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Up this end of the island we're so used to seeing a lot of goats that we've almost become blase about it, but in the south they are much fewer and farther between.

Tenerife Scuba blog, who are generally looking at Canary Islands fauna in the sea rather than on land, were recently surprised by some though and say,

"Opposite where we live is a small patch of scrub land while it is fairly common to see locals walking their dogs on it, this is the first time I?ve seen anyone taking their goats there! but it does keep the vegetation down."

They have the photo to prove it too:

Just taking the goats for a walk dear!

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A group of school children, dressed in typical Canarian costume celebrate Canaries DayMay 30th, is Día de Canarias or Canary Islands Day, which is a holiday locally that celebrates "Canarianess" and remembers the anniversary of the first session of the autonomous Canary Islands Parliament, which took place on May 30th, 1983, when the Canary Islands gained greater powers of self-governance after the return to democracy in Spain.

That parliamentary session took place ten months after the publication of the Estatuto de Autonomía (Statute of Autonomy) in August 1982, which had introduced the concept of a "Canarian nationality", so the obvious comparison for an English speaker is probably the National Day of St. George's Day in England.

The day will be celebrated across the archipelago with concerts, native sports and plenty of popular folk activities, which makes it one of the occasions, as well as the traditional folk festivals, romerías, that provide an excuse to dress up in the "traje de mago" typical Canary Islands costumes.

Each island has it's own costume design, with slight variations in each municipality and the costumes, which cost several hundred euros to have made to quite strict requirements, were actually invented in recent times and rescued from oblivion in the 1970s and 80s, based on the form of dress of the campesinos (country folk, or peasants) of the islands in antiquity.



Above is the coloring of the skirt of the typical Tenerife costume, taken from a painted board in the Plaza de la Pila in Icod de los Vinos.

Canary Islands Symbols


Flag of the Canary IslandsBandera de Canarias
The flag of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands is a vertical tricolour of three equal bands of white, blue, and yellow. The state flag includes the Coat of Arms of the Canary Islands in the central band; the civil flag omits this. The tricolour flag has its origins in the Canarias Libre (Free Canaries) movement of the 1960s. (Source: Wikipedia]

"White means the water of the mountains that brings life to the land, yellow is canary yellow like the singing birds and like the wealth of our colonized fatherland, and the celestial blue is the sky ..."

Story of the Canary Islands Flag





Coat of Arms of the Canary IslandsEscudo de Canarias
The Canary Islands have also had their own official coat of arms since 1982, the description of which is, "On a field of azure there are seven silver islands, organized in rows of two, two, two and one. At the head is a Royal crown in gold, surmounted by a silver ribbon with the word "Oceano" and, as supports, two brown (sable) collared dogs."

The dogs have been used as symbols on the coats of arms of the Canary Islands since the 1700's, first described by José de Viera y Clavijo, but there have been plans more recently for the elimination of both dogs from the shield of the Canary Islands, on official forms and public buildings.

Símbolos de las islas canarias




The legendary Canarian Drago tree (Dracaena draco canariensis): the famous "thousand-year-old Dragon" (although its age is officially 800 years) is one of the most important natural, cultural and historic symbols of the Canary Islands.

El Drago Milenario and the legend

Read more about Día de Canarias in Spanish, or in French: 30 mai, jour des Canaries, where you can also download the Canarian Anthem.

Las islas celebran el Día de Canarias con conciertos y numerosas actividades deportivas y populares

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As long as you aren't concentrating too hard on leaning into the bends on your computer chair, you'll be able to enjoy some brilliant scenery around the Anaga mountains above Santa Cruz in the north east of Tenerife.

BEFORE you watch the video below, first watch part 1 here (don't worry, we'll wait for you), which is the start of the journey from San Andres, climbing up the winding mountain roads into the Anaga mountains.

Done that already? I think you you must've been speeding! :)

OK, now we can continue on part 2 of the adrenalin trip - where it really gets rocking and not just from the well chosen ACDC sound track either. Along more winding, mountain roads, through a tunnel, then hold on as we come down the vertiginous roller-coaster descent past the village of Taganana and on to Roque de las Bodegas (easily distinguished because there's a roque (rock), actually several of them, there in the sea) and, beyond to Benijo.



Just on the right, where the motorcyclist overtakes a dark blue van on the pedestrian crossing (Yeah, someone parked on a pedestrian crossing. Pretty normal here), on the sea front are a couple of fish restaurants. The big one, that gets coaches in, is average. There was - last time I was there - another one, just a few doors down, that was family run and much nicer. Menu is, unidentified "catch of the day", served with wrinkled potatoes and salad.

At the end of the film, our two wheel chauffeur, HellRhythm, turns off and parks overlooking the sea. If you were to carry on, up that road a little further, you come to another restaurant, up a dirt track, with a terrace hanging off the cliff and amazing views out to sea. There, a couple of years ago, we were served something about the size of a small dolphin on an oval platter for next to nothing, with a smile too. Well worth the extra few hundred yards.

I'll be honest, anything faster than a push bike on 2 wheels scares the poo-poo out of me, but watching this was really fun and, I can now understand why we get a lot of serious bikers (a club, I think) who come up this end of the island to similar roads and scenery most Sundays.

This map will show you roughly where you've been:



See larger map | Google Earth

Link to video for feed readers Via: Wolfgang Lonien

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This article by Graham Norwood in the Times Online quotes a property owner in Tenerife, Julian Lipman, a company director from Grantham, Lincolnshire, who bought right on the seafront in a quiet part of Tenerife. "We?re in a fine position, with only a footpath between us and the beach. Even the most ambitious Spanish builder couldn?t put something up to take our view," says Lipman, who has spent several three-week holidays in the flat each year since he and his wife, Shirley, bought it for £250,000 in 2003.

Never underestimate their creativity in trying to pack more into small spaces here, but yeah, you'd hope that would be true. :)

Paradise found

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It's been joked before that George W. Bush was going to attack the Canary Islands to stop the spread of bird flu and, more recently in retaliation of a Bird Air Attack, when a passing bird crapped on the President's suit, but this time it's for real! Two reports from ABC tell us that La Cámara Americana (The American Chamber), who were on a visit to the Canary Islands recently, think that the archipelago is excellent for "Afroamerican tourism": a stop off point for tourists travelling between the US and African countries, such as Senegal and Ghana. The other report indicates that Ambassador, Ruth Davis, Bush's expert in all things Afrrican and a confident of Condolezza Rice, considers that the islands "could play a very important role in the growing interest of North American companies to invest in Africa."

El Archipiélago, escala del turismo afroamericano
La asesora de Bush cree en Canarias como `centro´ de inversiones norteamericanas Ruth Davis recuerda que EEUU ha cambiado su política hacia África, al considerarla un socio en materia de desarrollo

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Currently, property in Tenerife continues to rise in value, while the Costas stagnate and are even expected to drop in the next 12 ? 18 months. Leslie Beeson of Savills associates Tenerife Property Shop comments ?We have recently encountered a sharp rise in the number of investors who have sold out of mainland Spain and chosen Tenerife in which to reinvest their money?.

Tenerife's property market booming ahead of the Costas

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The Socialist Party (PSOE) candidate for the presidency of the Tenerife Island Corporation, Santiago Pérez, found himself having to beg forgiveness on Thursday, after 1,800 people in La Laguna and the Orotava valley received telephone calls in the early hours of the morning, urging them to vote. Nothing like trying to capture the "early bird" voter, I suppose?

The problem, which provoked shock and indignation in many of those who were disturbed by these untimely calls, is being blamed on an error or "intentional manipulation" of the software that controls the switchboard for the automated service. This has now been suspended, but a complaint has been made to the police to fully investigate the reasons.

El PSOE de Tenerife llama a casi dos mil personas de madrugada para pedirles el voto

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Speaking of nostalgia for all things British, it will be a bit of a sad day, when the last working Royal Mail ship ceases operations when an airport opens on the Atlantic island of St Helena, now scheduled to be operational in 2012.

Though, for the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, this is "the chance to put the island back on the map with the biggest story since Napoleon died in exile there in 1821", technically, this unique cargo-passenger ship has been the only way passengers could still come to Teneirfe by boat from the UK too and, the service has been used by many an expat to have household goods, cars etc., sent from the UK to Tenerife and beyond.

The RMS St. Helena calls into Santa Cruz in Tenerife during it's voyages from Britain to Cape Town.

St Helena joins the jet age | RMS St. Helena bookings

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Gerry Anderson, writing for the Belfast Telegraph, "in Tenerife, where Britons come to feel at home", talks about artist impersonators, ex-pats who own and have named the various pubs and that "The ghosts of old television shows haunt the casual observer. It's as if Only Fools and Horses and Rising Damp never came off the air."

You can understand how it comes about, when time stood still for most expats who have been here for years. Precious few learn Spanish or take on any new culture. Partly, because running their "dream" British bar does not afford them time, opportunity or motivation to do so.

Well, true, my best friend did used to do a Gloria Estefan tribute show here in Tenerife. However, a few lyrics in Spanish also helped make her accepted by local audiences, as well as popular with Italian tourists for some reason. And I like to think that was just a little more upmarket than, say, the four Elvis impersonators we once saw all in the same room, three of whom were wearing identical white, rhinestone studded jumpsuits. (The other one was red!)

And though I avoid the tourist areas and the "British colonies" here, yes, I also own nostalgic videos (a dying media in itself) that contain episodes of both of the aforementioned shows and, sometimes I felt left behind in the years BC (Before Computers) and internet, when the advances of the outside world didn't reach the remote parts of the island.

But I was always acutely aware of the danger of getting caught in such a cultural timewarp and have done my best to keep up with the "modern world", even if I've had to do it from a distance and in Spanish. Perhaps even more so than I would have if I'd stayed in my "comfort zone" in the UK, where age alone might have lured me into stagnation and "old fashioned" attitudes.

As I'm fond of saying though, it's only in a small area of Tenerife where you will find this environment and, one would have thought that only a limited British clientele still goes abroad looking for this typical "Brits abroad" experience with a Full English Breakfast? The modern Brit has changed, even if the ones who left the UK 20 years ago, have not.

For Tenerife to successfully change it's image, for the better (and Brits abroad anywhere, for that matter), perhaps it's time that these "old hands" were brought, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century?

Selling the Brits abroad

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"A survey has labelled Brits abroad noisy, rude and badly dressed, with many resorts still easily able to identify the stereotypical Brit abroad by their rudeness, lack of generosity and their inability to understand why socks and sandals are so very wrong."

And I have no doubt whatsoever that "the homes from home provided by the likes of the Costa Del Sol, Tenerife and Majorca" are among those places where this stereotypical Brit abroad - and a particular group which is blotting our copy books - can still be spotted.

It's some comfort that the British are no longer the world's worst tourists overall: that accolade now goes to the French, while the Americans win the prize for the worst-dressed, but we still have a long way to go with our behaviour.

It's a great pity too though, that so many still do not realize that the stereotypical image of Tenerife merely refers to a tiny part of the island and that there is so much more for the nowadays, apparently, adventurous British tourist to enjoy.

It's still a long haul to popularity for beleaguered Brits abroad

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New figures published by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Institute) in Spain, reveal that the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the community of Valencia, head the list for hotel occupation during the month of April, with figures of 67.16%, 64.92% and 60.50%, respectively. The average nationally, during last month, was 55.75%.

Before we get too carried away with the mutual backslapping, bearing in mind that Easter fell into April this year - which is one of the occasions when tourist season begins to hot up on these islands - you have to ask the question why we need any new hotel beds approved, when, at best, we can only fill two thirds of the ones we've got at such a relatively busy time.

Canarias lidera la ocupación hotelera en España con un 67%

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The website of the district of Tejeda, in Gran Canaria, tells us of El Balcón Canario (The Canarian Balcony) that, "The typical Canarian balcony has its origin in the South-Andalusian traditional handcrafted woodwork, the Mudéjar style (with a combination of Moorish, Romanesque and Gothic elements), although some of the architectonic characteristics might have a Portuguese origin."

These beautiful balconies are the most characteristic element of the architecture on these islands and come in many forms and sizes; open, closed in with shutters, old and new, rustic or intricately carved and frequently with tiled roofs. Usually on the principal facade of buildings, but not always and, the majority are made of wood.

Rincones del Atlántico magazine has a PDF document that you can download from this page (click the link that says "Haga click aquí para descargarlo" to get it) and, which contains a larger illustration of the painting above - which happens to be of this same balcony, on the side of the Casa Benítez de las Cuevas in La Orotava - plus many photos of a huge variety of balcony examples from around the islands.

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The new Law of Equality was passed in April to rectify persistent gender inequalities in Spain and, amongst other provisions, requires political parties to present electoral lists in which neither sex holds more than 60 percent of the slots.

One of the groups least happy with the new law is the Popular Party's electoral slate for the Canary Islands town of Garachico. All of the candidates on the list are female, but because the legislation says that no gender can hold more than 60 percent of the spots, the Garachico slate looks to be illegal.

Elections test Spain's new gender-parity law

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Usually, it's for tourism, but this time it is as the region of Spain with the highest divorce rate, according to new figures from the Family Policies Institute. The divorce rate in Spain - now the highest in Europe - has grown by 277% in the past five years, since the new express divorce law was passed.

Spain has the highest divorce rate in Europe

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Canarian viewers, it seems, have voted for House's caustic humor and brutal honesty! If it was no surprise to you that the EUFA cup final viewing figures beat those for last week's political debate between candidates for the Canary Islands presidency, it may not surprise you either that TV series, House (being shown on cuatro in Spain), also beat the politicians when the electoral debate was shown again last night.

House was watched by 189,000 viewers (30% of the viewing share), almost 4 times the number who watched the politicians (50,000 or 7.9%). Meanwhile, Los Serrano on Tele 5, also gained 25.3% of the Canarian audience; 165,000 viewers. The third most watched program of the night was Terminator 2, with 85,000 viewers, 14.2%.

The current betting on the "runners and riders" in the political race (actually, the question is Who won the TV debate?), according to one online poll being carried out by Canarias7, shows a significant lead (49% of responses) in favour of socialist candiadate, former Minister for Justice, Juan Fernando López Aguilar.



Apenas 50.000 canarios siguieron el debate electoral de anoche

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Low cost airline Thomsonfly is set to launch 14 new routes from Manchester Airport this summer, adding to the airport's comprehensive direct flight services. New routes scheduled to begin in winter and continue into their debut summer season are Canary Islands Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, as well as Marrakech, Salzburg and Paphos. Prices will be starting from as little as £19.99 each including taxes.

Manchester Airport launches new low-cost routes

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Local council elections are coming up on Sunday in Spain and, election campaigns, it has to be said, can be awfully dry and boring, but not here in the Canary Islands.

Canarias7 report that, "After some weeks of campaigning, with hardly any non-political scandal and with candidates behaving correctly and with education, it had to be the ex Miss España, Sonsoles Artigas, who "light of clothing" in the magazine, Interviú, is soliciting votes for socialist candidate, Jerónimo Saavedra."

Saavedra is political rival to the current mayoress of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria - who just happens to be the girlfriend of Sonsoles Artigas' ex husband.

The Canarian model and TV presenter, who is well known in the Canary Islands, represented Spain in the 37th Miss World Pageant in November 1987, in the Royal Albert Hall, London and, whatever else you think about naked women soliciting votes, these 20 years look to have been kind to the 40 year old Sonsoles.

And, as Canarias7 say, political rivals had better hurry up and find suitable representatives to glamourously solicit votes for them too!

Not safe for work: Sonsoles Artigas se desnuda y pide el voto para Saavedra

Coincidences in the polls

Meanwhile, polls published by La Provincia, Canarias7 and Canariasahora.es all point towards the expectation of a general upturn for the socialists (PSC-PSOE) in the Canary Islands and the loss of absolute majority by the Popular Party (PP), in both the Corportations and the Town Halls, in next Sunday's elections.

Las coincidencias entre sondeos confirman tendencias a menos de una semana de las elecciones

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The BBC reports that the Spanish government has repatriated more than 750 African migrants, including 30 children. The majority were Senegalese and were caught last week trying to enter the Canary Islands, according to Spain's interior ministry.

The Delegate of the Government in the Canaries, José Segura, has confirmed that in the last few days, 603 immigrants were repatriated to Senegal and 147 to Morocco, having spent no more than 7 - 10 days in internment centers in the islands.

Previously, undocumented illegal immigrants were held in centers in the islands for 40 days, before being handed an expulsion order, which frequently could not be enforced. Recent agreements with the countries of origin mean that the law is being applied and judges' instructions for the immigrants' repatriation, enforced.

Spain sends African migrants home

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Tenerife gets it's fair share of famous (as well as infamous) visitors, but probably none more internationally well-known as Mickey Mouse and Goofy! Sunday, Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic (not Disney Wonder, as Diario de Avisos report) stopped off in Tenerife on it's way to Barcelona, via Cádiz, to start it's summer of Mediterranean cruises.

Yes, Disney Magic is what we heard too and the proof is where it says "Magic" on this photo taken by someone who obviously saw her in Santa Cruz. And then, you would hope that those aboard know which ship they're on. Finally, here's a video of Disney Magic arriving into Santa Cruz, Tenerife on 20th May 2007.



(Pity about the dull weather and it's been raining again in the north! :)

Diario de Avisos' somewhat "Goofy" report also says that it is possible that the ship will be back in Tenerife in August. If they'd checked the itinerary for the final, westward bound 14-night cruise, they'd have found that she is actually scheduled to stop off here again on Friday, August 24th, from 07:00 to 21:00. Mark that in your diary, if you want to to rush down to Santa Cruz docks with your camera! :)

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When you eat your humble spud for dinner, do remember that it was introduced into Europe via the Canary Islands in the mid-16th century.

What has been in question, though, was whether it originally came from the Andean or Chilean varieties.

My neighbour, Gregorio, proudly announced, when he brought these round that they are papas andinas, which is to say they are Andean potatoes. He grows them here in Las Portelas in the El Palmar valley in Tenerife, but, he explained, they were sown with seeds that had originally come from the Andes region.

However, "Most scientists have long assumed that European potatoes, the foundation for all modern cultivated potatoes, come from the Chilean variety, because Chilean lowlands resemble Europe's environment most closely."

"But between the Americas and Europe, in potato history, lie the Canary Islands, off northwest Africa. Shipping records from 1567 make these islands the first known home to potatoes outside of Central and South America. And some researchers say the potatoes there resemble the Andean variety but have never had genetic proof."

Solving the long-disputed controversy over the origin of the European potato, it turns out it's both Andean and Chilean origin. "Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands and the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, used genetic markers to solve the mystery."

Further, the report says that "Scientists believe the landraces of those early potatoes still grow there." Local growers, it seems, would already consider that as fact.

Scientists solve spud origin mystery
Potato foundation story
The Secret History of the Potato

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Banco Halifax Hispania - the Spanish brand of what we used to know as the Halifax Building Society - has announced it is set to open three new branches some time this year on the Canary Islands and Menorca. The new offices, will serve British expatriates who are looking to buy a second home somewhere in Spain.

Banco Halifax Hispania to open Spanish island offices

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As gaymengc say, "The Catholic Church was very active in trying to derail the progress of gay marriage and adoption legislation here. While we would defend anyone?s right to have religious faith at a personal level, institutional homophobia from whatever source doesn?t deserve our support, financial or otherwise."

If you?re filling in a Spanish tax return over the next few weeks, gay rights organisations in Spain are urging you not to put a cross in the box which will send a proportion of your taxes to fund the Catholic Church in Spain. Instead, mark the box which says ?colaborar en fines sociales?, which means other good causes will benefit.

Don't support homophobia through your tax return

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The Health Department in the Canary Islands say that during the last few months, they have received various queries in relation to visits from technicians who have said that they are from the Government Health Services and, that after a supposed inspection, offer the professional services of a particular company for insect and rat extermination, disinfection and prevention of legionellosis or Legionnaires' disease, saying that they have detected errors in handling biocides or of hygiene.

This is being done by a private company and has no connection whatsoever with the public health services and their inspections, they advice, furthering that this is an abuse of promotion, even when it is not a straightforward deceit.

This reminds me of the cases that crop up from time to time when fake gas engineers call to houses here and point out all sorts of faults that you don't really have, trying to scare you with threats of fines and offer to fix them for exorbitant prices.

Foreign residents, whether in private homes or the many who owns bars and restaurants on these islands, should be particularly vigilant not to become easy targets for these fraudsters. If in doubt, check with the relevant services or police.

Sanidad advierte de un fraude en el sector de empresas de desinsectación y desinfección

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Well, it probably does everywhere else in the world too, but the population of the Canary Islands clearly declared their priorities with last night's TV viewing figures.

While 344,000 Canarian TV spectators followed the EUFA Cup final between Espanyol and Sevilla - an all-Spanish affair at Glasgow's Hampden Park - reaching 45.5% of the viewing share during the penalties, only 50,000 watched the political debate between four of the candidates for the Canary Islands Presidency - just 7.5% of viewers. Both Tele 5's drama, Hospital Central and US drama series Entre Fantasmas (Ghost Whisperer) on Cuatro also beat the politicians' popularity.

Solo 50.000 canarias siguieron el debate de anoche, un 7,5 por ciento de cuota

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Yesterday's 23rd Palma Canaria Norte Rally - the first date in this year's rally season in Tenerife - took us by surprise yet again, but finally, after extensive searching, we've been able to find a program of rally events taking place on the island this year.

2007 Rally Calendar in Tenerife

• June 23rd - Granadilla Rally


• September 15th - Rally Villa de Adeje


• November 10th - Rally Isla Tenerife

The calendar of events (PDF) also includes those in La Palma and La Gomera.

If you'll be in Tenerife on any of these dates, these rallies certainly make a fun day out. You might even want to make a special trip to the island if you're a big rally fan, after all, standing by the side of the road in nice warm weather, with a few cold beers in your cool box, has to beat doing it wrapped up against the cold and rain! :)

For serious "rally car porn" lovers (I only mean LOTS of photos), here's a video montage of photos from the 32nd Tenerife Island Rally last year.

More photos and even wallpapers at TenerifeRallyes.com


2007 Subidas (Hill Climbs) in Tenerife

As well as rallies, there are an ample number of subidas (hill climbs and we certainly have the hills for them!) - including; June 16th - Guimar, July 14th - Arona, October 6th - Tamaimo, October 20th - San Miguel and November 24th - La Guancha.

Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to live the 3.54 minutes of fun of the Subida a Tamaimo is inside the car, a BMW 635 CSI, with Jose Juan Torres - one of the top names in the sport and current regional champion (2005, 2006) - driving:



Link to video for feed readers | Larger version at Google video

(Yes, mate, I used to have a BMW 318i and the road holding was no better!:-)

You don't really appreciate the gradient from this point of view, but you certainly do get a pretty good feel for the innumerable curves (yes, if you aren't familiar with them, all Tenerife roads are like this, and worse). You'll also see that it's an "obstacle course" with spectators and photographers leaning out into the road everywhere!

This further footage of the Subida a Tamaimo 2006, the popular autosport event in Tenerife that drew a crowd of 30,000, this time from the spectator's view, was compiled as a homage to Tenerife driver, Raúl de León, who was killed during the event last year, after his Citroën ZX collided with a rock wall on a left hand bend.

As well as the rallies and hill climbs, car enthusiasts can enjoy the First Santa Cruz Motor Show next weekend in the capital, as well as the IV Feria Exposición "Villa de La Orotava" (Classic Car Fair) in La Orotava, from 09:00 to 16:00 on June 3rd.

Sources: CanariaSport.com, CanariasRallye, Retro Cars Club and the Federación Interinsular de Automovilismo de S/C de Tenerife.

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If you're in, or coming to, Tenerife next weekend and you like classic cars, then this is an important date for your diary. On the 19th and 20th of May, 2007 - next Saturday and Sunday - Santa Cruz will celebrate its "I Motor Show Ciudad de Santa Cruz" (First City of Santa Cruz Motor Show) on the esplanade alongside the Parque Marítimo.

On the 19th, there will be an exhibition of classic road and competition cars in the Parque Garcia Sanabria, also in the capital. The cars will be on show there from 4 p.m., until the following morning at 10 a.m., when they will take part in the motor show. (Don't worry, they've employed security to watch them overnight.)

Tenerife's Retro Cars Club say that the show will "remember, for the first time, the circuits of the 60s and 70s." From that, I imagine there's a good chance of seeing the relatively rare Fiat 131 Abarth that was in the recent Palma Canaria Norte Rally.

I Motor Show Ciudad de Santa Cruz | Map of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

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Temperatures have abated somewhat in Tenerife today, as forecast, but the Canary Islands have been suffocating in the heat brought by a Sirocco, with temperatures reaching almost 40 degrees centigrade in some parts of the islands, over the last few days. It was sudden, surprise August weather that arrived in May. The oppressive Saharan dust and sand laden wind brought with it too a new wave of Africa immigrants taking advantage of the conditions to seek a better life.

Three cayucos had reached Tenerife in 24 hours on Friday, amongst 10 boats to reach the Canary Islands, carrying a total of 343 people, some of whom were minors. Another two boats have arrived in Tenerife, so far over this weekend, with the count reaching 402 people in two days, with other boats landing in Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and, one boat carrying 60 immigrants, as far west as the island of El Hierro.

This is the biggest wave so far this year and well below the figures that saw more than 30,000 immigrants intercepted while sailing to the Canaries last year.

But while these desperate immigrants are battling for their lives on the open sea, with elections coming up, the politicos, of course, are engaging in a battle of words. The current party in power in the Canarian Government call it an "invasion", while the socialist candidate for the presidency, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, criticizes the "alarmism" and declared that "they talk a lot and don't work" towards better cooperation with Africa to bring the situation under control.

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As with last year's 22nd Edition of this rally, news in advance of the 23rd Palma Canaria Norte Rally was, well, I certainly didn't see or hear any, though I'm told it's been "all over" the TV and the newspapers for the last couple of weeks. Yes, it might have been in the sports pages, but if you don't look at those ... Honestly, I'm not complaining, because I do enjoy motor sports, but it just makes me giggle.

Otherwise, it could seriously piss me off to find out that I can't leave home for the entire day and, you would imagine that someone (the council maybe) would think to let residents know about road closures. Still, this is Tenerife, not the "real world." :)

Last year, I found out about the event in time, because a barrier had been placed across the the end of my road and I had, by sheer chance, walked down there with the dog earlier in the morning to see it. This is not something I would normally do.

This year, the first I knew was at around 4 p.m., when I started hearing "racing car" noises. The first one seemed like "a bit noisy car", a few subsequent ones made me think that a local "boy racer" was zipping up and down the valley - it has been known.

It wasn't until at least half a dozen "noisy" cars had passed, when the penny dropped and I remembered that it is around this time of year that the rally comes past the door. Duh! :)

And, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that it will do so every year to be able to be used to it by now. The rally did pass here last year, but it had not done for the previous five years. This, I discovered today, was because the local authorities hadn't given permission - based on complaints from residents - mainly because of the environmental impact, not just from cars, but spectators leaving behind trash, etc.

I'm afraid that I am of the opinion that, since it is only a one day event and we do need a variety of things that attract people to the area, that it might be "good business" to employ somebody to clean up. After all, local restaurants, shops, etc., would benefit from "captive" trade. Always supposing that we know in advance, of course!

So, having been, once again, presented with this fait accompli, it seemed to me that the best thing to do was to just get on with enjoying the show and taking a few "snaps" for you to see. It's not easy taking pictures of fast moving vehicles, with a "point and shoot" digital camera that has a serious delay between clicking the button and it taking the picture, mind you ...

But, after a bit of "juggling practice," I'm happy to say that this year I managed to get more photos with cars in them than I have of empty stretches of asphalt - as I have on previous occasions! :)

The few photos shown here are not the best, but are just a taste. There'll be more on our photo blog during the week.

One of the better images that I was able to get was this one of José Mª Santana's 2L Ford Fiesta ST. Apparently, this rally was his first outside of his native island of Gran Canaria. That press release also tells me that today's rally was the first in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy season in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province this year, which means there will be more rally action to catch if you are around the island.

Don't ask me when and where though, because extensive searches on Google, in Spanish, only turned up past news and nothing of forthcoming rally dates.

See the Tenerife Rally Calendar for 2007

There are more and better photos of that car in previous rallies here and here.

Tenerife driver Juan Luis Cruz and copilot, Carlos Arocha in their Subaru Impreza WRC, won today's XXIII Rally Palma Canaria Norte, the third rally on the regional calendar and the first date of the season in Tenerife.

It was unusual that the cars were coming past in the afternoon today and this, I learned, was owning to an accident, at around 9:30, on the road up from Masca. Not a bad one, I understand, but oil had been spilled onto the road surface. And accidents are no surprise, when you've seen the video action of rallies on these roads!

Because of the delay, the "vast crowd" of spectators in this part of the valley had moved on elsewhere: me and the dog made three of us when we got there!

Just to get an idea, this map will show you the route from Masca (red flag) to Buenavista (green flag) and remember that, as well as being twisty, it's all "up hill and down dale." In the PDF program of the rally the word "chicane" features three times in the description of this 15.3 km section which started from the Restaurant La Pimienta in Masca. Mind you, this might be the easy section, since the following one was Icod el Alto (alto means high and above Icod is steep) and Las Medíanias.



See larger map | Google Earth