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In much the same way that the British traditionally eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to use up items in the kitchen before Lent begins tomorrow, this is the Canarian equivalent.

Ingredients:

1 'yesterday's' Canarian loaf (pan normal) - any crusty white bread like a French stick or baguette will do just as well, 1 egg, 1 cup of milk approx., Sugar, Sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

Method:

Slice the bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices and discard the ends. Beat the egg, milk and cinnamon together in a bowl then soak the bread slices briefly in the mixture. Lift them carefully and fry gently in oil in a shallow frying pan, turning once. Remove when golden, arrange on a plate and sprinkle with sugar.

This a great way to use up stale bread at any time.

Labels: Carnaval

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Keeping an eye on search terms that visitors use to reach this site, leads me to believe that the top items of interest are the Carnaval in Santa Cruz and the weather in Tenerife.

With the "Coso" Apoteosis del Carnaval, main parade, supposed to have been happening this afternoon in Santa Cruz, I can tell you that the same God who decides the weather for August bank holidays in Britain has been at work here in Tenerife today. It is generally the case that it will rain at least once during Carnaval week, but this is the first time in my 14 years on the island that I have known the weather to be so uncooperative as to cause the suspension of events.

The islands continue on alert because of high winds again - currently reported to be around 80 kmph. Waves have reached heights of three to five meters in Tenerife, whilst on the north coast of El Hierro, reached a record height of eight meters.

In Santa Cruz de La Palma, 24 inter-island flights had to be cancelled. Over here on the north west of Tenerife it has been tipping it down with buckets of rain this afternoon and, by my standards, it is freezing at around 12 degrees centigrade.

Reports in the local media confirmed that the main parade of Carnaval has been suspended today and it is hoped that the parade will now be held on Saturday, March 4th, instead.

Have a thought for those poor girls in their Brazillian style bare-bottomed costumes and, with all the feathers they wear, they were probably worried about them catching avian flu!

Tags: Tenerife, Canarias, Canary Islands, Carnaval

Labels: Carnaval, Tenerife Weather, Weather

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To quote this item at the Tallahassee Democrat:

"In an attempt to thwart the spread of bird flu, George W. Bush has just ordered the bombing of the Canary Islands."

I assumed this comment on their anonymous forum was a joke, albeit with equal good taste and tact to a Danish cartoon and Erika Peterman, Associate Editor of Tallahassee.com assures me that "The writer definitely was being sarcastic!"

Meanwhile, as local politicos are trying to convince us that there is no bird flu risk as the islands are "not a stopping off place for migrating birds." (and they're failing miserably, as far as I am concerned), of course we do know the islands are a stopping off place for not so secret CIA flights and that particular cat was released from its bag by Tenerife spotters. Disconcerting, no?

Normally, I'd rate GWB's chances of finding the Canary Islands roughly on a par with his ability to find WMD, however, perhaps George Bush DOES read Scribbles from Tenerife, after all?

Tags: Tenerife, Canary Islands, Canarias, Bush, Avian flu, Bird Flu

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Holly the Hound, who contains some Presa Canario and German Shepherd amongst her 57 varieties, probably is capable of licking someone to death.The Metropolitan Police force, concerned for the safety of its officers, has issued a warning to ensure they are up to speed on what police chiefs consider to be a highly dangerous animal.

The presa canaria, the native Canary Islands breed of dog, is coming in for more unwelcome publicity overseas after it was revealed it has been taken up in a big way in the UK by criminals to guard their interests and intimidate their rivals.

Met warns of Canary presa danger

Related links:
Presa Canario Canary Dogs
Canary Dog (Perro de Presa Canario)

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If residents of the Parque Rural de Teno and its areas of influence don't want to visit any one of Tenerife's 5,325 bars to get pickled, they can try making their own pickles, jams and liqueurs.

As I mentioned to the Tenerife Scribbler this afternoon, there is not one newspaper vendor in the valley, but, come to think of it, I can point you to a good handful of restaurants and umpteen bars. There is already a booming local wine trade, now they are encouraging the making of homemade hooch.

Clearly, this place has it's priorities right.

Anyway, from the 2nd to the 30th March (from 4 to 8 p.m.) at the Farmers' Market in El Palmar, the Tenerife Island Council is running a course on making Conserves, Jams and Liqueurs.

Students will acquire practical knowledge of artisan methods of elaboration of; not just jams and marmalades, but also savory conserves such as chutneys and sweet and sour sauces, as well as rescuing some forgotten recipes from the ancestors, like that of aguardiente (a sugar cane hooch, that I understand is somewhat akin to meths) and other traditional liqueurs.

That certainly should get some activity going in the area!

PS: The plum jam I made last year turned out great. So did the fig jam I made the year before. At least it tastes fine, but maybe I should go on the course, because I may have mucked something up in the process. It has purging qualities that FAR exceed anything Syrup of Figs could do for you! :)

El Cabildo organiza un curso de conservas, mermeladas y licores en el Parque Rural de Teno

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They might not all be gourmets’ dreams, but with 9,580 bars, restaurants and cafeterias, Tenerife leads the way by a mile in the Canary hospitality sector. A recent report from the regional tourism ministry shows that half the total of such establishments in the Canary Islands are to be found here in Tenerife, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase spoilt for choice.

Eat, drink and be merry – Tenerife is tops!

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Recently, someone called 'Rednick' at the Google Earth Community posted a really interesting collection of placemarks and showing many views in Google Earth of photographs taken by a famous French photographer Arthus-Bertrand. The placemarks are the locations of about 130 photographs from a collection called, appropriately enough, "Earth From Above"

The interesting thing about it is that in this post about it on the Google Earth Blog, the example photos they use are here in Tenerife and, indeed, somewhere no more than a couple of miles from me. It is the view of the Montaña de Taco with a reservoir in the top, next to Buenavista del Norte.

The level of detail of this area in Google Earth is particularly high, as you will see if you "fly" here. Once you get to the Montaña de Taco in Google Earth, following their instructions, just make a left up between the mountains you'll see on your left and you'll soon find your way in to the El Palmar valley.

Matching Photos to Google Earth

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Monarch Scheduled has launched its winter 2006 timetable with the news that the airline is to begin two new routes.

The low-cost operator will begin three flights a week to Tenerife from Gatwick, starting on October 29 and on the same day begin two flights a week to Lanzarote from Manchester, which means that Monarch offers more flights to the Canary Islands than any other low cost carrier.

Two new routes from Monarch

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The gala ended only about half an hour ago and the quality is not great because these were taken right from the TV. Still, if you've never seen this spectacle before, it will give you some idea and particularly the size of these costumes.

Labels: Carnaval

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This is, by no means, a complete list of all Carnaval events, but those which, I believe, to be of most interest to an English speaking visitor and generally casual onlooker.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006
21:30 - Gala for the Selection of the Carnaval Queen 2006
This colorful event, to be held tonight in the Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos de Tenerife will be televised internationally. It is probably best seen on TV too, to see close ups of the costumes. This gala is really the last in a long line of selection processes that have already taken place to choose the best dance troops and musical groups, etc. These also set the order they should participate in the forthcoming parades.

Friday, February 24, 2006
20:00 - The "Announcing" Parade of Carnaval

Now that all the participants and winners have been chosen, this parade announces the start of Carnival celebrations proper. There is a firework display at the end of the parade.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006
16:00 - "Coso" Apoteosis del Carnaval

This is THE main parade of Carnaval along the Avenida de Anaga and Avenida Marítima alongside the seafront and port in Santa Cruz. Fireworks again follow, scheduled for 21:00. This parade will also be televised internationally, details here.

Wednesday, March 1, 2006
21:00 - Burial of the Sardine

How does one explain this? It is a sacrilegious, surreal and sarcastic parade where you are likely to find men and women dressed up as Catholic clergy and men dressed up in drag as "wailing widows". Just in case you think that you've run into a cross-dressers' convention or a Gay Pride march, it is not. They all follow the funeral procession of the poor unfortunate effigy of a huge sardine, which symbolizes the "death" or end of Carnaval (well, sort of) and start of Lent.

There is a good description, in which you will discover the secret of Carnaval and, particularly the Burial of the Sardine in this article in the Guardian, Carnaval Queen.

Saturday, March 4, 2006
18:00 - Coso Infantil

This is a separate main parade for all the junior Carnaval participants, the Kid's Parade, in which the place of honour will be held by the Reina Infantil (Junior Queen). Click here for photos of this year's winner and her court. Though perhaps a little more pedestrian than the grown-up parades, which you may prefer also, I think this is one of the best days.

Sunday, March 5, 2006
10:00 - XXXVI Concourse of Classic Cars

Or, "Old Crocks Day", as I like to colloquially name it, which is particularly apt this year as it falls on my birthday. :) Look for the old crocks, the vehicular ones, not myself, in the Plaza de la Iglesia (Church Square) and Calle La Noria. After assembling, they will make a very noisy circuit of the city streets.

There is also a Gran Fin de Fiesta del Carnaval 2006 party at 17:00 and, of course, a farewell firework display, which is slated to begin at 22:00. If the Burial of the Sardine didn't really mark the end of Carnaval, does this? Well, to repeat myself yet again, only sort of! All it really means is the end, for this year, of the Carnaval celebrations in Santa Cruz. It all just moves along to Puerto de La Cruz, Los Cristianos and just about every other town on the island for at least another couple of weeks.

And, since there is always next year's Carnaval to plan, dances and songs to rehearse, costumes to have 1000's of sequins and feathers sewn on ... I really doubt that Carnaval ever ends.

More information:

Times, of course, in the Canary Islands, are always very approximate, however, with the advent of televising most of the main events, they are getting more precise.

A full list of events (in Spanish) can be found at the Official Carnaval site. There are other small parades and, of course, dances in the streets most nights starting at 23:00 on Friday - now that the judge decided they could go ahead.

There is also the nightly fun fair and have a heart for the snack food stall holders that you will find, mostly around the central Plaza de España. They will have paid up to tens of thousands of Euros in the auction to secure the prime locations and the pleasure of overcharging you! But, it is a party, after all. :)

How to get there on the bus.

Can't make it this year?

If you are planning ahead to come to Santa Cruz Carnaval in a future year, you can always count on the "Coso", main parade, being on the Shrove Tuesday. Once you have the calendar for the year in question, this should be easy to find or work out.

It is also a fair bet to assume that the announcing parade will be held on the previous Friday night and the Gala for the selection of the Queen, on the Wednesday, two days prior to that. The the Kid's Parade, likewise has always been on the following Saturday and the Old Crocks on the Sunday.

The one to watch is the Burial of the Sardine, which has been known to be moved and held on the following Friday instead.

Tags: Tenerife, Canarias, Carnival, Carnaval

Labels: Carnaval

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Research into how volcanoes erupt led by Durham University’s Earth Sciences Department is taking volcanologists a step closer to being able to predict when and on what scale volcanoes will erupt. The team chose four European volcanoes to study for the project that represented a broad range of types of volcanoes in terms of size, frequency and intensity of eruption, from Stromboli with frequent relatively gentle eruptions, to Teide and Vesuvius with medium scale eruptions to Campi Flegrei representing the larger end of the scale.

New volcano research moves closer to predicting eruptions

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The world certainly is waking up to the fact that Tenerife has much more to offer than sun, sand, sea, sangria and everything else that begins with an "S" and often ends in tears! :)

FemaleFirst.co.uk (via Webchats.tv and promoted by the Tenerife Tourist Board), will be hosting a live webchat with Adrian Mourby on Wednesday 1st March 2006 at 14h30 to discuss the hidden treasures Santa Cruz and La Laguna have to offer to the discerning traveller. Details can be found here:

Discover the cultural jewel of The Canary Islands

In the last ten years Adrian Mourby has had four books published, written and presented various series on Radio 4. Adrian now produces opera and other musical events. He has acted as international and architectural correspondent for Opera Now magazine, lectured for Martin Randall Travel and Travel for the Arts and won the Sony Silver Award for Creative Writing on Radio. He has also written various travel pieces for the likes of The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.

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Canary Island Pines in front of Mount Teide. Photo: jimmyroq

The University of California, Berkeley is the oldest of the UC campuses and serves as the flagship of California's public university system.

There's a Special Report by Ron Sullivan this week in local newspaper, the Berkeley Daily Planet about Canary Island pines at Berkeley, some of which can be spotted in groups around the UC campus. They and a number of other Canary Island native species are certainly a long way from their original home!

Of course, you can see the Canary Island Pine (Pinus canariensis) in it's native habitat here in Tenerife.

Sullivan mentions the denseness of the red heartwood of these trees - so dense it sinks in water - and to see an example of the uses this wood is put to, look at these Heartwood Cloisters at the former Fransiscan convent in Garachico.

The role of these pines in the water cycle, catching rain and driving it down to the underground galleries, is indeed an important one. You really don't begin to understand how important trees are, until you see this process modelled, which you can do at the former plantation, Bananera - Jardines del Atlantico (at Busanada, Nr Los Cristianos).

For my money, this friendly little park and garden should be at the very top of any visitors' list of places to see in the south of Tenerife, because, once you have done so, you will have a much greater appreciation for everything else you visit later.

As for birding. Well, I can think of nowhere better than the Parque Rural de Teno and here in the El Palmar valley - where I am serenaded by hundreds of native canaries daily as well as spotting a huge variety of other small birds and birds of prey (my friend jokes that I have become a "regular twitcher").

And, of course, this valley is also one of the last places to see the Phoenix canariensis, Canary Island date palms at home.

NB: For a high resolution version of the above image click here.

GPS waypoints for birders

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CAT IN LOS VINOS - TENERIFE
Originally uploaded by on the road2006.

Leslie recently snapped a little doggie in a window, watching the world go by, in Puerto de la Cruz. And here is a dear little cat doing much the same on a sunny day in Los Viños.

It is so very true that Canarians like to spend time at windows or on balconies and simply watch the world go by. This does also seem to hold true for the animal population.

My next door neighbour also suggested that most locals wouldn't mind, indeed would be glad to appear in photos. And these two, it seems, are positively posing!

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Going to the Santa Cruz Carnaval in person?

Apart from the fact that parking is a joke in Santa Cruz at the best of times and it is obviously safer to leave the wheels at home if you intend to imbibe a beverage or two, actually, half the fun of an outing to Carnaval can be had on the bus.

Oh yes, I can cast my mind back to the year that, dressed as a musketeer, complete with high boots, cape and big hat with a feather, I passed a few enjoyable minutes engaged in a plastic sword fight on the bus with a complete stranger. :)

Every year, Tenerife bus company TITSA (no, that is NOT the Spanish branch of Trotters Independent Trading) lay on extra busses for Carnaval dates, including the famous 111 Playa de las Americas route, running right through until 4.30 a.m.

Download a special Carnaval 2006 timetable (PDF) here.

Labels: Carnaval

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Many of you not in the Canary Islands may be interested in discovering what our spectacular annual Carnaval is all about and, thanks to the international channel of our local TV station, tvCanaria, I think you should be able to see for yourselves.

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, February 22 sees what I believe is the biggest event with the widest appeal - that of the Gala for the Selection of the Carnaval Queen 2006.

The truly magnificent, outrageous and enormous, colorful costumes are well worth seeing and you really don't need to understand Spanish to be able to appreciate them.

Locally, this is being shown live at 9.30 p.m. On the international channel, it appears that it will be going out later, at 01.30 a.m. GMT (i.e. Thursday morning). That would equate to 2.30 a.m. in Central Europe, but still appear to be 9.30 p.m. in Venezuela where the broadcast is primarily aimed, 8.30 p.m. US Eastern.

You should be able to look up the details of Wednesday's programming here, once it is published.

In Europe, you can find tvCanaria on Astra:

Satélite: ASTRA 1E
Diameter of antena: Canarias 90 cm, Europe 60 cm.
Transpondedor: 34
Frecuencia: 10.979 MHz
Polarización: Vertical
Symbol Rate: 22.000
FEC: 5/6

In America, via Hispasat:

Satélite: Hispasat 1C
Posición orbital: 30º W
Download frequency: 12.172 MHz
Polaridad: Horizontal
Symbol Rate: 27.500
FEC: 3/4
Service name: C. Canarias TV

More details of frequencies and stuff here.

I am assuming all of that will mean something to those of you who have satellite TV. Does it show that I do not? I shall be watching, via a wire coat hanger! No, I'm not kidding. :)

On Tuesday, February 28th (Shrove Tuesday), the "Coso" Apoteosis del Carnaval or main parade will be taking place and I am certain this one will be televised internationally as well. The parade begins at 4 p.m. GMT in Santa Cruz, but I don't yet know the timing of the international broadcast.

If you get to watch any of this from "the outside", do let us know what you think of it and, if you can explain this better than I can, please do so by posting a comment!

Labels: Carnaval

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Airtours have recently launched a new range of short break holidays for summer 2006. If you don't want to take a full week or two week holiday this Summer but want to get away, an Airtours Short Break could be just what you're looking for. They have a wide range of accommodation available - from Prestige hotels, Summer Sun properties and Local Flavours accommodations. Flights are available from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham for either a 3 or 4 night break.

Destinations include: Tenerife from £279 per person.

Airtours NEW Short Breaks

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My local store here in El Palmar, with its home delivery service and being almost unique in the fact that they open on Saturday afternoons, is one of the most shopper-friendly of it's type.

Beyond that, I couldn't help but laugh loudly with recognition at many of the things that Leslie has observed about the often frustrating Canarian shopping experience in this article.

Suggesting that, "Canarian shopkeepers don’t enjoy over contamination of customers.", because it creates them work, Leslie says, "Generally speaking, the older the area, the more entrenched is this attitude. Such shops have become rare in the tourist dominated south, but are still common in the north." Barring those couple of exceptions of unusual forward thinking mentioned above, I can certainly confirm this.

In all fairness, they work very hard to be helpful and will get almost anything a customer wants at Las Cuevas, so long as their warehouse carries it, but this is rare. So far though, they don't stock such "modern" items as a can of baked beans.

And, half the things you want have to be served and you have to ask for them - even a simple thing like potatoes. You can guarantee that in the time it takes them to go off out the back to get them, been stopped on the way to be told the latest news about poor old Sra. Perez' bad foot and served three other customers, the spuds will have grown eyes! :)

If three customers is overload, wait until you get three customers and a delivery man in all at once!

There have been times when it got so out of hand, that I just go behind the counter and start weighing, pricing and serving customers myself and I am highly honoured that they trust me - a foreigner - to do so and, at least things are better since they moved to new premises a couple of years ago. There are some open shelves now and their time is no longer shared between the shop out front and a drinking bar in the back room.

Don't get me wrong, I love going to Las Cuevas for a chat, to catch up on all the local news and gossip, etc., as much as the next person, but there's a limit. The truth is that I never call in if I'm in a hurry. It's futile. The event must be planned as a minimum half-day excursion. It's like going to a club or day-center that happens to sell things on the side.

I really wouldn't want to change anything about it, but, of course, it does mean that I only call in there once a month or so to replenish fresh produce. Like everyone else on these islands, I do bulk shopping trips to one of the big malls that offer prices, choice and opening times to suit me.

Go down to Buenavista and you are back to the old system: after 1 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, it's a ghost town.

The only shop that opens all day Saturday and all day Sunday is the bakery, Pastelería Aderno. They do a roaring trade.

They also own a bodega and the company has just opened a refurbished finca as rural tourist accommodation. You would think that other local business owners might grasp that their results just might be tied into their efforts, wouldn't you?

Buenavista del Norte is hardly a tourist hot spot, but it does attract a few and more all the time now we have Buenavista Golf, designed by the great Severiano Ballesteros, so there must be people wandering around there wondering what to do.

While my mother was here at Christmas, we discussed the idea of going to Santa Cruz, but in the end decided that it was just too much trouble to get up before dawn to get there and have enough time in the shops before they closed at lunch time.

For the capital city of an island dependent on tourism and a major port, the attitude of retailers in Santa Cruz is something that I just can't understand. As Tenerife News say, in Ghost town cruise blues, "How much sympathy do whingeing retailers deserve when they refuse to move with the times?"

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Mauna Loa, Earth's largest volcano on the Hawaiian Islands, measured from its base some 5,000 m (over 16,000 ft) below the ocean surface to the highest point at 4,170 m (13,680 ft) above sea level, totalling over 9,000 m (> 30,000 ft). Mauna Loa is about 36 m (120 ft) lower than its neighbor, Mauna Kea.

Earth's third largest volcano is, of course, our own Mount Teide here on Tenerife, which stands 3,717 m (12,195 ft) above sea level and approximately 7000 m above the adjacent sea bed.

The "curiosity" is that since Mount Everest is situated on top of the Tibetan plateau, already at 3,600 meters, then measuring from there, Everest is "only" 5,230 meters high.

All three big volcanos are taller mountains on this basis.

Source: Hawai: la montaña más alta

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"Tenerife is in fashion because it is constantly being updated, revitalising its offers, events and attractions. In 2005 Tenerife had a record of 1.5 million Spanish visitors, 6.24% more than in previous years.", say Tenerife News.

An abundance of striking new architecture, groundbreaking attractions and international events are adding to the already incredible diversity of nature and scenery.

Among the coming events is the first International Congress of Carpet making, which will take place in June 2006 in La Orotava. Tenerife is renowned for its sand and flower carpets, and this year La Orotava will host carpet artists from all over the world, such as Mexico, the US and Tibet among others.

Tenerife is in fashion

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Twelve swimmers have been selected to represent Tenerife at the world lifesaving championship taking place between February 10-26 in Australia. The team, from Real Club Nautico of Tenerife, is sub champion of Spain, and will compete alongside another 200 teams (7.200 participants) from all over the world.

Tenerife swimmers participate in lifesaving championship, Australia

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Celebrations for the 275th Anniversary of San Antonio in Texas will culminate with a performance by tenor Plácido Domingo.

Meanwhile, a delegation, including government representatives, artists and academics from the archipelago will also be present in the city, an historical symbol of Canarian emigration.

Texas can look forward to seeing the area around the San Fernando cathedral covered in sand and flower carpets, in the style of those made here for Corpus Cristi and La Orotava.

San Antonio se prepara para celebrar sus 275 años con nutrida visita canaria
Carpet of flowers set to bloom near San Fernando Cathedral

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Speaking of the high-life in Tenerife, Leslie from Scribbles from Tenerife mentioned the Restaurante Molino Blanco, where he took the wife for a Valentines dinner on Tuesday.

Leslie says the restaurant is one of the better known ones. Well, I, for one, wasn't aware that there is an old style windmill and a building that recreates an old country house with a "Patio", slap bang in touristy Las Americas!

There's plenty of them here in the north and they are real.

But you should see the clientele they draw:

Famous personalities such as legend Jose Feliciano, international singer Luis Miguel, American singer Mariah Carey, Mexican band Maná, Mexican singer Paulina Rubio, among others …

Including a singing Tenerife Scribbler. Well, at least they've survived something worse than Mariah Carey then! :)

(Hey, before you crucify me over that last comment, I happen to think she has an amazing voice, but something Greg Edwards said on Soul Spectrum last week, highlighted the reality. She has released masses of records, but can you actually remember one of them? Quite. If it was quality, you would have.)

All joking aside, it is good to see that the south is providing some "typical Canarian" flavour amongst it's recent efforts at an image clean up, even if it is recreated. This, sadly, was rarer than rocking horse poo last time I set foot in the resort. :)

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The local press is still mulling over the statistics on immigration in the islands and one newspaper, El Día, introduced a new angle by publishing figures relating to the elderly foreign population over which – as consumers of the over-stretched public health service – there is a growing sense of unease.

White flighters add to immigration stats – and how

Ed Note: I don't really see why this is causing unrest: it is well documented that populations are growing older all over the world, so this is very likely also be the case among the local population, as well as the foreigners. Besides that, as I understood it, any OAP who retires here, without ever having worked in Spain, would have to provide their own health coverage in the form of private health insurance.

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Another report confirms the threat to Canary Islands palms.

"Remember the bad old days of Dutch elm disease and the havoc it wrought on the British landscape? Well, there are fears that a similar ecological disaster could befall the archipelago’s palm trees, thanks to another imported insect, the red palm weevil, a bug which is already getting its teeth into trees in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria."

Tenerife palms face red beetle menace

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The Paper Blog reports that they are launching a new column, to be called Elegancia that will be promoting the high life in Tenerife, i.e. fine dining, fab shops, beautiful hotels - all the glam things the island has to offer. "After the bad press we have received in recent months, it's time we hit back with some positive advertising for this wonderful island which has so much to offer to so many different tastes.", adds Tasha Laming.

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Linking two very different holiday destinations comes a new budget airline service – from Blackpool to Tenerife. Jet2.com plans to sell one-way tickets from £60 (including taxes) on a twice weekly service beginning in November and has plans for introducing a daily connection from 2007.

From Blackpool with love

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Canary Islands emissions go through the roof: The sub-tropical, bucolic image of the archipelago that the Canary authorities are so fond of promoting was in tatters this month when news broke of how greenhouse gas emissions from these Fortunate Isles have escalated by a staggering 81% since 1990.

Greenhouse gas lunacy

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The blaze started shortly after midnight last night at the family's three storey home in the town of San Juan de la Rambla (Tenerife). The dead girl's parents explained that they were unable to rescue their daughter whose bedroom was some distance from theirs.

7 year old girl dies in fire at Tenerife home

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Yet another patera, this time carrying 37 illegal immigrants, arrived on Tenerife’s south coast in the El Médano area last week. Tenerife News report, "One surprising feature of this landing has yet to be explained, however. Among the detritus on board the patera were plastic shopping bags from a well-known Canary supermarket chain and Spanish brand foodstuffs. How they came to be there if the boat had come, as is thought, from Mauritania, remains a mystery."

Kinda makes you think they are getting supplied and assisted somewhere at sea on the way, doesn't it? Which seems to suggest that there is someone friendly to or part of the trafficking network "management" here on the islands.

South Tenerife sees another patera arrival

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GC Philo, a Philadelphian living in Cádiz, Spain, says, "There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a group of Americans here in Spain, who are probably on vacation for less than a week, standing in line to order a Whopper from Burger King."

He also rightly says that "One of the most important things about going to another country and experiencing its culture is having an open mind. It’s a different place and, seeing as you’re only going to be there temporarily, you should try to absorb as much of the local atmosphere as possible."

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree and find it quite sad also to see hoards of British visitors queueing for their Burger King burgers, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a myriad versions of the good ol' traditional English Breakfast and Sunday Roast.

If that's what you want, go to Blackpool and buy a sunlamp!

And I do know that you will get the English breakfast in Blackpool, because the son of some Canarian friends of mine recently went there with a party of disabled kids. He is currently studying to be a doctor at the University Hospital in La Laguna and came back with the awful impression that we Brits eat the most unhealthy, greasy, fattening, calorie laden things.

Was he so very wrong? :)

Meanwhile, here in the Canary Islands, there is also a vast selection of new and interesting flavours to try, if only you will. Honestly, they are not all disgusting and inedible as they look.

Anyway, back to GC Philo's excellent, informative and decidedly amusing guide to Spanish food, ¡Que Aproveche!, which veers you away from the familiar paella and jamón serrano into the "uncharted waters" of slugs, barnacles and sea urchins.

Most of all, he advises, "... don’t write off all Spanish seafood just because their cuisine includes a sea creature that you know exists only from old pirate films and Mutiny on the Bounty."

¡Que Aproveche!

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The Museum of Science and Cosmos in La Laguna, Tenerife, will be holding a photographic exhibition titled “A walk through the Cosmos” until March 12. The 40 photographs were taken by Luis M. Chinarro, who works as an astronomical observer at the Teide Observatory, which belongs to the Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands (IAC).

A Walk Through The Cosmos

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