as a direct result of the storm. The 63 year old was blown off his ladder while attempting to repair his roof in Fuerteventura.
Over 200,000 people in Santa Cruz and La Laguna in Tenerife spent a second night last night without power after pylons alongside Tenerife's main north-south highway were blown down. Local authorities are having equipment flown in from the mainland and expect to reconnect 40% of those without power today, 90% by tomorrow, Thursday and to have 100% power restored by Friday.
Over forty percent of the mobile telephone network was affected, as well as thousands of fixed phone lines cut off. We were without internet connection for a while and one of our TV stations was missing, probably due to a downed antenna.
The most lasting damage from the storm will be to the agricultural sector, which has suffered wholesale destruction of many crops throughout the archipelago.
Here in the north west of Tenerife, locally, at least, we were protected from the winds - which reached 200 kmh (124 mph) at Izaña, close to Mount Teide - by the Los Gigantes cliffs. Local damage is minor and restricted to small items that have been displaced. However, the roof of a new industrial building near the town of Buenavista del Norte was ripped off and in neighbouring Los Silos, the wall of a banana plantation fell on a vehicle belonging to the Local Police.
In Icod de los Viños a row of houses had their roofs blown off, but the storm merely dampened and did not wash out the day's traditional festivities for San Andres.
Experts are unable to offer conclusive proof, but locals are convinced that global warming is responsible for the abnormal weather phenomenon. Those I have spoken to hope, but do not believe, that it will be an isolated incident.
The islands have now been taken off alert and schools and work are back to normal today in almost all but the most affected areas of Santa Cruz and La Laguna.
Related reports / photos:
Delta force in the Canaries
Tropical storm Delta sweeps Canaries
Tropical storm Delta ravages Canaries
BBC | Tropical storm batters Canaries
Canary Islands struggle to restore power after storm
Delta causes havoc in Canaries
Life begins to return to normal on Canary Islands
Tags: delta, tropical storm, canary islands, tenerife
Labels: Tenerife Weather, Tropical Storm Delta
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Six drown in Canary Islands storm
Six African would-be immigrants drowned off the coast of Spain's Canary Islands on Monday as storm waves swept their makeshift boat, officials said. The accident was the most serious consequence of Tropical Storm Delta which became a winter storm as it neared Africa on Monday, but brought strong winds to the islands. Rescue services had difficulty reaching the wrecked boat, which carried around 50 people, because of fierce weather conditions.
Six immigrants drown in Canary Island storm waves
Labels: Tenerife Weather, Tropical Storm Delta
Storm Delta nears Canary Islands
(Click for larger image)
Latest satellite weather image, courtesy Canarian Astrophisics Institute (IAC)The regional government declared a state of alert in the Canary Islands as Tropical Storm Delta (the 25th of the season) headed towards the archipelago.
The fishing fleet was ordered to remain on dry land and citizens were advised to avoid travelling, especially on roads close to the coasts and, to take extra precaution on mountain and narrow roads where there is a heightened risk of falling trees or rocks.
Schools were closed Monday throughout the Canary Islands and several inter-island flights were cancelled, with others suffering delays as the first winds of Atlantic tropical storm Delta hit the archipelago.
Keen to allay fears among the population who might be concerned about the risk of damage on a par with that caused by Wilma or Katrina, simply because this is a named storm, local TV presenters interviewed meteorologists on air via telephone link.
Presenter: "What is the difference between this and previous storms we've seen in the archipelago?"
Meteorologist: "The Hurricane Center in Miami gave it a name."
OK, just so we know!
Meteorologists predicted wind speeds of between 75 and 100 kmh in the uplands of Tenerife and La Palma, possibly reaching 150 kmh or more on the summit of Mount Teide. Winds have continued to buffet Secret Tenerife's "headquarters" throughout Monday, but, so far, with less force than we have seen on previous occasions.
Electricity supplies have been interrupted more than once, but we have decided to follow official advice to the letter, "avoid unnecessary trips". Lock up, wrap up and sit it out, is usually the best way to deal with these short lived weather fronts.
Related links / sources:
Delta force in the Canaries
Storm Delta nears Canary islands, Madeira
Tourists brace for new storm
Canaries close schools as tropical storm Delta approaches
Situación de alerta ante los fuertes vientos y lluvias, preludio de la tormenta 'Delta'
National Hurricane Center
Tags: delta, tropical storm, canary islands, tenerife
Labels: Tenerife Weather, Tropical Storm Delta
Olives hot crop in Tenerife
The search for alternative crops has led one Tenerife municipality to give serious consideration to the olive and a quiet agricultural revolution is going on down Arico way, where some fifty groves are already flourishing. Next year the trees will bear their first fruit and it is confidently expected that 2006 will see the first commercial production of olive oil in Tenerife.
Olives hot crop in Tenerife
Spain is tops for British holiday home hunters
A report by high street bank Barclays has confirmed that the boom in overseas property ownership is set to continue – and Spain is a favourite hot spot for Britons’ second homes.
A third of all potential buyers of a place in the sun said the Spanish mainland and islands of the Balearics and the Canaries are their preferred locations.
Spain is tops for British holiday home hunters
Chestnut time in Tenerife
Right now the roast chestnut season in Tenerife is in full swing, with the traditional fogones sizzling away on street corners, car parks, plazas and ports all over the island, sending showers of sparks into the night air and the unmistakable aroma, redolent of autumn.
The authorities are keen to encourage the production and consumption of chestnuts, a fruit which was threatened by decline, if not actual oblivion, in recent years, a casualty of changing tastes, habits and lifestyles.
Chestnut time in Tenerife
Monday, November 28, 2005
Accolade From Tenerife Guide
Tenerife Guide, the travel guide covering the Island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, were kind enough to give our Tenerife, One Photo A Day project a mention with some very kind words in their news section recently. They say:
This lovely small site publishes 1 photo a day from Tenerife. Some are very Tenerife centric, others are just beautiful photos. Worth a look:Thank you! Please continue to do as they suggest. :)
What I will mention is that all of the photos, which are exclusive to us, have been taken here in Tenerife - oh, the odd one from La Gomera, Tenerife's nearest neighboring island will creep in, but nothing more "foreign" than that.
What I hope to show you are some of the places and sights that you don't normally see in a brochure, nor on the average two-week break to Las Americas. Something of the real culture and flavor that will hopefully draw people out to discover it, as well as giving you a "fly on the wall" view of what it is like living here.
Friday, November 25, 2005
US plane stops in Spain 'legal'
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Spain's government was convinced US stopovers were legal but promised closer checks on aircraft in future. Last week, Spain's Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso announced an investigation into a series of alleged landings in Majorca and in the Canary Islands.
US plane stops in Spain 'legal'
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
John Craig, 52, dies on holiday
JOHN Craig, the former Aberdeen, Partick Thistle, Hearts and Morton midfielder, died suddenly while on holiday. He was 52.
Glasgow-born Craig was a Celtic supporter and is thought to have suffered a heart attack while in Tenerife after watching Saturday's Old Firm match on television. Craig, who was the Scottish Young Player of the Year in 1973, was on the Spanish holiday island with a friend.
John Craig, 52, dies on holiday
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Free week of luxury accommodation
Tenerife Resorts, the Canary Islands’ number one web portal celebrates its third anniversary this week with a range of great holiday giveaways.
As part of the birthday celebrations this year, Tenerife Resorts is running a competition draw where the first 100 names to come out of the virtual hat will be the lucky recipients of an amazing free week of luxury accommodation.
Happy Birthday Tenerife Resorts
The makeover island
Tenerife is exchanging the scruff for the smooth as it goes upmarket, says Lucia Adams in the Times Online. "Glossy shopping esplanades with Cartier, Versace, Escada and Hugo Boss designer brands on offer bear testimony to how Tenerife is changing."
The article is mostly a press release for the luxury developments in and around the golf area on the south of Tenerife - in sizes and designs that, frankly, would not disappoint "los very rich" de Miami. Sadly, these properties will be well beyond the price range of the average Canarian, who will have to console themselves with the "battery-hen blocks of poor-quality apartments", but it's nice to see how the other half live!
Things might be looking up in Tenerife
Things are looking up, say the Canarian Weekly (via Tenerife Resorts) with the news that "September set a shining example for the Tenerife tourist trade with the number of foreign visitors up by nearly 10% on the same month of last year."
Tenerife welcomed 254,418 holidaymakers from abroad, making a total of 2,456,548 for the first nine months, according to Canarian Government statistics based on data from Spanish airports authority AENA. The archipelago as a whole played host to 684,194 foreign visitors to boost the running figure to 6,683,181.
If only it were that simple. The same article talks about 80% occupancy on cheap flights with prices starting at 59 Euros (that's around 40 quid). Of course this is great value for a roughly four hour flight, but what kind of clientele does this suggest?
Whilst I will avoid a long diatribe on the riffraff (chavs) that give the island a bad name, what does concern me is that it generally means people who do not spend a lot of money on the islands. Yes, we handle the numbers, but quantity does not equal quality. They do not contribute to the long-term profitability of the tourist sector.
Priest runs amok in Santiago del Teide
It’s not often that priests are arrested by the police, but it happened in Santiago del Teide last month when the local man of God lost the plot and attacked two municipal police officers with wooden club.
Priest runs amok in Santiago del Teide
Friday, November 18, 2005
Aviation's Gift to Healthcare
The Tenerife disaster (the worst airline accident in aviation history) forever changed aviation's approach to safety by sparking a revolution in the way pilots cooperate and openly communicate with each other — and that revolution is the prime reason we have now passed four years without a major airline accident in the United States. In many respects, those 582 lives were not lost in vain, since the lessons learned have been thoroughly applied to save countless others in aviation, and now in medicine!
Aviation's Gift to Healthcare
CIA flights dispute spreads to Canary Islands
The Canary Islands government said Wednesday that in May it had asked the central government to explain local newspaper reports that suspected CIA planes had landed five times on the island of Tenerife between March 2004 and May of this year.
CIA flights dispute spreads to Canary Islands
Canary Islands questions Madrid on CIA
Alleged secret CIA flights also went to Canary Islands
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Could snobs united save the planet?
"The problem with equality of opportunity, as JS Mill neglected to note, is that it doesn't half ruin your holiday." Accordingly, affluent holiday-makers are opting for countries such as Brazil and Mozambique over tried, tested and now infested destinations including Benidorm and Tenerife.
"Areas of Tenerife may still be pristine and isolated, but that's not enough," says this article in The Herald, which notes that "the worst thing about being a middle-class person going on holiday to Tenerife is not being submerged in caps, Burberry bikinis and lager on the beach but telling other middle-class people that's where you're going because they know that's where chavs go."
Could snobs united save the planet?
Cheaper August Breaks with the Kids
The British Government has struck a deal with travel agents to offer discounts on breaks during school holidays in the hope it will help reduce the number of children missing lessons. ITN checked a holiday-booking website to look for a summer break for two adults and two children on a three star all inclusive deal in Tenerife. They found a 35% (£422) difference between the price during term-time and the same holiday in August.
The Government's new initiative to stop children missing school
Sunday, November 13, 2005
King to celebrate anniversary in Tenerife
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía will take their place as guests of honour at a glittering gala concert to be held in the Tenerife auditorium in Santa Cruz on the evening of November 22. The concert, to be given by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the popular monarch’s accession to the throne.
It was on November 22, 1975 that the King stood before the Spanish house of representatives, the Cortes, and delivered his first speech as head of state after the death of General Franco. It was a momentous occasion which marked the end of the era of dictatorship and the rebirth of democracy for Spain.
King and Queen to visit Santa Cruz
ED: This visit, considering the significance of the date will, I feel, be a momentous occasion for the population of the island. A comment made recently in the Spanish media, I think, sums up the national feeling, echoed as much here in the outlying parts of the territory, is that the Spanish are not so much monarchistas (monarchists) as Juancarlistas - that is they like and respect King Juan Carlos the man.
Canaries ready for bird flu menace
Canary Islands councilor for health, María del Mar Julios, announced there is absolutely no cause for bird’ flu alarm in this region. Already stockpiled in the Canaries are 80,000 doses of the antiviral medicine, while the seasonal flu jabs for members of the population considered to be in risk categories is very much an ongoing campaign.
Meanwhile, another senior figure in the regional health service, Dr Domingo Núñez, has said that, as to the pandemic risk, the Canary Islands enjoy the double advantage of not being importers of poultry produce from the affected countries and being well away from the usual migratory routes of wild birds from the stricken zones.
Canaries ready for bird flu menace
Galapagos of the northern hemisphere
Prehistoric plant and tree species, wiped out elsewhere in Europe by the Ice Age glaciers, and giant lizards are just the most visible and best known of the Canary Islands' ecological treasure house. In fact experts agree that the islands possess the richest and most concentrated biodiversity of anywhere in Europe, with around 4,000 endemic species of flora and fauna catalogued so far, earning the Canaries a reputation among naturalists as being “the Galapagos of the northern hemisphere”.
Little big islands
Monitoring natural risks in Tenerife
Among three pilot projects selected for training in natural hazard mitigation is a volcanic risk mitigation programme for the island of Tenerife. The Spanish government has created a national council for volcanic risk which is to draw up volcanic hazard maps for the Canary Islands based on AEGIS prototypes and the results of the project will be modified and expanded for use by similar organizations throughout the world.
Natural hazards, earth sciences, Tenerife and a timely bit of information technology
Get a (plant) life, professor urges men in white
A distinguished local naturalist has called for Canary Island pharmacologists to turn to the past and “recover the secular botanical tradition” for which they and their Spanish colleagues were so highly regarded until the relatively recent past.
Professor Wildpret went on to make no secret of his position regarding the environment, roundly condemning what he called “the brutal and implacable destruction of areas of unequalled beauty for the benefit of those who equate economic progress with the dismantling of our natural and cultural identity …”
Get a (plant) life, professor urges men in white
Dolphin tax in the pipeline
The regional government of the Canary Islands is currently engaged in drafting new legislation aimed at levying a special tax on whale and dolphin watchers. The cash raised will be ploughed back into the conservation of the species.
Dolphin tax in the government pipeline
ED: I have no doubt that some boat owners will complain that this tax will eat into their profits. My feeling however, is that if they stated clearly that such a tax - specifically it's reason - was part of the excursion price, then any decent tourist would be only too glad to pay it - and more than the proposed 15 cents (about 10 pence) per person.
New Control Tower for Los Rodeos
Tenerife North Los Rodeos airport is to get a new air traffic control tower in 2006, news that will be greeted by more than a few travellers with a sigh of relief.
The present one, which played an instrumental part in the famous Jumbo runway tragedy in the 70s, is something of a museum piece and able to lay claim to being Spain’s second oldest operational control tower.
The airport's recently built main building already looks like outgrowing its strength as more and more passengers fly in and out of the north, though VIPs will be glad to know that their lounge is to be enlarged next year. Via: Tenerife News.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Take-off for Tenerife south second runway
After years of promises, procrastination and political argy-bargying, a deadline has at last been set for work to begin on the construction of Tenerife-Sur airport’s controversial second runway: 2008. The news that Reina Sofía will thus, by 2012, be the first Canary Island airport to be elevated to two runway status, has been a cause for not inconsiderable satisfaction, glee even, among the chattering classes, always keen to get one over on their counterparts across the water in Las Palmas.
Meanwhile at Tenerife-Sur, the luggage concourse is to be made considerably bigger and the departure lounges are due for a makeover. Forty new check-in desks will be added, hopefully going some way to reduce the queues of outward bound visitors, particularly on the busiest days of Friday and Tuesday
It’s take-off for south’s second runway
Friday, November 11, 2005
The superiority of chocolate
There is, I think, no question that chocolate is superior and Thomas Jefferson seems to have understood something of the exalted position that chocolate holds in Spanish culture. Plenty of other cultures certainly love chocolate too now, but I don't think any other appreciates it with quite the same sense of exoticism and sensuality.
Well, the Chocolate Show, currently invading New York may be an exception.
And, I had to laugh at my online horoscope this morning, which said:
"Treat yourself well today. Try to up your chocolate intake -- and sneak in a nap."
Whoever writes these things, obviously, does NOT live in Spain. This would not be considered as special treatment; this is a way of life and it certainly has it's benefits.
Aztec mythology (it was the Aztecs who began the cultivation of cocoa), even links the product to God, who, they believed, sent the seeds to earth to "sweeten" man's existence. The first consignment of chocolate arrived in Spain in 1527 and, from there, soon spread (chocolate spread - pun intended) throughout the whole of Europe.
Flicking channels recently, I caught the end of an item on tvCanaria - in their daily magazine program, Canarias Directo, which is available, not just locally but on the International and Digital channels too - about a restaurant somewhere here on the islands serving chocolate and nothing but chocolate in masses of different ways.
I wish I'd caught the beginning of it to tell you where it is, because, whilst most chocolate bars leave me unexcited these days (simply because there are so many better ways to get one's *fix*), this report and all the samples they showed made me positively drool. And, yes, they were promoting chocolate's healthy qualities!
Chocolate contains antioxidants and you wouldn't want to go rusty, would you? :)
This is, after all, a country where you can (I'm not saying you should) buy sliced bread with chocolate chips in, breakfast rolls and pastries with gooey chocolate in the middle, as well as chocolates and bars in all the more familiar forms, plus the traditional semi-liquid Chocolate a la Taza for the afternoon ritual - and into which to dip your churros.
If you visit Spain or the Canary Islands, you will find most of these things in the supermarket and I urge you to try the unfamiliar ones, even if it is just once.
(I doubt you'll restrain yourself to that, mind you.)
For more upmarket chocolate confections in Tenerife, it is worth a visit to Buenavista del Norte, simply to go to the Pastelería El Aderno. You'll find it easily in the main street, on the left going down, just before the BBVA bank. They serve hand-made chocolates and truffles, as well as superior chocolate-filled pastries and unique little desert mouses in pyramids or mounds of white, milk or dark chocolate.
The funny thing is, despite the national love of chocolate and sweet things (take condensed milk, for instance), Spanish chocolate, cakes & deserts are never nauseatingly over-sweet or sickly that you do generally find, at least in the UK.
If you don't wish to eat chocolate (I can't imagine why not, but still ...), you can enjoy its stimulating and illicit properties by having yourself covered in it with the Chocolate Fondue Wrap treatment available at the Oriental Spa Garden at Puerto de la Cruz' Hotel Botanico in Tenerife. One and a half hours of divine indulgence.
For those of you merely travelling here virtually, but who wish to try authentic Spanish chocolate (yes, it is VERY superior), Tienda.com have Gourmet Chocolate, Rabitos (Gourmet Chocolate-stuffed Fig Bonbons), the Almond Piedras and Chocolate Almond Turron traditional for Christmas, as well as Chocolate a la Taza.
Pamela Heywood © 2005
17 Popular Quotes about Chocolate
1. "Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate!" - Elaine Sherman, Book of Divine Indulgences
2. "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar in four pieces with your bare hands--and then just eating one piece" - Judith Viorst
3. "Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate and keeping my hands out of women's pants." - Oleg Kiselev
4. "It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man." - Miranda Ingram
5. "Life is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're gonna get." - Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump
6. "The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain." - Thomas Jefferson
7. "Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate." - Sandra Boynton
8. "If one swallows a cup of chocolate only three hours after a copious lunch, everything will be perfectly digested and there will still be room for dinner." - Brillat-Savarin
9. "It has been shown as proof positive that carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant; that it is nourishing and easily digested... that it is above all helpful to people who must do a great deal of mental work." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
10. "If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?" - Marquise de Sévigné
11. "Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits." - Baron Justus von Liebig
12. "Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies." - John Q. Tullius
13. "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists." - Leslie Moak Murray
14. "Forget love... I'd rather fall in chocolate!" - Author Unknown
15. "There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles." - Author Unknown
16. "My favorite thing in the world is a box of fine European chocolates which is, for sure, better than sex." - Alicia Silverstone
17. "After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of that one. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate." - Mel Gibson in What Women Want.
Copyright 2005.
Bridget Mwape writes for Chocolate Gift Basket website at: http://www.chocolate-gift-basket.org.uk/ which features gift ideas, chocolates and more. He also writes for http://www.sweets-and-chocolate.org.uk/ which offers a wide selection of sweets.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wild Spain: A walk through the best of the country's national parks
Among other Spanish National parks, Sarah Andrews visits both the Parque Nacional del Teide, Tenerife with its more than 32,000 acres of stark volcanic land and the Parque Nacional de Garajonay, La Gomera, Canary Islands, still home to the fascinating and magnificent, prehistoric and lush green laurel forest. Full article in Stars and Stripes.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Study Spanish and Surf
INSTED widens the concept of combining language studies with action sports. From spring 2006 students at the school can choose to study Spanish and surf in two Spanish towns; Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife and San Sebastián in the Basque country.
Spanish is an important language growing in popularity among people who wish to learn a second language, and INSTED often gets requests for courses in Spain.
The reason for choosing Tenerife and San Sebastián is explained by Adam Jorlén:"San Sebastián is situated in a classic surf region and is a perfect mix of a beach resort and a genuine Basque town. Tenerife and the Canary Islands are normally associated with holidays in the sun, but what most people don't know is that the island is a paradise for action sports like surfing, diving and climbing. We like Puerto de la Cruz for its Spanish small town feeling and for its location in between thousands of kilometres of sea in the north and the highest mountain in Spain, the volcano El Teide, in the south."
Full release. For additional information about INSTED, please visit www.insted.com
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Rocking and rolling to Tenerife
Solo circumnavigator Francis Chichester's boat, Gipsy Moth, in which he circled the world 40 years ago, arrived in Tenerife on Sunday. Dick Durham reports from onboard Gipsy Moth as she sails south from Gibraltar to the Canaries and as passers-by of all nationalities come to take a look at her, while berthed in Santa Cruz.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
First Buenavista del Norte Tuning Car Meeting
Well, here's something very different in our little rural backwater; Buenavista's first "Concentration" of Tuning Cars, which was held on Saturday in the main street and the square - usually the scenes of more pedestrian pursuits, such as traditional fiestas and romerias, horses or herds of goats at the annual fiesta of San Antonio each January.
Even rural backwaters have to move with the times, I guess and a goodly number of curious spectators had turned out by early afternoon to contemplate the couple of dozen vehicles on display, listen to engines being revved or buy tickets for the raffle.
Here, in a Secret Tenerife "exclusive" are photos from yesterday's gathering.
Tuning, is defined by La Frikipedia (not very kindly, but probably quite accurately) as, the "Contemporary art consisting in acquiring any type of motor vehicle and converting it into a species of totally afuncional and ridiculous intergalactic spaceship."
And, no, I don't know why they couldn't find or make a Spanish word to describe it.
In general, although it is a growing trend, the use of "Spanglish" is not as common over here as it is in North America.
Perhaps it's more cool for participants to use a foreign word and, less embarrassing for everyone else to "blame" it on the British or Americans with an English one!
La Frikipedia also list some of the "artistic practices" that a tuning car is submitted to, amongst them, namely:
• Painting the vehicle in florescent colours that the human eye is not prepared for.
Hummm ... I think the sober green and blue number (pictured above right, minors obfuscated out of respect) is pretty close to qualifying for that prize.
As well as making the doors open up instead of swinging the normal way, this vehicle rose up off the road surface - not a bad idea here, since there is not one single flat one on the entire island - and dropped back down again when it parked. Both novelties being the reason why it drew quite a crowd of easily delighted onlookers.
• Include a sound system superior to the value of a similar car in the showroom.
I see a pretty beefy speaker in there.
This yellow, white and blue example, despite the Chinese/Japanese calligraphy and other assorted emblems and animals, is in the colors of the Canarian flag.
And, it's for sale.
Actually, it's a shame (or a good job, according to your taste) that I cannot include sound with this report, because a 4x4 parked nearby, indeed the road surface and most of the buildings in the street, were pulsating with the sounds of reggaeton.
Coincidentally, I ran across the following quote, "At the forefront of the reggaeton movement is Tego Calderon, who was at a loss to describe why the mix of salsa and hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and reggae is so popular."
He may have been at a loss, however, tuning and reggaeton seem to be made for each other. Both equal in terms of subtlety and the latter is ideal for showing off the full capabilities of those expensive sound systems. (If the bodywork can take it.)
What else do we need for an authentic tuning car?
• Change the tyres for enormous rubber rollers.
• To include all type of ailerons and fins, each one with its corresponding illumination.
• Change the exhaust for a fatter one, preferably from a tractor.
(Ah, now we see why this has caught on here in the countryside.)
And, naturally, one has to drill holes in the exhaust manifold. 
• To fill any free space with stickers (we KNOW these make any vehicle go faster).
If you can't quite run to the whole customization job at the moment, you can always begin with something like this rather surprised looking cat on the bonnet of an otherwise normal(ish) saloon car.
We probably should mention that La Frikipedia point out (also not very kindly, but in reasonable truth), that the "art" of tuning is generally performed by a specific group of young persons known as canis.
And you will most likely not require a translation to recognize this species as being a close relation to that champion of good taste, his British cousin, the chav.
It's simply all part of the current youth culture and each successive generation of youth has one which allows them to express their individuality with rigorous conformity. :)
Extracting our tongue from our cheek finally, the positive aspect to this is that there is enough youth in the local area to support such an event. For many years, up until the last couple, they had mostly been leaving the area - which was becoming rather top-heavy in old age pensioners - to seek work in other parts of the island.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The lows (and highs) of Canary living
If anyone was in any doubt about the deficit between the high cost of Canary living and the low level of Canary pay, they should cast their eyes over the latest statistics released by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) which confirms the existence of that gap – and its widening nature.
According to that august body over 71% of households in the islands admit to experiencing a decided pinch as far as getting to the end of the month and only 14% of all families manage to save anything from their collective income on a regular basis.
Nationwide 55% of households said they had problems arriving at the end of the month in the black. Canary Islanders headed this worst-off list, followed by Balearic Islanders (67%) and Andalusians (64%).
The lows (and highs) of Canary living
Spanair loves Tenerife honeys
The airline was not actually referring to the girls of Tenerife, though they would be right to do so; the good food section of the company magazine Spanorama insists in the latest edition that honey from Tenerife is ‘unique in the world’.
The article goes on to report that our peculiar geological and climactic conditions permit islanders (and bees) to enjoy flowers that are purely endemic to the Canary Islands.
Naturally the island’s councillor for water and agriculture, José Bethencourt, is more than delighted with the article; ‘this magazine is distributed free among all the airline company’s clients throughout a whole month, which means that the article about Tenerife’s marvellous honey will reach a huge audience.’
Spanair loves Tenerife honeys
Local to this area of North West Tenerife is honey branded Apiteno, made in the village of Teno Alto and is also available for sale in Supermercado Las Cuevas on the main road through the valley of El Palmar.
The bees enjoy an almost inexhaustible variety of flowers in the fertile valley - 15 of which are unique to the Teno Rural Park. Dark in color, this honey has a rich and distinctive, traditional home-made, flavour.
Proof here that Spanair aren't the only ones to love it!
Lock up your pigeons!
Pigeon fanciers are up in arms after being ordered to lock up their precious birds for fear of spreading the dreaded bird flu. The president of the Tenerife Federation of Pigeon Breeders and Racers has accused the regional government of over-reacting and creating “unjustifiable alarm”. He said the ban on races is disproportionate.
Flocks of racing pigeons are a common sight in these islands where some 500,000 birds are registered with the respective provincial federations. The Canaries are, in fact, the leading region in Spain for pigeon fanciers and Tenerife tops the two provinces which make up the region when it comes to pigeon lofts.
Lock up your pigeons!
The Moorings Adds a New Base in the Canary Islands
The Moorings, the world's premier yacht charter company, announced the expansion of its worldwide cruising destinations to include the popular European destination of Tenerife at the heart of the Canary Islands, with the addition of Alboran Charters as a Moorings Preferred Partner. The Moorings will offer yachts from 41ft to 47ft and the agreement increases The Moorings' offerings to 42 locations around the world.
Based in Radazul, just west of the capital Santa Cruz, Alboran Charter has become the 4th Moorings Preferred Partner. "Alboran Charter has many years of experience with active tourist destinations such as the Balearic Islands, the Costa Brava and the Canaries, and have built a reputation of excellence with a focus on service to their customers," commented Raul Bermudez, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Moorings. "We are very proud to offer our customers the unique cruising grounds of this Atlantic destination through such a quality company," he added.
The Moorings Adds a New Base in the Canary Islands
