The local government in Puerto de la Cruz met recently with the water supply company, AQUALIA, Public Health and Environmental services to look into the solutions to the problem of high levels of nitrate in the water supply in some parts of the district, namely; Guacimara, El Esquilón, La Horca, La Vera, San Nicolás and the Urbanización San Nicolás.

The proposed solution is that a new treatment plant should be built, with the project estimated to take one year to complete. In the meantime, Puerto de la Cruz town hall advise that babies under six months and pregnant women should not consume the tap water in the listed areas.

Puerto de la Cruz: demasiado nitrato en el agua de consumo

NB: Water use was restricted in some parts of Adeje in Augiust for "turbidity" and, almost a year ago, it was also restricted in twelve municipalities due to the excess of fluoride. I live in one of the most restricted areas on that list, however, I have heard no news yet of any restrictions being lifted.

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Here on the "Island of Eternal Spring Uncertainty", the news is ... We don't know if there is to be a bus strike or not, yet today. Tourists, or residents for that matter, who prefer to do the "environmentally friendly" thing and use public transport may be reduced to simply crossing their fingers.

Earlier reports were that drivers were to begin an indefinite strike from August 31st. That position was reaffirmed on August 23rd, when it appeared that just five routes were affected by reorganization plans, earlier described by workers as "aggressive" and as a "dismantling" of the service.

Look Closer define the word guagua (Canarian for bus), as being "A motor vehicle with more than 9 seats destined to the public transport of persons and, only when the driver deems opportune, their baggage. Characterized by being uncomfortable, unpunctual and with a predisposition to suffer breakdowns." Actually, they are not that bad where live.


The "war" between the bus and the tram in Tenerife became one of more than just words when a bus ran into a tram in Santa Cruz.Clash of the Titans

Look Closer go on to say that the busses are more "characteristic" on this island, owing to the fact that there is only one bus company, TITSA, and no competition in Tenerife, which is, unfortunately, perfectly true.

More relevant to the current situation, they add that, "some routes currently run empty, given the apparition of a new mode of transport, the Tranvía de Tenerife (Tram)."

Ah, so now we get to the crux of the matter. The routes that TITSA want to merge and/or reduce and one they want to eliminate from service, all run in the metropolitan area (Santa Cruz / La Laguna) served by the tram.

Well, depending on which press report you read, Canarias24horas are fairly optimistic, saying that TITSA workers "might not" strike, after their latest meeting with the Cabildo (Island Corporation) as they have reached a "pre-agreement" over new terms (that I won't bore you with!)

ABC, on the other hand, say that despite this, the strike is "still in the air".

Still, you can always go to the TITSA website to use the recently introduced free service that allows users to consult the estimated time of arrival of the busses at any determined stop.

They have a sort of English version too, I think you'll find it under "What lines stop in...? and Time to arrival?"

Using that facility, I found my nearest stop and it appeared from that information that busses are running (yes, I suppose I could have looked out of the window, but they are few and far between here). What I can't work out from that is which direction is which from the options offered. :)

(Anyway, it was certainly better than, "What line took me in my town to go to...?", though they do say, "Page in tests. We are working to do it better."

That so reminds me of the old British Rail "We're getting there" slogan! :)

Since the Corporation took over the running of the bus company, they have announced spending of 4.8 million euros to modernize the fleet and, despite all the piss-taking and complaints, amazingly, the Canaries is fourth amongst communities in Spain that have most increased bus usage recently.

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Reports just in from the town hall in Santa Cruz that Sir Elton John is to perform a concert in the Tenerife capital in the middle of November.

This is to be the first of three (no details on the other two) "grand shows of worldwide interest" that the town hall has planned during the coming months and, is to be unique in that will be the only complete concert that Sir Elton will be performing in Spain with his entire band.

No venue given as yet, nor are there any details of the exact date for the show, but looking at his diary, it will really have to be after Las Vegas ends on November 5th and before he plays solo in Tokyo on the 20th.

Elton John actuará en Santa Cruz de Tenerife a mediados de noviembre

Labels: Elton John Tenerife

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ABC report that the island of "El Hierro is celebrating the birth of three new giant lizards". Presumably, the babies are doing fine, so it's cigars all round at the lizard recuperation center in the Valle del Golfo!

This is good news, as 182 lizards - the El Hierro Giant Lizard (Gallotia simonyi) is a critically endangered species, unique in the world - were killed in the island's worst ever natural disaster; the storms and floods that hit the island last January.

El Hierro celebra el nacimiento de tres nuevos lagartos gigantes

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A mixed bag of events catering for all tastes and, with a very international flavour, mark this weekend and the start of another month in Tenerife.

XXII Feria de Artesanía de Pinolere

As a three day event from Friday, August 31st to Sunday, September 2nd, this is the island's, if not the Canaries', biggest crafts fair held in the Pinolere Ethnographic Museum, La Orotava; this year being the 22nd edition.

The fair is open from midday on Friday and, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Entrance 2.50 euros adults, OAPs and children, 1 euro. Special busses are being laid on from Puerto de la Cruz and La Orotava.

You'll find every type of craft made on the islands, plus local food products, as well as international crafts exhibitors; the emphasis on Italy this year, but even from the UK.


Photo: jallen "To Be" dragonhideThe Pinolere Ethnographic Museum is worth a visit for itself. Inside the 3,000 sq metre Pinolere Nature Park, the museum recreates the past agricultural environment, where everyday artifacts and local architecture, most typically, thatched cottages, pajares, can be seen.

XXII Feria Regional de Artesanía de Pinolere, La artesanía de Italia mostrará en Pinolere?07 sus creaciones ?en vivo?, ITALIA en PINOLERE 2007, Pinolere Handcrafts Fair, XXII Feria de Pinolere, XXII Feria de Artesanía Pinolere 2007, Proyecto Cultural Pinolere

Video: Feria de Pinolere


La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07

The La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07 continues this weekend with Feelinger aka MoN DJ at the bar, restaurant and pub, Mojos y Mojitos, in the Calle de La Noria, Santa Cruz.

The venue seems to be the hot destination on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in the city. The cuisine in the restaurant is described as "la nueva cocina "fushion": a fusion of old and new, as are the premises in Santa Cruz' old quarter. The sound and light installation in the restored building is described with adjectives such as innovative.

Mojos are Canarian sauces, while Mojitos are traditional Cuban cocktails.


Semana Bávara - Bavarian Week

Meanwhile, all those people who simply can't wait for Oktoberfest for their overdose of beer and Bavarianess will want to get to Puerto de la Cruz for the Semana Bávara (Bavarian Week).

At this German Beer Festival, held each year at the end of August / beginning of September, you can taste traditional German produce accompanied by the sound of a Bavarian Orchestra. Tickets for the main event are usually sold in aid of the Red Cross, however, after the recent fire in Tenerife, it has been decided that the profits this year will go towards reforestation.


Download the programme (PDF)This year, the festival runs from August 23rd to September 6th (yes, we noticed that this is somewhat longer than a week: a Canarian week then), with the big night being the Fiesta de la Cerveza (Beer Festival) being held on Saturday, September 1st, from 8 p.m. in the Plaza Europa, with Bavarian band "Die Lustigen Egerländer" to get you slapping your Lederhosen. The ticket price of 7 euros includes one beer.

This year is the 34th annual edition of this cross-cultural event in Puerto de la Cruz. In 1973 the local tourist initiative center decided to invite a Bavarian Orchestra to perform concerts in the town and, in 1976, the first Fiesta Bávara (Bavarian Festival) was held, which has grown year by year.

In 1986, the band "Die Lustigen Egerländer" escorted Puerto de la Cruz' float in the Düsseldorfer Karneval in Düsseldorf, Germany, which is also an annual carnival interchange between the two cities.

Video: La semana Bávara de Puerto de la Cruz

Semana Bávara en el Puerto de la Cruz
Semana Bávara - Bavarian Week
Semana Bávara - Puerto de la Cruz


Verbena en Las Portelas - Orquesta Tenerife

The Fiestas del Carmen in Las Portelas, draw to a close this weekend with yet another verbena (all night open air knees up) with the Orquesta Tenerife providing the entertainment on Saturday, from 23:00 onwards.

Verbena en Las Portelas - Orquesta Tenerife


And, finally for the footy fans, CD Tenerife kick off with their first home game of the 2007 - 2008 season this weekend at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium in Santa Cruz. The visiting team is Cádiz.

More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar.

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A 47 year old British man, with "possible mental problems" according to neighbours, has been detained for allegedly killing his wife at the apartment where both had lived for the past 8 months, in Los Cristianos, in the south of Tenerife. The woman, of the same age as her husband, had been stabbed several times. The owner of a bar close to the couple's home had called police when the man had appeared there, stained with blood.

This year, 53 women have been murdered by their partners in Spain.

Un hombre, con posibles problemas mentales, mata a su mujer

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You know you're in the Canary Islands when ... "Every week there seems to be another weird festival or holiday." Never a truer word was said.

Corazones de Tejina (Hearts of Tejina)

Undoubtedly the most spectacular - definitely not your pedestrian harvest festival - of the traditional events scheduled for this weekend is the Corazones de Tejina (Hearts of Tejina), in the Tejina district of the north of the island, where three giant decorated hearts are made by rival teams from various streets in the district, to celebrate the harvest.

The main events start at 11:30 on Sunday, August 26th. Read more about this fiesta in this feature article, Heart 2 Heart.

There are lots more traditional fiestas on the island this weekend:

Fiestas del Carmen - La Portelas

The Fiestas del Carmen begin today in Las Portelas in the El Palmar valley, with a Verbena (open air dance) on Friday night after a procession through the streets at 21:00. On Saturday, August 25th, after Eucharist and a procession at 22:00, there will be the annual fireworks display by the Hermanos Toste of Los Realejos, followed by another Verbena.

My next door neighbour is related to the Toste Brothers, which may have a bearing on the fact that this is always some big display for a very small pueblo. It's also spectacular for the acoustics, with all the bangs echoing round the Teno mountain walls, like a giant train is running around.

Fiestas in Santa Bárbara, Icod de los Vinos

The Icod de los Vinos district of Santa Bárbara began their fiestas this week too. The big day is Saturday, August 25th, with the Romería de los cestos y bollos from 3 p.m., which features traditional dress and baskets decorated with flowers, fruits and other products from the orchard.

The bollos are small figures of animals, made of sugar, which, according to tradition, should be carried by the unmarried women - on their heads - to bring them luck in finding a partner. There will be gofio, pan con chorizo (bread with chorizo) and wine, amongst other things to be enjoyed too.

El Barrio de Santa Bárbara en Icod se prepara para la romería de los cestos y bollos

Traditional Fiestas Elsewhere on the Island

The Festividad del Gran Poder de Dios (The Festival of the Grand Power of God) continues in Bajamar, which has already had a bit of everything, including a Drag Queen Gala on Aug 14th, which was promptly followed by an Ox Pulling Championship (presumably not by the same participants).

The Fiesta de la Cosecha (Harvest Festival) in La Guancha, where the III Festival Abruncos presents a musical on Friday, August 24th at 22:00.

On Saturday, August 25th, the Romería de San Isidro Labrador is being held in La Victoria de Acentejo and there's the Romería of San Agustín and a Gran Baile de Magos (Dance in traditional costume) in Arafo.


Salpica Festival - Buenavista del Norte

The Salpica Festival at the Playa de Las Mujeres in Buenavista del Norte on Friday, August 24th, promises a mixed bag of workshops and an ecological fair at 16:00, with live music starting from 20:00. Marchaymas show where this is on a google map.

Salpica Festival - Buenavista del Norte

Jamaica Party en El Puerto


Also on Friday, August 24th there's Jamaica Party en El Puerto; reggae (what else?) and coctails (?) at the Teatro Lounge, Puerto de la Cruz. Entrance 4 euros, with beer, apparently.

On Saturday, August 25th there's a Boat Fun Party from 12:00 from Puerto Colón, Adeje and a Fiesta Blanca (White Party) at Gay Sha, Las Américas.

The La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07, in the Calle de La Noria, Santa Cruz has Eazy Goin' Muzik from 23:00 on Saturday, 25th August.

Festival Nuevos Talentos en Granadilla

The finals of the Festival of New Talent in Dance and Song, are being held from 21:00 in the Plaza El Médano on Saturday, August 25th, where 16 hopefuls compete for grand prizes of 300, 200 and 100 euros.

Festival Nuevos Talentos en Granadilla


Crafts Fair of San Roque and San Agustín

This fair is an exhibition of the best handicrafts on the island that takes place during the last week of this month in Vilaflor.

Popular Crafts Fair of San Roque and San Agustín

La mar de limpia El Médano

The campaign "La mar de limpia" (literally: cleaning the sea) arrives at El Médano, on Saturday, August 25th. The activity, with collaboration from the town hall of Granadilla de Abona, AEA, Cruz Roja, SEO/BirdLife, will commence at 10 a.m. when volunteers will clean the coastline along El Médano's beaches, after which kids will release turtles.

The campaign has already been carried out in Abades (Arico), Mesa del Mar (Tacoronte) and Los Gigantes-Costa de Teno. In Santiago del Teide and Buenavista del Norte alone on August 18th, one ton of junk was removed from the seabed! The campaign continues in September in Los Realejos, Arona, Güímar and Arafo. (Via: Tenerife Infos (in French))

La campaña 'La mar de limpia' llega este sábado al litoral de El Médano

Luna llena, museo y cena

Every month, on the Thursday closest to the luna llena (full moon) - which in this case will be Thursday, August 30th - the Museo de Historia de Tenerife (Tenerife History Museum) C/ San Agustín, 22, 38201 La Laguna, organizes a guided visit to the museum, complete with a dinner specially designed for the event by some of the most prestigious chefs on the island.

This month is the turn of Ángel Rodríguez Machín, owner of the Restaurant El Archete in Candelaria, who was the pioneer of combining traditional Canarian recipes with a modern style of his own. Great restaurant too.

Luna llena, museo y cena. "Pescadores y pastores: de costa a cumbre"

More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar.

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Tienda Rustica Tenerife

This video is about a very nice Antique Shop in the South of Tenerife.

It looks like an interior decorators paradise. No idea where it is exactly, but if I had any money, I'd certainly want to go shopping here! :)

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In the little town of Tejina above the northern coast of Tenerife, the people wear their hearts, not on their sleeves, but on giant frames that play the starring role in the Fiesta de Los Corazones de Tejina (the festival of the hearts of Tejina).

The fiesta is one of the most deep-rooted festivals of the Canary Islands and its origins are bound to the seasonal celebration of the harvest. Offerings of fruit, flowers and boughs to the local saint are a common feature of fiestas in the Islands and date back to pre-Hispanic times when the Guanche wove boughs of laurel, palm leaves and aromatic herbs into arcs which were used to adorn holy places during religious rituals.

But in Tejina, the arcs have evolved into something extraordinary.

Standing in the Plaza de San Bartolomé on a sultry morning in August, the air is suddenly split by the whirr and bang of firework rockets as the ?hearts? appear; three huge wooden and iron frames bearing hearts decorated in fruit and pastry discs with an extravagant bouquet of flowers atop, are being carried by groups of 20 or more men, their faces wet with the strain of the 800 kilo weight.

On a wall by the side of the church, a small girl is hurling insults at the group right next to where I'm standing who are straining to raise the heart with poles and ropes onto a waiting cross fixed into the plaza. The girl is wearing an orange Calle Arriba T-shirt while the men beside me are wearing white El Pico ones; these are rival hearts from rival districts of the town.

As the El Pico team slot their frame onto the waiting bracket a roar goes up from around me; they?re the first to raise their hearts. The little girl is furious and stands with hands on hips, still badmouthing the team who now laugh at her and congratulate each other.

When the hearts are secured, Spanish flags are inserted, three into each side and the finished spectacle is awesome; the plaza is filled with flags, bunting and coloured bulbs that hang in swathes above the brightly coloured kiosks selling jams, wine, flowers and wood carvings. Centre stage, the three ?hearts? stand like characters in a Lewis Carroll adaptation, creating a Wonderland in the plaza.

From beneath the hearts, groups of rival neighbours are making comments about the quality or otherwise of the workmanship of the pastries, the freshness of the flowers and the uniformity and positioning of the fruit. Voices rise as the observations turn to insults, each one attracting a retort from the neighbouring heart and a cheer and laughter from the crowd. But the rivalry is good natured, and witty, and the atmosphere in the plaza feels like a local party to which I haven't been invited but am nevertheless welcome.

Tomorrow the hearts will be stripped of their fruit and pastries which will be thrown to the crowd as ?trophies? of the fiesta. Minor injuries such as an orange in the eye or a pear blow to the head will undoubtedly occur and people of a nervous disposition will be well advised to stand clear. So just for today, the Corazones de Tejina fill the plaza, a wondrous sight and a tribute to the agricultural heritage of Tenerife?s ?greenhouse valley?.

Heart-y-Facts:

The Fiesta of Los Corazones de Tejina takes place this year on Sunday 26th August in the town of Tejina in the valley above Bajamar on Tenerife?s northern coast.

• 11.30 am ? The hearts leave their barrio, accompanied by their parrandas, and are carried to Plaza de San Bartolomé in the centre of the town.


• 12.00 midday - Offerings are made to San Bartolomé and the hearts are raised.


• 21.30 ? Poems and dedications are recited to the hearts in Plaza de San Bartolomé


• 27th August at 19.00 hrs ? hearts are stripped of fruit and pastries which are ?distributed? to the crowd


• 28th August from 11.30 am ? children?s version, or Corazones de Los Chicos de Tejina fiesta

Lying on a beach all day every day might make for a relaxing holiday, but memories of it fade as quickly as your sun tan. Island Drives is aimed at travellers who want to experience the real essence of Tenerife, not just its pools and beaches. If you want an unforgettable holiday as opposed to a good one, Real Tenerife Island Drives will make the difference.

Labels: Real Tenerife Island Drives

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The Barranco de Masca (Masca Gorge), which was damaged during the recent fire in Tenerife, had to be closed to the public. It's popular with walkers for the energetic little 3 hour stroll (read: difficult) from the village of Masca, down to the corresponding bay. Joe Cawley asked if it was still closed and, this is something that visitors will likely wish to know, so I asked a few questions today to find out the current situation.

The news is that the gorge is to remain closed, in both directions, until further notice.

There is a brief item about it at the Tenerife Tourism Corporation website, but I've also spoken to the town hall in Buenavista del Norte and to the Cabildo (Corporation)'s Oficina del Parque Rural de Teno (Teno Rural Park Management Office) at Los Pedregales, here in the El Palmar valley.

According to the management office, the decision to keep the gorge closed was taken by the mayor of Buenavista, Aurelio Abreu, because of the fire damage on the route and, therefore, to ensure public safety.

The recuperation of the Barranco de Masca is being treated as part of the overall restoration works, being coordinated by a special committee formed by the Tenerife Cabildo, the Canary Islands government and Buenavista council, as well as the residents of the hamlet of Masca themselves.

They are also taking this opportunity, not only to restore it to how it was, but to make improvements for visitors by installing a plan for controlled access, similar to that which is operated in the Barranco del Infierno (Hell's Ravine), in Adeje, where a small charge is levied, numbers of visitors are controlled and there are guide services available, by appointment, free of charge.

Adeje town hall website says that "The presence of guides is for reasons of security, protection of the surroundings and to give information to visitors over subjects such as the history, geological formation, flora, fauna, etc."

Masca's system, we can assume, will therefore be very similar.

The Rural Park Management Office were unable to tell me exactly when the Masca gorge is expected to reopen, although they did indicate that there may be more idea after a meeting at the end of September.

They seem to think that it's possible the gorge will be reopened before the end of the year, however, since the weather might not always be accommodating in winter, to be on the safe side, it may be best not to expect the gorge to be always accessible until next Spring/Summer.

If anyone will be able advise visitors better (in Spanish, English and German) it will be El Cardón who have the tourist information place in the Plaza de los Remedios in Buenavista del Norte and who organize outdoor nature activities in the area, including walks and the descent of the barranco.

This, of course, does not prevent visitors from seeing Masca village.

But, for the moment, you can only descend the Masca gorge by video - almost no energy required and only takes about 4 minutes too! :)



Video: Denscenso Barranco Masca (Filmed in June, 2007)

More about the barranco and the descent (in Spanish):
El Barranco de Masca: el descenso de un laberinto de roca
Senderismo en Tenerife: Barranco de Masca (Playa Masca)

Labels: Tenerife Fire

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All allusions to much building and (over) development aside ...

The mainstream media, particularly the "sensationalist" British type, but including some of the ones that I had previously trusted to be above that kind of thing and, be better informed, came up with some really misleading (and, I feel, irresponsible) headlines when reporting on the recent fire on the island, with exaggerations of the facts and plain untruths that are as potentially damaging to the islands, financially, as the fires themselves.

Indeed, I'm not alone in this opinion and, representatives of the tourist industry in the Canary Islands are asking for measures to "palliate the damage caused by the sensationalist international media".

You can hardly blame them, as reading many of the British media's headlines covering the event, you might have been led to imagine scenes of tourists running from the beaches into the sea to save themselves.

The truth is that no tourist was ever in any danger.

Apart from the fact that "Nature ruined, native birds homeless, farmers affected" is not a relevant and compelling headline to the average Brit who knows Tenerife only as a holiday destination (thanks to the British press), reading these reports, it becomes clear why many assume (there's no excuse, they should fact check, or ask someone on the island) that tourist resorts would be affected, because they appear to think that is all there is: that Tenerife is just a big resort with only beaches and hotels.

Here are just some examples of the terrible headlines I saw:

Holiday chaos for British tourists as fires devastate Canary Islands | the Daily Mail (Headline and story repeated here exactly by This is London)
This is what I expect from the Daily Mail, but honestly, the only tourists in Tenerife who may have been in "chaos" were a handful of not so happy campers in the mountains. None of them were British, as far as I have been able to ascertain. No British tourists in the resorts were affected at all.

Nevertheless, in their usual fear mongering fashion, the Daily Mail began this article, "Holiday-makers are being urged to check with their tour operators before they travel after the Canary Island's top tourist holiday resorts have been left devastated by forest fires." There was never any need for such wasting of tour operators' time and the resorts were not devastated.

Massaging the truth is bad enough. That kind of pure invention is criminal.

Perhaps they do truly believe that Tenerife is only a resort, but that's still a logically unreasonable assumption that they should check.

And, it seems they're not interested in the truth (only circulation), because my first-hand comment does not appear. Presumably it was rejected.

British tourists in waiting game as fires sweep holiday islands - Times Online
You really expect better from The Times, don't you? What would these tourists have been waiting for exactly, a bus perhaps? What's even worse is that you have know-nothing idiots who have clearly never even been to the island, commenting there and advising Brits to stay away.

Worse yet, I tried to comment here too, explaining that I was one of those people evacuated and telling the truth of the matter. My comment was not posted, nor have The Times contacted me, as I invited them to do.

They say, "The British Embassy in Madrid said that six British residents were among those evacuated." Well, I can personally list 5 and I really don't know that many British people on the island. I'm sure the true number is a bit higher, still, by their own figure here, they must be able to work out that a half dozen or so residents is hardly "British tourists in waiting game".

No flights were disrupted even. This is just not true.

They also say, "So far, tourist resorts have remained largely unaffected.", which should read, "Tourist resorts remained TOTALLY unaffected."

Britons evacuated from Canary Islands - Telegraph
Gee, are they talking about me and those 5 others again?

Well, actually no, as they say, "Wildfires sweeping across Spain's Canary Islands have forced authorities to evacuate around 11,000 people, including several hundred British tourists and residents." Several hundred now? That number seems to have grown faster than the forest fire itself!

Tourist alert as Canary Islands burn | Metro.co.uk
The article begins, "More than 11,000 people including holidaymakers have been evacuated." More than 11,000 were evacuated, but these were hardly the resort tourists that the word "holidaymakers" leads you to believe.

Tourists Evacuate As Holiday Island Fires Take Hold (from This Is Lancashire)
Talk about clutching at straws for an angle, their piece begins, "HUNDREDS of Bolton holidaymakers could be among tourists being evacuated from hotels on the Canary Islands." Could being the operative word.

Spain: Thousands Flee Canary Islands Fires - New York Times
Not quite as bad as the British examples, though it still gives the impression of people fleeing off the island. All that was required was to go to the safe coastal areas (you know, like the resorts) and out of the mountains.

Canary Islands - Arsonists at large in biggest ever fires.
John McGinty, writing (plagiarizing mostly and, the problem when you copy untrue reports ...), takes my award for most alarming headline. He talks about more than 5 arrests too, which is news to me. I've heard a rumor that they may have been one arrest in Tenerife, but that was a long time after July 31st when this article was published. Strange that, isn't it?

Even the BBC were running a sensationalist story, but I notice they later changed their headline and content to something more realistic.

It doesn't help that, in many of these reports, they are talking about both the Gran Canaria and Tenerife fires in the same breath.

In Gran Canaria some visitors (I don't know nationalities) were evacuated from rural accommodation inland, in the mountains. Putting the two together, not being specific (deliberately, or not) and calling these people either "tourists" or "holidaymakers" gives an entirely false impression.

Not only could this affect bookings, where some might think that there is a risk and not want to come here, but what about the families back in the UK of people who were on holiday in Tenerife at the time? If they had read those reports, they will probably have suffered days of unnecessary anguish.

That I know to be the case from worried calls I got from my own relatives.

Apart from some yellow smoke, high in the sky above them, holidaymakers in the resorts would have been pretty oblivious to the fire and will not have considered any need to phone home to say that they were OK.

This report Fire in Tenerife pictures from the south of the island from TenerifeScuba clearly shows you the truth of the situation from someone on the spot. They saw the sky and "thought they were simply storm clouds", until they learned the truth, but then only from reports on local television.

"Holidaymakers" would not have been watching local television (which is, after all, in Spanish), so they probably remained none the wiser.

Now, I would still invite the British media, if any of them are monitoring blogs, to contact me if they would like some true stories about the island, but lets just try to get this whole "resort" idea into perspective shall we?

How much of Tenerife is a "resort"?

The area of the whole of the island of Tenerife is 2,034 km² (785 sq.mi).

Well, I could stop there really, because you don't need me to tell you that nobody ever made a resort as big as 785 square miles in size. :-)

So, lets take the area of the district of Adeje, which has part of the resort of Las Americas or Costa Adeje, of 105.94 km². Add the area of the district of Arona, which has the other part of Las Americas, Los Cristianos, and Costa del Silencio, at 81.79 km², making 187.73 km² in total.

The major part of those two districts are mountains, villages, proper towns and anything but "resort", but we'll ignore that fact, because that will compensate for Puerto de La Cruz (all 8.73 km² of it), Los Gigantes and other small coastal areas dedicated to tourism that I'm not counting.

All in all then and, being really generous, at most only 187.73 km² - about 9.2% - out of the total of 2,034 km² of the island of Tenerife is a "resort".

In truth, it's probably not much more than half of that area.

Tenerife: Geographic introduction: situation and size

What's the rest of Tenerife made up of?

Well, almost 45% of the island is protected and that includes vast areas of mountains and forests. Of the rest of the island, there are lots of historic villages, "normal" towns and cities providing work and housing for "normal", ordinary citizens; there are farms, banana plantations, golf courses and, lots of huge areas that are simply empty, because the terrain is such that you can't do anything else with it. This is all a far cry from being only a resort.

Now just imagine how you would react if someone said, "Oh, don't go to England, it's just a resort" (full of kiss-me-quick hats, rock candy and pleasure rides), after the only place they'd heard of was Blackpool.

You'd not only think they were wrong, but you'd think they were being pretty unreasonable and totally illogical, wouldn't you? Yeah, well so do we!

Labels: Tenerife Fire

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See this photo of the majestic and beautiful Mount Teide, gloriously snow capped and with the mostly green foothills in the foreground. Now go and look at this image that was taken from more or less the same angle and see how brown and charred it is after the fire.

Real Tenerife Island Drives also have a photo of the charred and blackened landscape around Valle de Arriba in Santiago del Teide on the front page of their site currently, which shows just how close the recent Tenerife forest fires came to the village.

This image of the Fire effects at Santiago del Teide shows a wider view of the same area and, likewise, shows just how close it was to the villages as well as to fincas and vineyards. Another image shows burnt pines.

And, here is a burnt palm tree in Masca. I still haven't been over and half of me doesn't want to when I read the description that goes with this last, saying "Masca used to be one of the most beautiful landscapes in Tenerife, but right now some of its typical canary houses and most of the beautiful canary palm trees are burnt and it seems to have become all grey."

The Fire on Tenerife is out

This week the fire that was started on July 30th and affected 10 districts in Tenerife; Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla, La Guancha, Icod de Los Vinos, Garachico, El Tanque, Los Silos, Buenavista del Norte, Santiago del Teide and Guía de Isora, was finally declared to be extinguished.

It was declared to be "under control" on August 2nd, but forestry workers have still been working on cooling and extinguishing smoldering remains.

Inspection works are still ongoing, but the Ministry for the Environment have released their official figures for the areas affected, which in Tenerife, was a total of 18,800 hectares. This is greater than the 15,000 hectares originally estimated and converts to 46454.8 acres, or 188 square kilometers, 72.59 square miles or 17,398.8 football (soccer) pitches!

As far as I am aware, the only restrictions that might affect visitors are that the Barranco de Masca (Masca Gorge) is still closed, because of damage and that the bridge was burnt. Also, while all the roads are open, tracks in the forests and mountains remain closed to both vehicles and walkers.

Camping areas Barranco de La Arena and El Lagar remain closed, as do the recreational areas at; La Tahona, Barranco Fuente Pedro, El Lagar, Las Hayas, Arenas Negras, San José de Los Llanos and Los Pedregales.

Other recreational areas, listed here are open to the public.

Labels: Tenerife Fire

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Anyone who survived this week's public holiday and fiestas in Candelaria and Garachico needn't think they're going to put their tired feet up this weekend. Oh no, because all manner of fiestas, both traditional and modern, continue for your enjoyment in Tenerife, with lots more besides ...

Fiestas de San Bartolomé

This weekend the Fiestas de San Bartolomé kick off in Buenavista del Norte - and run until August 24th - with Folklore on Friday night, but the high spot is on Sunday, August 19th with a Crafts Fair in the Plaza de Los Remedios and the main street, which, according to the news on Television Daute, will have about 100 stalls displaying and selling local crafts, as well as offering typical local gastronomy to taste.

Not too sure of the times, but from experience, I expect the core hours will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., although I quite expect it to extend to later.

Fiestas de la Vírgen de La Esperanza, La Guancha

As the fiestas for the Vírgen de La Esperanza continue in La Guancha, there's a Gran Baile (Dance) on Saturday, August 18th, 10 p.m. onwards; an exhibition of vintage and classic cars at 10 a.m., on Sunday, August 19th and a display of traditional island sports at 4 p.m.

On Monday, August 20th, there's Festival de variedades (Variety show) with Gran Canaria singer, Ramón del Castillo as the headline act. Ramón, via Operación Triunfo (Star Academy), represented Spain at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, with, what I thought, was one of the least awful Eurovision entries of all time. :)

International Folk Music Festival in El Médano

Bringing together folk music acts from the five continents, including some of the best Canarian groups, the concert is held every year in the third week of August and is one of the most important folk music festivals held in the Canary Islands, according to the Tenerife Tourism Corporation.

International Folk Music Festival in El Médano


Bob Sinclar in Tenerife

Tonight, Friday, August 17th at Tropicana, Costa Adeje. French DJ, Bob Sinclar, who was voted best dance artist and best DJ at the World Music Awards 2006. People "my age" will will know Sinclar, born Christophe Le Friant, better as Chris The French Kiss.

Vocal collaboration from The Wailers' Gary Pine, plus top Tenerife DJs David Herrera and, according to this report, Jacobo Padilla.

Bob Sinclar en Tenerife




The Black Thousand Band

Here's a chance to support young local talent and see something you wouldn't have been able to see at home: The Black Thousand Band in concert in the Scalextric Picnic Party, at the Finca Saroga, Los Realejos on Saturday, August 18th. The rustic rural setting of a delightful old Canarian mansion in the north of the island of Tenerife, right in the middle of the Orotava Valley.

Formed in 2005, The Black Thousand Band list their style as Garage / Funk / Healing & EasyListening. Influences include Led Zeppelin and Motorhead and, they describe themselves as a "five piece combo ready to have fun and to make the crowd enjoy themselves." You can't ask for more really.

Check out their MySpace page for audio / video.

Entrance 10 euros in advance - info and sales call 676 835 848 (15 euros on the door, which includes a drink). Doors open: 22:00. Finca Saroga, La Higuerita s/n. 38410 Los Realejos. Tenerife.


Urban DJ Festival 2007

The La Noria Urban DJ Festival 2007 continues on Saturday, August 18th in Santa Cruz, this week with Beat Creator at Los Reunidos.

Canarias7 has the linup and listings for coming weeks.


Art for art's sake

Exhibitions: Today and tomorrow are the last chance to see Fotografía: Espacios abiertos II (Photography: Open Spaces II) a photographic collective of images taken in or related to the islands, at the Sala de Arte y Cultura de Caja Canarias, Puerto de la Cruz.

Opening times: 11:00 to 13:00 and 17:00 to 21:00.

La muestra ?Espacios abiertos II? podrá ser visitada hasta el sábado en Puerto de la Cruz

Art: IV Salón de Verano de la Galería Murnó

How would you like the opportunity to see and buy (with prices starting from 60 euros / 40 quid) works by 15 Canarian artists in various disciplines? The "Summer Salon" is on from August 2nd to September 15th; Wed, Thur, Fri 17:00 to 21:00. Saturday 11:00 to 14:00. El precio del ARTE.

More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar.

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Good news is not often the stuff that would sell newspapers, but - despite what the mainstream media will have you believe - there are probably more unreported good things going on in this world than bad. Here's a few.

What's for Lunch, Giant Squid?

Well, it is if you're a calderón tropical (pilot whale) in Tenerife, as ABC report that experts in the archipelago have filmed - for the first time in the world - a pilot whale eating a giant squid in waters off the south of Tenerife, where a deep marine canal could be the habitat of these huge cephalopods.

The director of the Museo de Cetáceos de Canarias (Canarian Museum of Cetaceans) related how, in June, while the center was watching a group of pilot whales off the south of Tenerife, they were surprised when an animal emerged from a deep dive jumping about and, saw that it had an arm and various other parts of a giant squid (estimated to have been from a 5 meter long example) in its mouth.

The whale made several jumps in the water to liberate the tentacle in order to eat it, which they were able to photograph and film on video.

Previously, bits of giant squid, partially devoured, had been found - with bite marks from pilot whales - on the surface of Canarian waters, but experts had thought that the squid died previously and the pilot whales merely played with it. The scientists have now discovered that the pilot whales dive down to 1,200 meters, although 800 to 900 meters is their usual depth.

OK, maybe this is not such good news for the squid, but it's a world first that opens up a new scientific perspective, because, until now it had been thought that the cachalote (sperm whale) were the only cetaceans to feed on giant squid - as analysis of their stomach contents had confirmed.

What the scientists now want to discover is whether giant squid is an occasional treat, or on the pilot whales' regular menu and whether these cetaceans have become specialized in eating them.

They theorize that it could be that the cooperative habits of the pilot whales in the Canary Islands, who are generally found diving together in groups, has made it easier for them to catch these colossal invertebrates.



Video: Calderón tropical en Tenerife - Pilot whale in Tenerife (globicephala macrorhynchus) (Er, not eating its lunch.)

Los calderones tropicales comen calamares gigantes
Short-finned pilot whale Distribution and Threats


The Giant Squid Caught by the Alecton off the Coast of Tenerife, 30th November 1861
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Short-Finned Pilot Whales, Tenerife, ...
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Short-Finned Pilot Whales, Tenerife
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More Whales posters and prints at Art.com



Orishas Visit Sick Kids in Tenerife

Just a few hours before their concert at the Festival Mumes 2007, in Tenerife last Saturday, Yotuel, Ruso and Roldán, the three members of Cuban hip-hop group, Orishas, visited the sick - especially in the children's wards - at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria in Santa Cruz.

The report says that they also gathered a good number of patients into the hospital lobby and performed an impromptu concert of some of their best known songs, singing a cappella.

Other reports (in Spanish) and in English, reveal that the Orishas concert planned in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria on August 24th is to have all profits donated to those who've been affected by the recent fires. Both Orishas and Madrid rock band, Pereza, who are sharing the lineup, have also reduced their performance fees by a considerable amount.

Orishas, con los enfermos del Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria de Tenerife


Cellular Metabolism Institute in Tenerife in Glycine Finding

The study, carried out at the Cellular Metabolism Institute in Tenerife and at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Granada by Doctor Patricia de Paz Lugo and supervised by Doctors Enrique Meléndez Hevia, David Meléndez Morales and José Antonio Lupiáñez Cara, established that the direct intake of this substance as a food additive helps to prevent arthrosis and other degenerative diseases, in addition to other diseases related to a weakness in the mechanical structure of the organism, including the difficulty of repairing physical injuries.

Glycine supplement helps to prevent degenerative diseases


Canary Islands' Telescopes Help Exoplanet Discovery

A recent BBC report details that The TrES network of three 10cm telescopes in Arizona, California and the Canary Islands were the international team of astronomers who have discovered the new exoplanet, called TrES-4: the largest known planet orbiting another star.

Team finds largest exoplanet yet


Salad Days in Scotland Thanks to Tenerife

There's a little more than a coincidence over Patron Saints and the near identical flags of Scotland and Tenerife creating a fairly strong link between the two. icPerthshire report that, "A Perthshire family firm is about to grow into the biggest fresh herb company in Scotland. Scotherbs near Longforgan is set to double in size as the demand from home cooks for fresh herbs soars." Scotherbs also has a company in Tenerife which grows salad leaves and herbs which are then flown to Scotland.

Scotherbs have the right recipe to keep on growing

This island has plenty of native herbs too and for more information on Herbs of Tenerife Island, Steve Andrews aka the Bard of Ely, is your man.


CD Tenerife Claims Twentieth Title

It's a far cry from the golden days, but it's a result as CD Tenerife yesterday carried off their twentieth title in the final of the pre-season kick around; the Trofeo Teide (Teide Trophy), winning, on penalties, against Sevilla Atlético in front of a homely little crowd of 3,000 in La Orotava.

El Tenerife se lleva el Trofeo Teide en la tanda de penaltis

Labels: Orishas in Tenerife

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Where will you be between midnight and 4am on August 13? Ask the Times' Mark Hodson. Er, that would be now actually, so I too hope you aren't tucked up in bed so you can see the astonishing natural firework display called the Perseids. You can watch it anywhere away from light pollution. The experts, of course, have come to the Canaries and, having stepped outside the door just now to look, they certainly have a good clear, inky black sky for it.

This year's meteor shower

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Coinciding nicely with CD Tenerife football club's birthday this week, INFOICOD NOTICIAS have unearthed a couple of classic CD Tenerife videos. This first, which sounds like it may have been recorded when the club was still young, back in 1922 (OK, in the 1940s maybe), is the Himno del C.D. Tenerife (CD Tenerife Anthem). And it's the karaoke version no less, with the words along the bottom of the screen so you can practice singing along. No, I'm not going to translate what you're singing: it's hardly Nobel Prize standard prose and half of it makes no sense anyway. :)



Video: Himno del C.D. Tenerife (CD Tenerife Anthem) Yeah, it has already provoked the comment "Por dios k es esto?" (My God what's that?) :-)

The second is highlights from the historic result at the end of the 1992-93 season. Madrid and Barça go into the last week with 57 and 56 points, respectively. Barça win their match against Real Sociedad, but Real Madrid get trounced (2-0) at Tenerife, giving the league title to Barça for the third year running.

You don't need Spanish to understand the emotions in the commentary!

Those were the days ... When CD Tenerife played with the "big boys" in the Primera and, before every Canarian who wasn't already a Madrid or Barça fan learned how to pronounce "Manchester United". :)

Documentales: Que marivillosos años del Club Deportivo Tenerife

It never occurred to me to look for CD Tenerife videos before, but there are quite a lot more related ones at YouTube. Another one I spotted was this Brief history of Tenerife Fan Club, Armada Sur, the expat (mainly British) supporters club that usually takes a couple of coaches to home games.

If you're a football nut, you might like to get in touch with them through the Armarda Sur website and go see one of CD Tenerife's home games while you're on the island. I've lifted the home fixtures only from Andy Woolley's 2007-2008 Fixtures list (note what he says about matches sometimes getting moved to Saturdays to fit in with the TV schedule) and put them on our calendar. I'm not including away matches, because this is a blog about Tenerife and only home matches are something to do in Tenerife.

CD Tenerife play at Heliodoro Rodríguez López in Santa Cruz.

Hey, maybe a bit more support could bring those glory days back?

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Public health services in Tenerife, yesterday, restricted the use of water in some areas of Adeje in the south of the island for turbidity* and a bad odor.

The restriction will remain in place until information is available that guarantees the quality of the water supply. For the moment, in the areas of El Beril, Armeñime, La Caleta, El Puertito, Iboybo, Las Cancelas, Playa Paraíso, Urbanización Orovales and Miraverde, consumers should not use tap water for drinking, cooking, nor for preparing foodstuffs.

Salud Pública restringe el uso del agua de consumo en zonas de Adeje por turbidez y mal olor

* Turbidity is a cloudiness or haziness of water (or other fluid) caused by individual particles (suspended solids). Measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. The higher the turbidity, the higher the risk of the drinkers developing gastrointestinal diseases, especially for immune-compromised people, because contaminants like virus or bacteria can become attached to the suspended solid. (In other words, don't even wash your salad in it.)

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This weekend in Santa Cruz, Tenerife is the culmination of the Festival Mumes 2007, or Festival de Musicas Mestizas - that was opened by Senegalese singer and percussionist, Youssou N´Dour, back in July.

The non-politically correct definition of meztizo in my old dictionary was "half-breed". These days, when applying the word to persons, we would say, "of mixed race", I like Rudy's description of "melting pot" better and, when it's applied to music, in English, we would probably call it Fusion.

Who better could you get for this genre today than Orishas - whose mix of Cuban rhythms and hip-hop, is sometimes referred to as "Cubaton".

Orishas are playing on the esplanade behind the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz on Saturday, August 11th, from 8 p.m. onwards and, I don't mind saying that this is exactly where I'd like to be this weekend.



Video: Naci Orishas Live at Rock in Rio


La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07 continues on Saturday night in Santa Cruz, this week with Bajamar (Tenerife) House / Club / Dub DJ, Alex Méndez.


For the more traditional side of Tenerife events this week ....

Festividad de la Virgen de Candelaria

This week are Tenerife's biggest traditional fiestas, those in honor of the Virgin of Candelaria, the patron saint of the Canary Islands, in the town of Candelaria.

The fiestas started on August 8th and prolong until August 19th. On Saturday, August 11th, there is a guided pilgrimage along the camino viejo (old footpath), with the day's events culminating with a concert by Los Sabandeños in the plaza.

The biggest events take place on Tuesday, August 14th. Canarias24horas tell us that the romería (procession) gets going at around 4 p.m. from Punta Larga, proceeding to the Plaza, where at 8 p.m. there will be a reenactment of the Guanches discovering the Virgin. There will be Eucharist at midnight, coinciding with the return of the procession. The Basílica will stay open until 3 a.m. so people can enjoy the meeting of the parrandas - various folk groups that have been taking part in the processions.

On Wednesday, August 15th, the actual day of the fiestas and is a Public Holiday in Spain (The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), are the solemn celebrations with Eucharist at 11 a.m. in the Basílica.

"Many people make the journey from their houses to Candelaria on foot. This tradition takes place the night before the 15th and fills the roads with groups of pilgrims making their way to Candelaria.", say the Tourist Board.

There are others who make the pilgrimage down the mountains and there are some changes and restrictions this year, owing to the fire and the closure of forest tracks. The pilgrimages are expected to be on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. There is a whole page here about the measures, which includes permits for support vehicles. I'm not going to translate it all, because if you were going to be part of it, you'd probably be in a group, with at least someone who understands. It's probably not a good idea to attempt the pilgrimage independently, particularly under current circumstances.

The authorities expect around 200,000 people between August 12th and 15th and they mention 8,000 car parking spaces. My maths makes that 25 people to a car, so I guess we can expect things to be a little tight! :)

Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria


Bajada de Las Hayas (Bringing down the Beech trees)

This tradition, according to the Tourist Board website, is celebrated the second Saturday of the month - August 11th 2007 - in the district of La Guancha. It consists of a romería (procession) in which country folk, dressed in traditional attire, walk the hills of the district along a footpath used in the past to bring down pine needles, which are used to decorate the streets.

Quite possibly, after the fire, if there are any pine needles (or pine branches) left, they may decide to improvise on that element of this fiesta, rather than cut any more. Last week, with the romería in La Esperanza, La Opinión tells us that the fireworks were conspicuous by their absence, having being omitted out of fear and to eliminate any fire risk they present.

Bajada de Las Hayas (Bringing down the Beech trees)

Fiestas in honor of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria commence in the village of Arguayo, Santiago del Teide, on Saturday, 11th August. At 6 p.m. is the IV Subida al Panadero - such a fun name, which means, literally, "hill climb to the bakery." It's a run. There's a dance at night and another on Monday night, with various other events running through to August 19th.

Fiestas en Honor a Nuestra Señora de Candelaria en Arguayo

The fiestas in Bajamar, in the north of Tenerife, are still ongoing this weekend. There are fiestas in Alcalá, in the south.


Something for During the Week Too ...

The Tenerife Reunion 2007

On Tuesday, August 14th is Innovation - Tropicana Tenerife - The Tenerife Reunion 2007 (Via: Marchaymas) The most important breakbeat, hardcore and drum n bass event in Europe, apparently, at Tropicana Tenerife, Costa Adeje. From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., for those with sufficient drugs or stamina! :)

Romeria San Roque Garachico

On Thursday, August 16th, is the traditional Romeria San Roque in Garachico, which is recognized as the biggest of these fiestas in the Isla Baja area. From 1 p.m. onwards, roughly. It has to be said that Marchaymas' video is a little short on images of the fiesta and the procession, but it looks like the folk were having a good time last year!

Romeria San Roque Garachico


Happy 85th Birthday CD Tenerife

This week, apparently, on the 8th, we forgot to say Happy 85th Birthday to Tenerife's football club, CD Tenerife, which was founded on August 8th, 1922. Pre-season matches are already underway and the 2007-2008 season will provide something else for you to do at the weekends when the season starts. Andy Woolley has a list of fixtures here.

More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar.

Labels: Orishas in Tenerife

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Living on the North West coast of Tenerife, its impossible to ignore Mount Teide. From Punta de Hidalgo through Tacaronte, El Sauzal and the La Orotava Valley to Icod de los Vinos, its vast presence looms like a monolithic Guardian Angel.

An icon of Tenerife and the Canarian archipelago, at 3,718 metres, Mount Teide is Spain's highest mountain, Europe's highest volcano and the third highest volcano in the world. To Tenerife's earliest inhabitants, the Guanche, it was the place where the devil lived and where the earth held up the sky. This year, Mount Teide gathered a new title to add to its CV when UNESCO awarded it National Heritage Site status, and last week, for the first time since re-locating to Tenerife, I took the cable car trip.

Less than 10 minutes after boarding the car, I was standing at a height of 3,555 metres overlooking Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro all floating on the horizon like a satellite image. It was all a great deal quicker and easier than the last time I looked out over the neighbouring islands from above the clouds.

It was November then, still hot on the beaches at the coast as I set out from the base of Montaña Blanca at a height of 2,200 metres to begin the ascent to the Alta Vista Refuge where I was to spend the night before continuing onto the summit to witness sunrise from the peak.

The climb wasn't technically difficult at all, an easy ascent for a couple of hours before the thigh-stretching two hour climb to the Refuge. But the effects of altitude multiplied the effort required, lungs and muscles straining to work effectively in the oxygen-starved atmosphere. By the time the roof of the Refuge came into sight, I could barely put one foot in front of the other.

After one of the longest nights of my life at the Alta Vista Refuge where I lay in icy silence for six hours in a dormitory shared with 14 strangers; the altitude and my aching legs ensuring that sleep remained an unapproachable stranger, I stepped out of the Refuge into the pitch dark at 4.30 am for the final ascent.

After two hours of tortuously slow progress, every step a test of physical and mental stamina, I finally reached the summit and climbed onto the topmost boulder as the grey half light of dawn retreated behind the peak. Cloud floated all around like a halo of foaming sea and the horizon burned pink, then orange as the sun rose. The lower peaks floated in the cloud like a school of hump back whales riding the white surf; beyond the circle of cloud, the lights of the south coast and La Gomera burned like diamond shoes at the feet of the giant volcano. I had a six hour, nine kilometre descent ahead of me, my fingers were numb and my feet and legs were screaming. But just for now, none of that mattered; I was standing with the Gods on the top of the world where the earth held up the sky.

Taking Refuge

The Alta Vista Refuge sits at a height of 3,270 metres and offers basic shelter to those climbing the mountain. There are no facilities for cooking and no refreshments on offer. Theres a small gas burner available to heat water, but with only one burner and lots of climbers, a hot drink is just a distant dream.

Its essential to book in advance. Fee per adult: 12.00.
Tel. 922 010 440; Fax. 922 287 837.

Permits:

To climb to the summit of Mount Teide you have to apply in person to:

National Park Office
C/ Emilio Calzadilla, nº 5 - 4th floor
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tel. 922 290 129 - 922 290 183 ; Fax: 922 244 788
E-mail: teide@oapn.mma.es
Office hours: from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., from Monday to Friday (take a photocopy of your identity card or passport).

However, if you stay the night at the Refuge, and provided you climb before sunrise and return past the cable car station before 9 am, you don't need a permit. You'll need a good torch, preferably one on a head band to leave you hands free.

Read more of Andrea Montgomery's personal account of climbing Mount Teide here ...


Copyright © 2007 Real Tenerife Island Drives. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of Real Tenerife Island Drives.

Lying on a beach all day every day might make for a relaxing holiday, but memories of it fade as quickly as your sun tan. Island Drives is aimed at travellers who want to experience the real essence of Tenerife, not just its pools and beaches. If you want an unforgettable holiday as opposed to a good one, Real Tenerife Island Drives will make the difference.

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The Foreign Office, said: "Some 37 per cent of Britons travelling abroad think that if they get into trouble the British embassy can get them out of jail free. Many think they do not have to know the laws of the countries they are travelling in and that they have some sort of 'touristic immunity'. They don't." Most arrests and lost passports were recorded in Spain and the US.

The Foreign Office can't get you out of jail

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The center of Masca village.Masca, they tell us, is the second most visited place in Tenerife, after the Teide National Park and that the tiny village - home to just 140 people - sees something in the region of 800,000 visitors per year.

Being familiar to so many, it's no surprise then that over the last few days, I've received lots of emails asking about the fire, among them questions about Masca and, in particular, one asks, "Please tell me how bad Masca is after the fire."

Visitors aren't the only people asking. Local postal services yesterday wanted to know if they are able to get over to Masca as the roads had been closed for a few days. Whom do they ask: the security forces, the town hall? Nope, that ever reliable source of local knowledge (apparently), me! :)

But news has been slow and I've been unable to find much out until now and, while even one lost home is still one lost home too many, it seems that the situation in Masca may not be as bad as was first thought.

Oh, this morning I saw the Masca bus (the 355 route between Buenavista del Norte and Santiago del Teide) go up the road and, by coincidence, I also saw it come back down again. The time between the two sightings led me to believe that the road must have been open and it was able to get through.

Finally, a couple of articles I've found today give us some more details.


The upper part of Masca.This article, which confirms that the road is open also states that the mayor of Buenavista, Aurelio Abreu, "has expressed his desire" that only those people who live there or need to be in the area for urgent necessity, such as those assessing the damage, use the road for now.

For the time being then, I shall not be able to go to Masca to look or to confirm any details for myself.

The article also says that the Barranco de Masca - the gorge which leads down to the sea at Masca Bay and that is very popular amongst the active type of visitor for the difficult 3 hour walk - will remain closed to the public for "various" days, because of damage in the upper part of the route.

The town hall are sending a civil servant and setting up an office in the village to attend to the needs of those whose homes were affected.

An article in La Opinión (La sabiduría de un pueblo en Masca) praises the wisdom of the people of Masca, who when they saw the fire coming over the Cumbres del Bolico (Bolico Peaks), left everything and got the hell out of there before they might have become trapped by the flames.

That article explains more about what did happen - anyone who knows or has visited Masca will know how it sits, suspended almost, between the Teno Massif on one side and the Los Gigantes cliffs on the other.

Smoke had got down into the Masca valley by afternoon, says the article (this must have been the afternoon of Tuesday, July 31st); the wind was blowing and gusting strongly (up to 70 kmph), while the fire was "doing its own thing" in Santiago del Teide and had started to climb upwards on the south face of the mountains from Erjos. At 4:45 the mayor rang someone in Masca to say that things were going to get "complicated," which is when the inhabitants began to leave before the valley became a death trap.

The problem with the wind, we are told, is that turbulence meant that helicopters couldn't be used in the area, so tight within the valley walls around it. The palm trees acted like torches and, as the fronds burnt and broke off, so the gusts of wind took them where they will, catching anything dry and flammable alight and causing various fires all around the valley.

However ... That same haphazard pattern also meant that the majority of the houses in Masca were saved. Those homes that did burn - they list 6 homes destroyed, amongst whose owners is the Collins family - burnt completely, while other houses, right next door didn't burn at all.

No comfort for those who have lost everything, but for the village and its livelihood from tourism in general, things could have been a LOT worse.

This video seems to confirm that extent of damage, though I am sure people will underrate the importance also of the loss of shrub cover (it prevents erosion) and some of those beautiful palm trees themselves:



Video: Forest Fire Tenerife Aftermath Masca


(Regular readers know that my "pet hate" is hanging cables, so I just couldn't help picking up on the caption below the photo that is with the La Opinión article, which reads, "Panorama of part of the small village of Masca, with the public lighting switched on as it was on the day of the fire, which did not fail because the cables are laid underground.")

Labels: Tenerife Fire

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Updated: see Tenerife Carnaval Dates 2008 - 2050

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Carnaval 2009

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See bigger map

UPDATE: the Ministry for the Environment have released their official figures for the areas affected, which in Tenerife, was a total of 18,800 hectares. This is greater than the 15,000 hectares originally estimated and converts to 46454.8 acres, or 188 square kilometers, 72.59 square miles or 17,398.8 football (soccer) pitches!

The biggest part of the disaster is, of course, for those who have lost their homes and all they owned and, for the nature and wildlife of the island, but assuming that many of you are as "ignorant" of distances and sizes as I am, so what I wanted to know, after hearing constant references to so many hectares, is how big is that in something I can "get my head round?"


Click to enlarge and see notesThe satellite images clearly show the area affected by the fire, which the official figures put at 15,000 hectares. So what is a hectare?

This Area Converter provided by the World Land Trust allowed me to put the number into some more readily understood terms:

15,000 hectares is equivalent to:

• 37,065 acres
• 150 square kilometers
• 57.9 square miles

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If the fires this week were not enough bad news, on Thursday morning came the news that the body of missing teenager, Fernanda Fabiola Urzúa, had been located in the area of El Fraile, only about a kilometer from where she disappeared a week earlier.

The media are making it clear that "a young immigrant", resident in the south of Tenerife (obviously, unidentified and not even country of origin given) provided the key information that led police to the identification and capture of the murderer. The witness told the police that a blue Dodge pick-up had been seen in the Camino de Don Virgilio, where the girl disappeared, at the same time as she was returning home.

That enormous, ostentatious and instantly recognizable vehicle - which appears totally at odds with the character of the construction worker who was apparently an introvert and hardly spoke to anyone - was his downfall.

Police found the pick-up after combing the area, parked in a street in El Fraile and centered their investigations on its owner, Héctor Fabio Franco Giraldo, who eventually confessed to the murder, once he had been told that one of Fernanda's piercings had been found in his vehicle and, took the agents to the site where he had buried her.

The 28 year old Columbian was charged with the kidnap, sexual aggression and murder of the teenager, although the autopsy later confirmed that she had not been sexually attacked.

Franco's previous record for sexual offences is based on an attack on a tourist in Los Cristianos in 2002, which was reported to police, but as often happens, was not brought to court as the victim returned to her country.

Typically Spanish report, "We now know that the attacker had been obsessed by the youngster for some time, and had followed her to a cybercafé."

According to the report in Canarias7 (via Slynation), Fernanda was killed shortly after she disappeared. It's clear that the teenager put up some resistance and that she died from a blow to the head with a rock.

Franco was remanded in custody after appearing in court in Arona.

El presunto asesino de la joven de Tenerife ingresa en prisión por orden del juez

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Well, this weekend, given the fires and my absence that prevented me from preparing this in advance, means that this is more "what you are missing" than what there is to do, but it's still a representative sample of what goes on that you may be likely to find to see and do on a visit at some future date.

Whilst there are events that have been suspended because of the fire, in particular, a Escuela Rural (Rural School) that was to have run from August 3rd to 12th for children of 11 to 13 years at the Finca El Bolico, where you'll find the rural hostel, Albergue de Bolico in the Parque Rural de Teno, close to Las Portelas at the head of the El Palmar valley, but for the most part, "life goes on". Indeed coming back on Wednesday, streets between here and Buenavista were covered in foam from a fiesta activity for the kiddles.

XII Festival de la Canción

The finals of the 12th Candelaria Song Festival are being held tonight, Saturday, August 4th, concluding with a concert from Mexican singer, Paulina Rubio.

12th Festival de Candelaria - 2007 Edition

Candelaria town hall website (in Spanish)

Paulina Rubio hace escala mañana en Tenerife para presentar la gira 'Amor, luz y sonido 2007'


Circuito Canario de Bodyboard

The 2nd Trials in the Canarian Bodyboard Circuit are taking place last, this and the next three weekends in La Caleta de Adeje

2ª Prueba del circuito Canario de Bodyboard


Fiestas of the Sea 2007

Puerto de la Cruz is celebrating the first edition of it's Fiesta del Mar 2007 (Fiestas of the Sea) this weekend at the fishing wharf at San Telmo. This fiesta consists of an exhibition of various actions carried out by conservationists.

Orientated to the protection of our natural resources and education over the disposal of waste and its effects on species of marine fauna, the event includes photographic exhibitions and workshops and, tonight, Saturday, August 4th, ends in a paellada (big paella party).

On Sunday, August 5th, anyone with diving gear can participate in the elimination of the erizo - this is the sea urchin that is eating up the Canary Islands' sea bed, not the erizo on land, which is a hedgehog, as has has been wrongly translated by one English language newspaper in the past. :)

El Puerto acogió la Fiesta del Mar 2007 este fin de semana


Fiestas del Carmen - Playa San Juan (Playa San Juan, Tenerife)

The Fiestas del Carmen in honour of our lady who looks after fishermen, this weekend, the first weekend in August, moves to Playa San Juan, where "A lively fiesta lights up the resort in early August when the Virgen del Carmen is taken down to the fishing boats amidst dancing and fireworks."

Fiestas in August in Playa San Juan, Tenerife


Festival Internacional de Folclore Las Galletas

One of the most important folk festivals on the island takes place during the first weekend of the month, August 3rd to 5th, 2007, with various performances by national and Canarian folk music groups, who perform traditional songs and dances.

International Folk Music Festival of Las Galletas


Romería de La Esperanza

On Sunday, August 5th is the traditional Romería de La Esperanza. This procession has been held for many years in this part of the district of El Rosario with wagons, traditional dances, livestock and folk music groups.

Romería of La Esperanza


Exhibition: ?Deus - Machine: Ray Smith"

From June 26th until September 2nd daily, visit the exhibition hall Instituto Cabrera Pinto, C/ San Agustín, 48 in La Laguna, for this retrospective showing various works by American Artist, Ray Smith

El Gobierno de Canarias presenta una exposición retrospectiva del artista americano Ray Smith :: ray smith :: deus-machine ::

More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar.

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As I'm writing this, there are helicopters circling over the Teno mountains every few minutes, so we imagine that the fire must have reactivated again nearby. You may have deduced from the international media reports (most of which bear little resemblance to the truth) and my absence, I was one of the thousands in Tenerife who were evacuated because of the forest fires.

And here I will make a couple of public personal thanks, first to Jack and Andrea Montgomery of Real Tenerife Island Drives (read my review of their book here), who kindly put this "refugee" up in their own home. Please buy lots of copies of their guide to pay for all the food I ate! :)

Secondly, if you should ever find yourself in need of urgent temporary hotel accommodation for your animals in Tenerife (dogs, cats, parrots, iguanas, tortoises, rabbits and more), I can thoroughly recommend the Hospital Veterinario Tenerife Norte, who looked after my "furry tribe" of four cats and a dog for the night.

Apart from the fact that our lovely vet, Dr. Ana, one of the owners and founders of the hospital, approved a "numerous family" discount, even on such short notice, their handling of me, under well, shall we call them, reasonably stressful circumstances, was reassuring and marvelous: something I really appreciated too.

Evacuation: We were woken up here in the higher part of the El Palmar valley; Las Portelas and Las Lagunetas at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, when the Civil Guard were going door-to-door telling people to leave.

The sky above the mountains at the head of the valley was vivid red against the darkness and the fire looked to be in danger of coming in this direction.

The larger risk was the smoke, which was getting quite strong already while we were all outside damping down houses and surrounding plants and trees in an attempt to make them less flammable. Fortunately, the wind changed and took the fire back the other way, but if winds can change once, they can do it again and it could so easily have been much worse for us.

The fires have left us without DSL at times here, as John at Sorted Sites points out, that the fires "caused some of Telefonica's ADSL internet servers to go down, leaving many people without internet access."

Masca Village Destroyed

The emblematic and picturesque village of Masca, which is just over the mountains from here, was not as fortunate as we were and, we are still scratching our heads over how the fire could get down into that valley.

Reports vary widely between 4 houses burnt to the whole village having been turned to ashes, but frankly we do not know what is the real situation yet. Yesterday, the roads to Masca were still closed: they would not even let local inhabitants through to give food and water to the animals that have survived and have been without both for days. As you will see from this video though, the lower estimates look to be rather over optimistic:



Video: Masca burning at 21:00 on Tuesday, July 31st

El caserío de Masca desaparece bajo las llamas

Everyone in this valley has family or friends in Masca, who will probably have lost everything. This article in El Dia talks of the desolation and lists amongst others affected, an English girl, named as Susana, who has lived with her partner, Calvin, for 16 years in a house that they built themselves. The reports says that, having contained a lot of wood, it burnt completely.

The news about another English girl, married to an Italian, and who had only recently bought a house in Masca in the last 6-7 months and that they are restoring as a rural hotel, we are hoping at this point is better. Reports are that their house has escaped the flames and that their goats - which came from my friends Gregorio and Fernanda - are safe and sound.

If the international media coverage of the fire has been awful (more on that later here), the local media coverage, with one notable exception, has been not much better. That exception is Canarias7, who put together a special on the fire, including this good use of Google Maps to show the area affected by the fire, which was started on the right hand side of that brown shaded area, near Icod el Alto.

Francis at Television Daute in Los Silos was doing the best he could to bring live information on Tuesday, but his efforts were seriously hampered, because phone lines were out there and he had no links to his cameras in the affected areas. On Wednesday morning, the larger local stations were showing what happened on Tuesday still, only they weren't making that entirely clear, so one had absolutely no idea how things were progressing. In particular, I had no idea if I was allowed to return home, the town hall weren't manning phones and I had to phone a neighbour in the end to find out.

When I did come home on Wednesday, there was still a strong smell of "barbecued" pine in the air. Since coming home, I don't think I've been off the phone for long and we're all suffering "post traumatic stress" here, because we're all sniffing for burning smells and looking into the sky, temporarily worried that a grey cloud behaving like smoke could indeed be smoke.

Besides that, the helicopters continued to circle today, collecting water from the reservoir at Las Portelas here in the El Palmar valley, roughly once a minute. That seems too frequent for a simple cooling exercise, which adds to the concern. From there, they seem to be dropping the water over the area of Los Carizales, between here and what's left (if anything) of Masca.

For certain this fire is something that nobody here will forget in a hurry.

Labels: Tenerife Fire

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