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Better seen large (1024 x 673) or original (2080 x 1368) for the details.

As I mentioned previously, many nativity displays here, somewhat curiously, but all the more interestingly, portray a location in the Canary Islands. At the Hotel La Quinta Roja in Garachico, last year, their nativity was set on the island of La Gomera. This year their nativity is dedicated to the island of El Hierro, the smallest, most southerly and most westerly of the seven Canary Islands.

In AD 150, the Greek geographer Ptolemy thought El Hierro was the end of the world. El Hierro is also known as the Isla del Meridiano (the "Meridian Island"), because, previously in the 17th Century, the Punta de la Orchilla lighthouse, in the district of Frontera, became the site of the prime meridian - Longtitude Zero Meridian - until it was relocated to Greenwich in the 1880s.


The sacred Garoé tree in El HierroIn the nativity display, we see bimbaches (the aboriginal inhabitants of El Hierro) sitting in a circle at the tagoror (aboriginal version of a court of justice); the geologically active island's fresh lava flows; important aboriginal rock engravings; shepherds and goats and, the most recognizable symbol of the island, the Garoé (Ocotea foetens) tree. (The green bit with cotton wool clouds above.)

The particular tree, growing between sheer walls of a gorge, was held sacred by the bimbaches, as it provided them with water from the clouds, condensed from the branches. The original tree (possibly seen by Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese maritime explorer) was uprooted by a hurricane in 1610, but another laurel began growing in the same location in 1957.

And, I nearly forgot ... As you can see in the foreground, of course, baby Jesus was born to bimbache parents, in a cave, not far from the beach in El Hierro.

About the nativity in Spanish: Otro año de nacimiento aborigen

More tree images: Árbol Garoe, El Hierro. Garoe. Arbol Santo. Legendario Árbol Santo del Garoé, Los Árboles como Fuente de Agua (El Garoé de la Isla de Hierro), What's to do in El Hierro?, El Sitio, Frontera, El Hiero.

See where this picture was taken. [?]

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Part of the marketplace and the buildings in the Belén Navideño at La Villa shopping center, which, fairly unusually for Canarian nativities - that often depict a town or landscape on the islands - actually seems to be of a faintly biblical location. But don't expect it all to be serious, as while we wait for the door on the little outhouse to fly open (see the reason why here), we bring you a short interlude to keep you amused. See the potter and his wheel?

(If you're unfamiliar with British TV of old see, "Consisting mainly of live broadcasts, timings were not always accurate in early 1950's BBC programmes, so interludes would be inserted between programmes to keep the audience amused. Typical interludes included: The Potter's Wheel ...")

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Teide on Tenerife, covered with snow. View from north. Photo: Jens SteckertWhilst I cannot guarantee that it will remain long enough to make a White Christmas, the heavy rains that fell in Tenerife over the last couple of days, at least, left snow on Teide.

You can see the snow on the mountain or around the observatory (clouds, daylight, etc., permitting) via the Canarian Astrophysics Institute's webcam page, or these images.

The Cabildo (Island Corporation) were recommending people not to drive up to the Teide National Park, because of ice and snow on the roadsides. As soon as the weather settles and the front moves off, they'll begin clearing them.

The situation in Tenerife on Tuesday - that also closed schools, caused a few cancellations, delays and detours to some flights - was expected to worsen and, as predicted, did result in the closure of all roads to the park. The good news is that the front bringing this wind, rain and snow will be moving away from the islands entirely Thursday. It already moved to the eastern islands Wed.

The weather forecast for Tenerife for the next 10 days changes to just a bit of party cloudy amongst the mostly sunny, with day time temperatures oscillating around 70°F / 21°C, running right through until Friday, December 28th.

The weather boffins promised us more storms this week after last week's demonstrated that the island was, again, ill prepared for bad weather and that brought more flooding to Santa Cruz and areas around the capital. (And two more days mopping because of leaky roofs here at Secret Tenerife towers!)

Nevertheless, stunning snow scenes, along with pretty poinsettias (both wild ones and the ones planted in the islands' municipal parks and gardens) and pungent pines, combine to make as "Christmassy" an image - the natural one, before it became a commercial holiday - as you're ever likely to find, anywhere on earth.

Around these parts, we have seen very little in the way of Christmas lights this year. We thought that the "Greens Stole Christmas" (sic), but in commercial areas there are plenty and, even if La Laguna is using more than 400,000 Christmas Lights, you can all rest easy that they are low consumption.

It's true that I may be biased about Tenerife having simply everything for your Christmas seasonal enjoyment, but it seems that one or two people might agree with me. For instance, Travelbite say, "The dismal summer of 2007 has created an unprecedented upsurge in the number of Britons planning to spend the festive season abroad this Christmas, with some travel agencies and brokers reporting double the bookings of 2006." The article goes on to describe some of the similarities and differences in Christmas customs in the Canary Islands.

Frankly, we're not surprised at that, or that they also reported a 240% surge in 2-week hols over Christmas with Tenerife among most popular destinations.

Add to this, Santa Cruz will see 64,724 cruise passengers in December ...


So while Christmas holidaymakers are roasting on the beaches ...

Locals, of course, have their Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve, Noche Buena.

The main difference between this Spanish Christmas menu and its Canarian counterpart is that you hardly ever see lamb on these islands. Those who can afford it or eat it, will substitute lamb with a barbecued whole goat kid.

There are numerous other Christmas activities going on all over the island. You may not realize it, but normal people do normal Christmas things here. Those of us who live here actually find it cold at this time of year too. Imagine that! :)

Just the reasonably small town of Icod de los Vinos has an ample selection of more than 50 events and activities for all ages to celebrate the Christmas season. There's a similar list of Christmas events in Garachico and those are just a couple of typical examples of the many that will be repeated in all of the towns on the islands with sports and cultural events - even religious ones too, which is certainly "unusual" related to Christmas these days. :) There's also concerts and cinema for the grown ups and, activities such as bouncy castles, games and Three Kings Parades for the kids ... Or was that the other way around? :)

In Santa Cruz there is a Christmas Market in the old part of the city around the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. It covers 700 square meters and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily until Saturday, December 22nd.

El Gordo is drawn on December 22nd, but not before Canary Islanders have had the chance to spend 91 million euros (an average of 45 euros per person) on this annual, Christmas lottery. And yet it seems to "forget" the islands every year.

On Christmas Day at 10 p.m. in the port of Santa Cruz, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra offers its traditional Christmas Concert. This unmissable annual musical treat is given free and seating provided for around 20,000.


Secrets of the Traditional Canary Island Nativity

Meanwhile, we will be off in search of beléns, or nativity scenes. Most are indeed varied and interesting, though not all contain live chickens, but, according to Jack Montgomery, they do all include a figure of a man "caught short". The mind boggles and we shall be checking this out in more detail, but having read that Catalans Play Find The Crapper With Their Nativity Scenes, we have no reason to doubt it.

The Tenerife History Museum, in the Casa Lercaro in La Laguna have their nativity, this year made in traditional Italian style, but inspired by the countryfolk of Tenerife in the late 18th and first half of the 19th Centuries. It is open from December 4th to January 6th, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The nativity from the Cabildo de Tenerife is, this year, unsurprisingly, dedicated to Teide - named a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in June. That display can be seen also between December 4th and January 6th, daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. (with some exceptions listed here).

The 60m2 Portal de Belén de CajaCanarias, can be visited in the vestibule of the organization's building in Santa Cruz, until January 5th.

The Casa de los Capitanes in La Laguna this year has a nativity display consisting of more than 1,000 pieces that date to the end of the 19th Century, including several figures with movement. This is on view in the Casa de los Capitanes from 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., daily (except December 24 and 31 when they open mornings only and Christmas Day and New Year's Day when they will be closed), until January 8th.

Most towns hold their own nativity building contest and, as well as the nativities on show at public buildings, shopping centers and the like, many open private homes to show off their creations too. In La Laguna, they have published a PDF program of the participating nativity scenes that you can go around and visit.

Blog Nacimientos Canarios is keeping us up to date with these traditional nativity scenes in the Canary Islands, which you can also peruse.


Postal workers strike in time for Christmas

If you were expecting any last minute Christmas mail, then you might do better to wait until it is delivered by The Three Kings at Epiphany (January 6th), as 3,000 postal workers in the Canary Islands are on strike Wednesday, Thursday and Friday over pay and conditions.

But then again, the post office in Tenerife did take on 120 new staff for the Christmas period, to ensure levels of quality and regularity of deliveries.

New Year, New Clothes ...

If it's a knees up you want, then you might want to head to Adeje, where the mayor is reported to be planning to spend €39,000 (£27,000) on the End of Year Party. This report, El alcalde de Adeje se gastará 39.000 euros para organizar la Fiesta de Fin de Año en el pueblo, says it like it's a bad thing, likening it to the bread and circuses, offered by roman emperors.

Three Kings strike back at Santa Claus in Spain

Finally, according to this report, "Santa Claus is under attack by his traditional rivals in Spain, the Three Kings, in an advertising campaign."

It sounds just like rapping (shouldn't that be wrapping at this time of year?) (with the ubiquitously rude lyrics) to me, but who can blame them? At the risk of being mugged by the rest of the world's billions of children, that old Santa bloke, when you really think about it, isn't even part of the original story.

Secret Tenerife. If you haven't booked yet, find cheap flights to Tenerife.

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Little Red Rooster, sitting in the straw on the wall of this building in the belén, or nativity scene in the foyer of the town hall in Icod de los Vinos.

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You knew there could be nothing simple about the forthcoming Elton John concert in Tenerife, given the "will he, won't he?" fiasco that has led up to it, but it was when I was reading this post Golf Costa Adeje lures Elton John (Via: Actual Properties) that it finally dawned on me that this is NOT the same venue previously reported, by the first news item on the event at Sir Elton's own site, which had then listed the Estadio Olimpico Antonio Dominguez.

Nooooooo, an olympic stadium is not enough for a star of this calibre, as this report tells us, "the venue has been changed to Costa Adeje Golf, in a specially prepared amphitheatre on the driving range, with room for 50,000."

A later announcement, posted on December 5th and confirming that tickets are now on sale for the Jan 24th 2008 Elton John concert, now confirms that the venue is at Golf Costa Adeje, Finca Los Olivos, Adeje, Tenerife.

Now we've got that little matter cleared up, the other is a question that is probably on many people's minds and, raised by commenter on this post at award-winning Tenerife travel writer, Joe Cawley's blog asking, "when and where we might purchase a ticket in advance, before the touts gobble them all up, and offer them at four times face value outside the venue."

We at Secret Tenerife cannot speak from experience, since we will not be trying to obtain a ticket, which are €35 standing, €90 standing at the front and €120 seated, so the best I can offer is where to get them, if there are any left, after the touts have been shopping. As well as online via the eltonjohn.com Concerts and Tickets page Losgigantes.com say that "Outlets include the Corte Inglés department store, Halcon Viajes travel agents, Parah Beach Wear shops in the south of Tenerife and the Costa Adeje Golf Course office."

Apparently few can fail to be impressed, but always remember, as Joe Cawley says, "this IS Tenerife and things are liable to change/be cocked up!"

Labels: Elton John Tenerife

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If there's one thing calculated to cause animosity between the two provinces in the Canary Islands, it's Santa Cruz de Tenerife getting more of something than Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Getting it is one thing. Announcing "Now With 30% More", like the active ingredient in a whiter than whitening washing powder is something else, mind you. :)

(I'm waiting for the tremors to be felt right over this side of the island. :)

Nevertheless, the Cabildo (Tenerife Island Corporation) have announced their 2008 budget figures and the report says that the 906 million euros is 30% superior to that of their counterpart in Gran Canaria. This, of course, is justified on the basis that "Tenerife is the motor of the Canary Islands' economy," providing the most income and having the greatest number of jobs.

More than 102 million euros is going to Tenerife bus company, TITSA.

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By the entrance to the Parque Puerta de la Tierra in Garachico with red hibiscus flowering (yes currently), inside the modern fence, behind which you can see traditional white houses and balconies and, a glimpse of the church tower.

See where this picture was taken. [?]

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Many have been dreaming of trains in Tenerife recently, the most ambitious project to date being for a train to link the capital, Santa Cruz, with the south of the island.

It's to have, we're told; 20 tunnels, 33 viaducts, will expropriate 4,121,287 square meters of land, travel at 220 kilometers per hour and cut the journey time from Santa Cruz to Las Ámericas to 45 minutes - all for the bargain price of 1,200 million euros.

And, in my purely superficial view, surely, trains are better and more environmentally friendly than cars. Much quicker too.

Not so apparently as, in another report, we learn that ecologists - Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción - have managed to have the project suspended as a precautionary measure. This "derailment" is at first understandable, as it appears to be because substantial modifications had been introduced into the plan since it was unanimously approved back in April.

Indeed, earlier reports indicated that the big change in the plan was in the route that the train would take - now diverted to cut right through plantations - since electricity pylons - I'm guessing these eyesores - had been installed alongside the motorway, where the train was supposed to have run.

The solution to this, of course (dreaming again), would be for UNELCO to be required to put the cables underground, for the train to go back where it was supposed to go and for everyone to live happily ever after ...

Reading on, however, it appears that the ecologists reject progress entirely, calling the train plan "devastating to the environment and unnecessary".

They suggest studying alternatives, such as a bus lane on the motorway.

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Well, Buenavista del Norte is hardly New York, but the Canary Islands have been called plenty of things; The Fortunate Isles, The Garden of the Hesperides, Atlantis ... and we sure like a bit of myth and mystery here, but this is a new and novel puzzle.

In May of 2006, this press release (the gist of which I translated here) announced that the first stage of remodelling work on the Plaza General Eulate behind the church in Buenavista del Norte had been completed. The photo, above, was taken the first time I saw it, without the barriers that had been obscuring it previously, on August 27th, 2006.

Almost as soon as I'd taken that photo, work started on the pedestrianizing of the streets and the adoquines (cobbles) project and, guess what? The plaza you see here was dug up all over again, as I had commented upon there.

(It's all about "dynamizing" the tourist attractions around these parts.)

It also struck me as really strange that the plaza - right next to the church - might have been named after an excommunicated, openly contemptuous former Governor and Captain-General: the only ranking Eulate I could find mention of. That indeed, would be reason to give the plaza a new name.

... or is there some other mystery being played out here, I wonder?

Because, today, I read another release, announcing that work has just started on the less creatively entitled Parque de La Cruz - also described as being in the town center of Buenavista del Norte at the backside of the church - that has been closed to the public, since the fire that destroyed the church in 1996.

It goes on to describe how this area (of 1,500 square meters) was used to house rubble and building materials, etc., during the 11 years of renovation works.

Hummm .... Well, so was the Plaza General Eulate. Yes, it's the same place!

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