Thursday, November 30, 2006
Canary Islands Population Growth in 250 Years
Data from this study published by the Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC) (Canarian Statistics Institute), reveals that, in the last quarter of a millennium, the overall population of the Canary Islands has multiplied by thirteen.
The study shows the growth in the Canary Islands' population since the first modern census in the history of the archipelago, the Census of Aranda in 1768, the first which counted all of the members of the population and not just heads of families.
At the time of that 1768 census, there were 155,763 people living in the Canary Islands. By 1797, the number had risen to 173,865. At the beginning of the 20th Century, in 1900, it was 364,408, which has risen to almost two million today.
An interesting piece of side information we can derive from this, is that with 283,931 "outsiders" (142,375 from other parts of Spain and 141,556 foreigners) living in the islands in 2001, the remaining population growth of 1.3 million over the last century must be due to the expansion of the "native population" itself and, firmly refutes the widely held belief that immigration alone is responsible for the explosion.
Tenerife and Gran Canaria have always been the most populated islands of the archipelago, with Gran Canaria occupying first place between 1940 and 2001.
Historically, La Palma had been the third most populated island and, had remained so until as recently as 1998, when Lanzarote took over that position.
The most populated city, since 1768, has been Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, except in 1910, when Santa Cruz in Tenerife took over the title briefly. The second most inhabited city was La Laguna, in Tenerife, back in 1768, Telde in Gran Canaria from 1787 to 1842 and Santa Cruz in Tenerife from 1857, until the present day.
Santa Cruz' population, back in 1768, had numbered a mere 7,399. By 2005, it had multiplied almost thirty times to 221,567. The population of Arona, in the south of Tenerife, has multiplied by almost 38, from 1,516 in 1768, to 57,445 in 2005.
Whereas, in more rural areas, such as in the municipality of Buenavista del Norte, which had begun with 1,376 inhabitants in the 18th Century, had merely quadrupled its numbers to it's highest point of 5,664 in 1996. Since then, the population has actually been slowly dropping, to 5,300 in 2005. In some rural districts on the island of La Gomera too, the population has only doubled in those 250 years.
Despite the population growth, the number of homes only multiplied by 9.6 in the 233 years, from 57,218 in 1768 to 552,497 in 2001. The average size of family has dropped from 4.2 in 1842, after reaching a peak of 4.8 in 1920, to 3.1 in 2001.
For those of you who also like numbers, the data is very easy to play with and will give you these figures for any island or town, just by using the dropdown boxes.
En los últimos 250 años la población se ha multiplicado por trece en las Islas
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Meeting of Saints in Tenerife
The exhibition, which is open until Sunday, contains 56 pieces of iconography.
San Roque (Saint Roch), San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian) and San Lázaro (Saint Lazarus) are the three healing saints (Holy Helpers) most venerated in the Canary Islands and images of the three are found all over the archipelago. However, there is a prevalence above all others for San Roque in Garachico, which arrived in the municipality after an epidemic of plague between 1600 and 1606.
The figure of the saint that has been venerated in Garachico for four centuries provides the focal point of the exhibition, Roque de Montpellier, along with iconography of the various "saints of the plague", figures of San Roque from all around the islands and of other, associated, guardians of health.
The exhibition has received 7,000 visitors since it opened on October 20th, which is a record number, given that it is outside the usual cultural circuit. It remains open until Sunday, at Garachico's Convento de San Francisco (Former Franciscan Convent).
(Photo: Town Hall and Plaza Glorieta de San Francisco in Garachico dressed for the Fiestas de San Roque in Garachico, in August. The entrance to the Convento de San Francisco and the exhibition is through the arched door in the yellow building on the left. This is a museum, open to the public, and is well worth visiting at any time, if only to see the gorgeous architecture, stone floors and its heartwood cloisters.)
Reunión de santos en Tenerife
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Just what is a Tenerife Calima?
Recently, just after we'd been on alert for high winds and heavy rains, the weather turned straight into a hot air calima. It was a surprising combination or sequence of meteorological events, particularly for the time of year. The good news is that calimas only happen a couple of times of year, but just what is a Tenerife Calima?
Michael Hopkins wanted to know and says, "I have often heard the word Calima talked about when I am on holiday in Tenerife and I was wondering just what a Calima is, what does a Calima do and why do Calima’s occur in Tenerife? So I thought I would do a little investigation into Calimas ..."
Just what is a Tenerife Calima?
Labels: Tenerife Weather, Weather
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Where to Sample Tenerife Wines
The premises are housed in a traditional large Canarian house (more images here) that is also a wine museum, open to the public, where you can learn all about wines and winegrowing in Tenerife and sample the product. (Wednesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
This year's harvest from the Icoden-Daute-Isora wine region was 48.74 percent larger than last year, with this region alone producing 1.3 million kilos of grapes; 843,939 of them white and 477,984 of them red this year. There are 900 individual growers and 23 bodegas registered in the region - the most ancient but most recently Denominated of Spain's regions.
Harvests from the Orotava Valley and the Tacoronte Acentejo region also showed increases over last year. Councillor for Agriculture, José Joaquín Bethencourt, has classed the 2006 vintage as excellent, both in terms of quantity and quality.
La comarca Icoden-Daute-Isora experimenta un incremento del 48,74 por ciento con respecto al pasado año
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Solving the mysteries of volcanoes
Scientists are on a mission to find out why volcanoes erupt and what signs could help people predict future eruptions, by studying the “Hawaii of Europe”, Tenerife, reports Allison Doty in The Daily Evergreen. The report says that, "Tenerife is a unique volcano because, unlike most volcanoes in Europe, it is active and has a relatively young span of volcanism, giving the opportunity to study chemical processes before the magma erupts." If you are hoping they will tell you when it might be likely to do so, sadly you'll be disappointed, but it's gratifying to know they're working on it.
Solving the mysteries of volcanoes
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Canary Islands Bananas are not to blame
Recent reports of the biting spider - Steatoda nobilis, commonly known as the false black widow - terrorizing the south of Britain, claim that the "The spider is native to the Canary Islands but arrived in England in around 1870 through bananas sent to Torquay." This information, it would appear, is not quite accurate.
Quoting Antonio Machado, a biologist who has spent a good part of his life classifying Canarian "bugs", this report by Bernardo Sagastume in ABC, tells us that, "It is probable that they are from here, although they could also come from Madeira, as ships in those days called at both archipelagos".
What he does not believe, however, is that the banana can be to blame, because, as he says, "there are spiders in plantations, but they are not the ones that bite."
Besides that, Machado adds that the spider is not exclusively endemic to the Canary Islands, nor is it a native and was probably introduced into the Canary Islands.
It's a strange thing, but I can remember when I was a kid, growing up in England that adults were always concerned - really concerned - about spiders in bananas. Of course, this was not something I questioned at the time, but I wonder if they were still reacting to inaccurate 1870 reports (mere assumptions) over the spider's arrival?
Es canaria y le teme Inglaterra
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Electric Light Orchestra at the Autitorio
From Christmas lights to electric lights ... with this report that Birmingham's own "supergroup" Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - formed in that British city in 1971 - are to bring their mythical sounds to the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz on December 3rd and 4th as part of the "Legendarios" series of concerts.
La Electric Light Orquestra traerá míticos sonidos a Tenerife
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Christmas decorations Tenerife style
Whist decorations are yet to go up in some smaller towns and those in homes are not traditionally put up until December 8th, the Immaculate Conception, Diario de Avisos report that the street lights are up in the capital, Santa Cruz, which seem to be these same blue and white ones - that's OK, I approve of them saving money - confirmed in this report. If you are just visiting, you will probably find it much more pleasant and convenient to go there by bus, as will become apparent.
This year Buenavista del Norte will be holding it's first Concurso de Escaparates (Christmas Window Dressing Contest) among the shops in the town. One of the changes in recent years here is that there are now enough, lively enough shops to hold such an event. When I first came over to this side of the island, Buenavista had merely a handful of dusty old establishments, generally devoid of customers.
Those will be on view from the beginning of December to January 7th, so hopefully, will provide me with a few photo opportunities as the season develops.
Meanwhile, here are some photos of more Christmas light decorated palms, Christmas decorations Tenerife style, colored lights in the Plaza de España and Santa on the streets of Tenerife amidst the cactus plants and tropical weather to wet your appetite for the aesthetic delights of the Christmas season, Tenerife stylee.
Labels: Christmas
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Christmas Concerts in Tenerife
The most famous is the annual free, open-air Concierto de Navidad (Christmas Concert) given by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, in the evening on Christmas Day itself, in Santa Cruz. (+/- 9 p.m.) This is usually located in the Plaza de España, but since that area has been undergoing a complete reformation this year, it may be elsewhere nearby this year. It is a tradition that draws a crowd of thousands, is also normally televised and, is followed by a grand fireworks display.
In smaller towns, such as in Buenavista del Norte, the municipal band also puts on a free concert in the evening of Christmas Day, every year. This one is indoors in the cinema in the main street and, afterwards, just about everyone gathers in the square to chat, have coffee - still warm enough outside - and generally mingle.
Labels: Christmas
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
One Year On: The Day That Delta Dawned
Dawn sky over Tenerife on Monday, November 28th, 2005.Today is the first anniversary of Tropical Storm Delta that whipped through the Canary Islands on November 28th and 29th, 2005. Later denominated as an Extratropical Cyclone, though the precise distinction in terms is lost on the "ordinary folk" of these islands. Whatever it was, we remember it for the wake of damage it left, valued at $364+ million, with 7 deaths and 12 disappeared.
Delta was the worst storm that these islands have suffered and local media cannot help but comment on it again today and point out that residents in the Canary Islands still live with the fear that that something similar could happen again. The question of course, is whether these islands are prepared, if such a storm should hit us again.
Despite the alerts, nobody took it seriously enough and, therefore, for the most part, Delta took the Canary Islands almost completely by surprise. Some 200,000 people in Tenerife, the hardest hit, were left without electricity, a number of whom were also without water and, some of those lacked these basic services for up to a week.
Many point to the lack of provision for such emergencies in the archipelago, remembering that most of the population was left without electricity at some point and that there were no generators on the islands to cope with the situation.
Many of the population were left without water, most of us suffered damages and loss of electrical appliances, frozen food had to be thrown away, agriculture and business suffered huge financial losses, yet, so far, there has been no indemnification.
Electric tower fallen. Photo: Mataparda
One of the most impacting images was that of the fallen electrical pylons, found to be in an "elevated" state of oxidation.
Several towers were brought down by the high winds alongside the TF-1 motorway, causing chaos, not just with the electrical supply, but also with the traffic.
Finally, yesterday, the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the response to Delta, decided unanimously, that responsibility for bad management falls jointly upon both central and Canary Islands administrations, as well as the electricity company, Unelco-Endesa, for the weaknesses in the Canarian electrical supply system.
Some are interpreting that decision as good news, but I think my friend Bernardo Sagastume at ABC gives us the best analysis on the subject, saying that, "those culpable ... are various and, at the same time, nobody."
That was my reading of it too: the commission has been seen to have done it's job, just about, but it carefully avoided upsetting anyone in particular. That is hardly the way to make changes that will really improve the situation for the future.
In particular, the commission's report does recognize that the electrical pylons were in a poor state and only capable of half their designed capacity - for which Unelco was sanctioned - yet, the conclusions of the report fail attribute blame on Unelco for the resultant, prolonged, up to seven days, power outages in Tenerife.
Only the politicians themselves seem to be satisfied with the outcome and, as one would expect here, they also seem to have spent time arguing over what to call the storm, some claiming it was really a hurricane of force 3 or 4. (Like we care?)
Central to the issue, of course, is whether the storm should be termed "de fuerza mayor" - what English speaking insurers, even atheist ones, call an "Act of God" - because from that depends who (if anyone) will pay out to those affected.
Specifically too, the estimated damages reported earlier and mentioned in the reports at Wikipedia (English | Spanish), were all well in excess of $300 million (228 million euros at today's rate). Nevertheless, the commission has now valued the global damages caused by Delta at merely 41.7 million euros ($54.8 million).
As to the future, the new president of Unelco, José María Plans, says that energy distribution has improved from the "critical" state it was in a year ago, but the archipelago continues to require new power stations to diversify risks.
We all hope that there will never be another storm of the like of Delta in the Canary Islands, but merely hoping would be foolish in the extreme. Unfortunately, from these conclusions, Canary Islanders are still left merely hoping that what the authorities might do to prepare, if it does occur, is enough and in time.
La ´comisión Delta´ confirma la debilidad del sistema eléctrico
La ’comisión Delta’ reparte las culpas entre Endesa y toda la Administración
Hace un año el Delta "nos destrozó"
El día en que el Delta rugió (With photos)
Tormenta Tropical Delta
Tropical Storm Delta (2005)
Días de crisis
Labels: Tropical Storm Delta
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Monday, November 27, 2006
Canaries & Caving
It seems logical that there must be a whole world of caves to explore in the Canary Islands, since the aboriginal inhabitants, the Guanches, preferred dwelling in caves. Cave homes still exist in some areas and had remained in use in many other places until the relatively recent past as this photo - Cuevas-vivienda en Tenerife - shows.
The typical situation was to use the caves on the sunny side of a valley for habitation caves and those on the shaded side for burial caves. Often, but not always (in the case of "nobility") bodies were mummified. In 1526, a man named Thomas Nichols explored a cave containing approximately four hundred mummies. In 1770, a cave containing 1,000 mummies was located between the towns of Arico and Guimar in Tenerife and, in 1773, a smaller mummy cave was found. [Source]
These volcanic isles have no karst caves, but several lava tubes and a huge amount of mostly artificial volcanic caves. Whilst some caves have been turned into tourist theme parks, many others are not accessible to the public, so expert guidance should be sought before rushing here to explore their murky depths.
Caves in Tenerife
There are many caves around the area of Güímar, such as, "The Cueva del Cañizo, an aboriginal cave that was the summer residence of the Menceyes (Kings) of Güimar, is in the ravine. It gets its name from the network of tubes inside it."
Once thought to be the largest volcanic cave in the world, is the extraordinary Cueva del Viento (Cave of the Wind), near Icod de los Vinos in Tenerife. There are guided tours of the Cueva del Viento available, with expert guidance from the Grupo de Espeleología de Tenerife Benisahare (Benisahare Potholling Group).
Here it is probably best to ask someone who has actually been to the cave: "In March 2001 a 9-man team from Kraków led by Michal Gradzinski visited lava tube caves in the Canary Islands. Cueva del Viento on Tenerife Island was the main objective of the expedition." They also visited the nearby Cueva de San Marcos. Report with photos. These latter caves, also known as the Cuevas de los Guanches, were considered to be a seasonal habitat of the island´s aboriginal people.
One of the most famous caves of Tenerife, writes Jochen Duckeck at ShowCaveBlog, is the Cueva de Bencomo in La Orotava. Although this was once the residence of the Guanche "Mencey" (Chief) Bencomo and has been declared a cultural interest site, he says, "Currently the cave is in use as a goat pen and any content of archeological interest is protected by a 40cm thick layer of packed goat excrement."
In El Palmar, the local supermarket, La Cuevas, is named after the caves, the Cuevas del Palmar. There are caves, known as Las Cuevas, that look as though they have been used for dwelling, on the perimeter of the village of Teno Alto.
Caves Elsewhere in the Canary Islands
On the tourist route is the Cueva Pintada (Painted Cave) in Gáldar, in Gran Canaria - a small cave with geometric paintings from the Guanche era. This "archaeological theme park" can easily be visited by the public, even the non-adventurous types.
On El Hierro, the most noted cave is the Cueva de Don Justo - the second longest cave on the islands - but this is located on private ground and is not regularly open. Even though it is 200 years since the last volcanic eruption, El Hierro has the highest density of volcanos in the Canary Islands, with 500 open cones, 300 more that are covered by more recent flows and some 70 caves and volcanic tubes.
Numerous habitation and burial caves have been found in the area known as the Degollada de Peraza on the island of La Gomera. The most famous of these is the Cueva de Guahedum or Guadejume. Shepherds reused this cave and built the wall over the opening. (See photo) It is nothing special, but it is a sort of historic site - a story of love and murder - at least, if you believe contemporary chroniclers.
The Cueva de los Verdes (Spanish meaning "green cave") is a cave located on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, created around 3,000 years ago from a volcanic eruption. The cave is famous for its concert hall which is located near the entrance and the exit of the cave, but the cave has now become unstable so performances in the hall are not permitted in case the cave collapses.
On the island of La Palma too, speleology - the scientific study of caves, or potholing - is not unknown either. "As the island of La Palma has experienced the majority of all volcanic eruptions which have occurred in historical times (the last 500 years), it should not surprise us that there are a great many caverns, which in turn are connected with volcanic tunnels." Report with photos.
Where to get more information: PuntoInfo list the Canary Island Potholing Federation. C/San Sebastián 76, 1piso (Casa del Deporte) S/C. Tel: 922 22 72 55. Sports: caving and potholing, descent of canyons and ravines and cave diving. I phoned them today and they gave me the address for the Club de Espeleologia Tajinaste C/ San Juan, 15. 38320 La Cuesta (La Laguna) Tel: 922 641 558.
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Sunday, November 26, 2006
Promotion: 20% Off Tenerife Calendars
Tenerife Calendar Prints
Calendars are probably the most popular "stocking filler" for grown ups and, with 20% off, you can afford to add one of your favorite view of Tenerife into everyone's card or parcel this year. We offer you these unique calendar prints featuring all of our popular images - all using photos exclusive to us - giving a single view with traditional calendar below.
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Click here to look insideTenerife Wall Calendar
Keeping track of important dates on your calendar is easy when you can view 12 months of inspiring images. We also offer this unique Tenerife wall calendar which includes twelve of our exclusive images - one for each month of the year, naturally - that will be sure to delight your friends or relatives. The wall calendar has our swirl design on the cover and the twelve photographic images inside.
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No code required; discount is automatically applied when you purchase Calendars. Promotion ends on December 3, 2006, at 11:59 p.m. (PST).
Order an extra wall calendar for yourself!
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Thursday, November 23, 2006
Morocco-Canary Island ferry to start in 2007
Hidden behind the large headlines about a great illegal traffic of migrants from West and North-West Africa to Spanish archipelago lies the fact that trade and legal traffic in persons in rapidly growing. Canarian investors and charter tourists from northern Europe are increasingly travelling to north-western Africa, while traders and shopping tourists from Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal are becoming a visible part of urban life in the Canary Islands. President of the autonomous islands, yesterday announced that a regular ferry service between the Fuerteventura port of Puerto del Rosario and southern Morocco's Tarfaya was to commence "before next summer."
Morocco-Canary Island ferry to start in 2007
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Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The First Thanksgiving was Held Where?
Many Americans mistakenly believe that the Pilgrims of 1620 were the first to settle, however, many preceded them. On April 30, 1598, Spanish nobleman Don Juan de Oñate and a group of settlers traveling northward from Zacatecas, Nueva España (now Mexico), reached the banks of El Rio Bravo (Rio Grande). The first recorded act of thanksgiving by colonizing Europeans occurred on that day in 1598 in Nuevo Mexico, about 25 miles south of what is now El Paso, Texas. Two thirds of the colonizers were from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal) and the Canary Islands.
The First Thanksgiving was Held Where?
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Monday, November 20, 2006
Canary Islands Prepare for Royal Visit
Although the program, facilitated by the Canary Islands Government, could change for "possible complications of security", says the report, the King and Queen will arrive in Tenerife on the morning of Wednesday, November 22nd, for a five-day visit to all seven of the Canary Islands and will have "lots of contact with the street", i.e. public.
Tenerife
In Tenerife, the King and Queen are set to visit the Canary Islands Parliament and then to inaugurate an exhibition of images at the headquarters of the CajaCanarias bank in Santa Cruz, entitled, "Imágenes Reales" (Royal Images), organized to celebrate the centenary of Alfonso XIII's visit. They will then visit the El Polvorín center in the district of Taco, before going on to La Laguna - by tram - to visit the Royal Sanctuary of the Cristo de La Laguna (Figure of Christ). In the evening, they will meet with representatives of various institutions and organizations related to immigration, before dining with the President of the Canary Islands, Adán Martín.
El Hierro and La Gomera
On the morning of November 23rd, the monarchs will arrive in El Hierro, where they will be received by the president of that island's corporation and visit an exhibition on communications in the archipelago, commemorating the fiber optic cable connection that is to be inaugurated that day. After a reception in El Hierro, the King and Queen will travel to the island of La Gomera for lunch and to visit various emblematic sites on the island, as well as to unveil a bust of Christopher Columbus, a gift from the Canary Islands Government to La Gomera. In the evening, they will return to Tenerife, where their majesties will offer a reception to Tenerife society.
La Palma
First thing on Friday, the King and Queen will travel to Los Llanos de Aridane on the island of La Palma. There, they will visit an exhibition of paintings, entitled "El Platano como Identidad Canaria" (The Banana as a Canarian Identity) and, will afterwards go to the La Palma capital, Santa Cruz, to visit the Palacio Salazar, an exhibition on the centenary of the visit of King Alfonso XIII and the works of the Gran Telescopio de Canarias, which is set to be inaugurated during 2007. They will also attend a military parade and will have lunch at the state run Parador hotel on La Palma.
Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria
On Saturday, their majesties will travel to Fuerteventura, where they will inaugurate an art exhibition and will later travel to Lanzarote for lunch and to open a new health center. On Sunday morning, they will visit the Cueva Pintada (Painted Cave) in Gáldar, Gran Canaria. They will then attend mass at the cathedral in the Gran Canaria capital, Las Palmas, before having lunch with the President of the Canary Islands government in the Hotel Santa Catalina, afterwards transferring to the airport to conclude the Royal visit to the Canary Islands archipelago.
Los Reyes, que llegan a Tenerife el próximo día 22, estarán cinco días en el archipiélago y visitarán las siete islas
Los Reyes tendrán la oportunidad de estar con toda la sociedad canaria
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Ricky Martin wants to come back to the Canaries
In the middle of February next year, Martin will embark upon a new tour, starting in his native Puerto Rico and which will continue through the rest of Latin America, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. He will reach Spain around May or June and has announced that "Canarias has to be included in the tour", because of the warm welcome he received in the islands during the signings.
Ricky Martin quiere volver a Canarias
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Sunday, November 19, 2006
Blogger Turns to a Jobber in the Canary Islands
Femi Jaye a blogger in the Canary Islands now offers a personal information service for travelers so that they can check out their resort destination before they even get there. The service will initially cover Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, with Tenerife and Lanzarote to be added next year.
Many people wonder if the private apartment or hotel room that they have booked on line is as good as the show photos. Well now there is a way to find out. Femi Jaye, a UK expat is offering just that service from his blog.
He went on to say that he will include finding suitable restaurants for people and checking to see if a destination is disabled friendly and other bits of information that it are not always easy to discern on the web.
http://www.canary-islands-info.blogspot.com/ Via: PRWEB
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Thousands still say NO to Granadilla Port
Brussels recently gave the go-ahead for the port to be built, although with conditions, but protesters still say that the environmental risks are just too high. The protest too was as much against the growing levels of urban corruption in Spain. They accuse the Canary Islands parliament of "living off cement" with growth accelerating out of control and, are demanding a referendum over the building of the port.
Miles de personas se manifiestan Tenerife contra el puerto de Granadilla y la corrupción urbanística
Miles de personas dicen 'no con mi voto' al puerto de Granadilla
Thousands demonstrate against planned Canaries port
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Final Day: 25% Off All Greeting Cards
Say "Feliz Navidad" (Happy Christmas) from Tenerife with our exclusive greetings cards for the Christmas season.
The design shown, which is taken from a photo of a painted decoration in the town of Garachico, is just one we offer.
See also, North Pole Greeting Cards, Flor de Pascua Greeting Cards, Arrival of The King Greeting Cards, or our fun range of Tropical Christmas Cards.
More greetings cards, including general Tenerife designs, suitable for all occasions, can be found here.
Between November 6, 2006, at 12:00 a.m. (PST) and November 19, 2006, at 11:59 p.m. (PST), you can enjoy savings of 25% off all these greeting cards. Only applies to Greeting Cards that are $15 or less, subject to availability. Discount cannot be combined with coupons or bulk order discounts. No code required; discount is automatically applied when you purchase Greeting Cards.
Browse more seasonal items in our store »
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Canary Island Native Makes Home in Britain
(A later report suggests that this spider was not originally native to these islands and, that it was unlikely to have arrived in the UK on a banana boat.)
The source of that information is this story in the Telegraph, by David Sapsted, Watch out, the black widow's sister is ready to bite you, about Jason Fricker, 34, who was bitten three times on the chest and stomach after one fell down the front of his shirt a week ago. This is not the first time, as is confirmed by this case of a young woman in Worthing being bitten on the shoulder by the immigrant spider.
Back in 2001, the BBC reported that the Biting spider widens its web. Having gone native in Dorset, it was then also setting up home in Devon, Cornwall and Essex. In recent years, say the Telegraph, it has spread from the West Country across southern England as far as Sussex and is now migrating north through Surrey.
This listing at UK Safari also agrees with it's probable Canary Island origin.
One of the things I like about these islands is that you do NOT meet huge spiders like you do in the UK, because I have a really great fear of them. There, I had a theory about them: the size of the spider was relative to the age and grandure of the house they lived in and I have personally seen them stretching right across the width of an 8 inch diameter cornice decoration in a fine Victorian villa built in the 1870's.
Here in Tenerife, I have actually spent the last 15 years under the impression that we do not have any poisonous or biting varieties of insects or animals and the largest spider one ever sees is around 1 1/4 inches long. I would have almost doubted that these little beasties had come from these islands, except that here in the El Palmar valley, one sees a lot of spiders that fit the description of the Steatoda Nobilis or False Widow Spider. From now on, I shall be giving them an even wider berth!
The bite is no more severe than a wasp sting, unless you are one of the unfortunate people to have a severe reaction to them and, if you are one of the weird people who actually likes spiders, now you know where you can find them in the wild.
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Saturday, November 18, 2006
Sunday opening in the Canary Islands
Whilst the rest of the "civilized" world is used to 24 hour shopping, 365 days a year, the Canary Islands have been notably slow to catch on to the modern idea.
Consumers welcomed the recent initiative of the Volkswagen network in the Canary Islands to open on Sundays and Public Holidays, however, the Government has begun a case to sanction Volkswagen over their Sunday opening. Volkswagen have decided not to carry on with the Sunday opening, so as not to cause a confrontation with the government, who could demand the definitive closure of their premises.
The basis seems to be that, the sale of goods outside the nine "exceptional days" allowed is an illegal activity, however, by law, a vendor is obliged to sell the items it has on offer on all the days that they open. Volkswagen were merely opening to show what they have available and give prices, without actually selling on Sundays.
Consumers' associations say that the current law, is "contrary to the necessities of consumers". They also say that they opposed the law from the outset as, they opine, that it was "born with a perverse aim". Reading what this is supposed to be - to limit the implantation of large shopping malls - I have to say that I agree with them.
Given that none of the islands is that large and that every family and his dog has two cars, even a limited number of such establishments are well within everyone's reach. And there are several. And they do seem to open at times, including Sundays, when everyone else isn't allowed to. That does, indeed, seem perverse logic, which at once, puts the small business at a distinct disadvantage in the marketplace.
Another criticism has been the lack of stores open on Sundays when cruise ships dock in Santa Cruz and this is a clear case where it would benefit everyone - bored tourists, shopkeepers and the island's coffers alike - to have those stores open.
The Canarian authorities, however, say they have no plans to make any changes to the current law, because, during the first quarter of 2007, a new European directive to regulate Sunday and holiday opening is due to come into force.
The new regulations, they say, will be much less restrictive than the current law, with the emphasis on environmental issues and economic parameters - which sounds like it might translate to good news for shops and shoppers. They did add, that, of course, the islands will have different treatment in relation to their distance from the European Union, so exactly what it will mean, still remains, very much, to be seen.
Los consumidores critican la ley que impide abrir domingos y festivos
Industria inicia un expediente de sanción a Volkswagen por abrir los domingos
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Tenerife Volcano to get a CAT Scan
Forty scientists are to undertake an investigation project, coordinated by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, from January 10, 2007, to study the volcanic structure of Tenerife and produce a three-dimensional map of the island, much like the analysis provided by computed axial tomography (CAT scan) used in medicine.
Scientists from the University of Granada, the University of La Laguna, the University of Liverpool, the Island Corporation and the Observatory of Vesuvius in Italy, are among the participants from around the world.
Measurements will be taken via 150 points over 1,600 square kilometers and to a depth of 10 kilometers. The sismic signals will be recorded by the oceanographic ship, "Hespérides", to analyse the area of the Cañadas, Teide and the Pico Viejo for sismic activity and which will allow the scientists to observe where there is more or less magma, where rock is more or less solid and any zones of fractures.
Cuarenta investigadores determinarán la estructura volcánica de Tenerife
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Canary Malmsey set for return after 300 years
The Independent reports that, "... the government of the Canary Islands is hoping to project a different image of the sun-kissed Spanish outpost by resurrecting the fortunes of a wine whose qualities were once lauded by Shakespeare and reputedly drowned the brother of a medieval English king."
"Malmsey (known as "Canary" in Elizabethan England), a sweet fortified wine made on the islands since the 15th century, was the drink of choice on the British Isles for aristocrats, writers and merchants for more than 150 years, until the trade suddenly ended in the 1680s.", they say.
This wine was exported through the north Tenerife port of Garachico and the rebellion, called the "Derrame del Vino", that the article talks about, took place in that town on the night of July 3, 1666, in protest against the abusive policies of the British monopoly in the trade. Three or four hundred masked men broke down the doors of the bodegas, destroyed the barrels, spilling the wine and causing "one of the strangest floods in world history", wrote Viera y Clavijo. [Source]
In other words, the local producers decided it was better to have washed the wine down the drain than to let the British have it for next to nothing. No doubt, we haven't yet been forgiven, but can hopefully now be trusted to pay a fair price!
There is a monument commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Wine Rebellion of 1666 - a statue of a man and some barrels - in Garachico alongside the main, coastal road through the town (towards the Icod de los Vinos end.)
The "Derrame del Vino", plus other disasters, among them, the 1706 eruption that destroyed the town's port, contributed to the end of Garachico's fortunes.
Canary Malmsey set for return after 300 years
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Ricky Martin Signs Autographs for Tenerife Fans
Puerto Rican artist, Ricky Martin, was in Santa Cruz in Tenerife yesterday to sign copies of his latest CD, MTV Unplugged, for fans at department store, El Corte Inglés in the island's capital. One 15 year old fan travelled all the way from Miami just to see him.
The multitude of the singer's fans began congregating at ten in the morning, although it was not until ten past seven in the evening when Martin arrived. Dressed casually in a black shirt, jeans and black boots, Martin declared that Tenerife reminds him of Puerto Rico. (Photos I have seen of old San Juan in Puerto Rico, where Martin was born, remind me very much of Canarian architecture too.)
It seems that fans were well happy with Martin's presence in Tenerife and, during the afternoon and evening of screaming and shouting, one fan reportedly fainted.
Ricky Martin firmó su último disco a sus fans tinerfeñas
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