You might think it's a bit early to be preparing even for next year's Carnaval, but we really do have a l list of Tenerife Carnaval dates right through to the middle of the century for you - to the year 2050. Tenerife has a poor reputation where events are seldom publicised sufficiently in advance - hopeless when you need to book flights, hotels or holidays, months ahead - so this guide hopes to partially overcome that problem and should provide just enough notice to satisfy even the most fervently obsessive of forward planners.

(We left last year's and this years on to show you that the theory works.)

The key date for Carnaval Events in Tenerife is Shrove Tuesday, which is when the Gran Coso Apoteosis - Carnaval's Main Parade - takes place in the capital, Santa Cruz. This is the same day as Mardi Gras in New Orleans, so we've borrowed their dates and added them to the Carnival Calendar at PuntoInfo.

Many of the other events follow a regular pattern backward or forward from that date. At least they do, mostly, in Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz. We had hoped to include the Los Cristianos Carnaval dates in this table too, but we discovered that arrangements there are more of a moving target than a moveable feast, so it isn't possible to predict their timetable with the same certainty.

Any Year Tenerife Carnaval Schedule

• The Wednesday BEFORE Shrove Tuesday: Gala for the Election of the Carnaval Queen. This event is a huge evening gala, usually lasting for hours and is probably best seen on TV - if the costumes will fit into your screen!
• The Friday BEFORE Shrove Tuesday: Once it has it's Queen, Santa Cruz Carnaval takes to the streets on the Friday evening, with the Cabalgata Anunciadora (Announcing Parade), followed by the obligatory fireworks.
• Shrove Tuesday: (Carnaval Tuesday): The Coso Apoteosis (Main Parade) along the front at Santa Cruz (the Avenida de Anaga and Marítima), from around 4 p.m. Terminates in a great firework display at around 9.p.m.
• Ash Wednesday: Burial of the Sardine. This takes place in both Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz on the same night, so you have a choice. Either way, it's essential for men to dress up as "Widows" to mourn the poor old defunct sardine and generally have a blasphemous night of it.
• The Saturday AFTER Shrove Tuesday: For those who prefer a more pedestrian view of Carnaval: parades without quite so much revelry, I recommend the Coso Infantil (Junior Parade) in Santa Cruz. The Saturday is also the day of the Main Carnaval Parade in Puerto de la Cruz.
• The Sunday AFTER Shrove Tuesday: Sunday morning the Gran Concurso en la Ciudad de Automóviles Antiguos, which is when some really beautiful classic cars parade around the city.

Those are the main "spectator sport" events that I believe you could be interested in seeing as a casual visitor. In the run up to the Carnaval, there are many other contests and events involving all the various singing and dancing troupes that form part of the Carnaval and, of course, alongside all of this is the fun fair, the food stalls, orchestras, dancing and concerts that go on in the streets until dawn ... and, just when you think it's all over, it all moves on to Los Cristianos, Los Gigantes and many other towns a week or two later.

Getting to Carnaval in Santa Cruz

If you're staying in the south of Tenerife, there's no problem as extra buses are laid on each year, even during the night, which will take Carnaval goers between Playa de las Americas / Los Cristianos and Santa Cruz. Don't take a car, because there will be nowhere to park it. Catch the 111 bus from Las Americas bus station or Los Cristianos and enjoy the journey that's an extension of the party!

Where to stay in Tenerife for Carnaval

Anywhere you might usually stay, such as the resorts on the south of the island.

However, if you're coming to Tenerife for the express reason of going to Carnaval, then you may as well stay right in the thick of things, so you can sleep by day, just falling out of your hotel into the street in the afternoon or evening when there are parades or events you want to go to.

In Santa Cruz, we can recommend, because we've stayed there, the Hotel Pelinor. It may only have 2 stars (don't expect a high level of English), but it's clean and has everything you need for the purpose. If you must go the the beach, Las Teresitas is just up the road.

There are other hotels in Santa Cruz listed here.

What to wear to Carnaval?

You can wear anything you like and nothing is too risque, although people not in costume / fancy dress are the odd ones out. Each year, each carnaval has a theme, but it is not necessary to follow that unless you wish to do so. If you're a man, it's almost obligatory to dress up as a woman - however unconvincingly: excess hair need not be removed - and cross-dressing is essential when attending The Burial of the Sardine.

DISCLAIMER: Of course, all of these details are subject to changes that are way beyond our control. Hopefully, Carnaval will continue in more or less the same manner for the foreseeable future, especially when you consider that it has already overcome prohibitions during dictatorships and survived for more than 200 years and possibly as many as 400, but nothing is guaranteed.

We've taken great care to check dates and take leap years into account when working out the dates of the various parades, but we accept no responsibility for errors (probably due to going cross-eyed.) Use this as a guide and double-check nearer to your dates of travel for best results. Batteries not included.

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Carnaval 2009

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Well, maybe they're not bringing the Madrid museum's bricks and mortar to the island, but there's an itinerant exhibition consisting of "an important selection" of still-lifes (around 60 works from an impressive list of artists, among them Francisco de Goya), on loan from Spain's National Art Gallery (El Prado in Madrid), until May 31st, at the Espacio Cultural de CajaCanarias, Plaza del Patriotismo,  Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

View Larger MapThe exhibition is called El bodegón español en el Prado and you can find more more details (in Spanish) at El Prado's own website. Don't go looking for the opening times though, 'coz I can't find that kind of useful information anywhere (This Is Tenerife, after all.) You can probably assume the usual Spanish business hours, not to early start, with perhaps a siesta and late opening.

Tinerguia to the rescue: opening times are, Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 13:00 and 17:00 to 21:00. Saturdays, 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:00.

Tinerguia also mention "the extraordinary quality of the works." 

And as typically longwinded as the press release is, it also doesn't appear to pick up on the fact that the exhibition was inaugurated yesterday, March 30th, which was Goya's 263rd birthday either.

Photo of the exterior facade of the Prado Museum in Madrid by ReservasdeCoches.com - Car Rental in Madrid.

Curious point for students of Spanish: still lifes are called naturalezas muertas (literally, dead natures), which is a bit of a glass half-empty view, isn't it? Think I prefer the English version this time, of capturing a living moment.

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Well, we can hope. The MEP for Los Verdes (The Greens) David Hammerstein is convinced that the controversial industrial port  planned to be built in Granadilla, is "fatally wounded" because "they [the EU / Europe] are discovering that the arguments and reports provided by the Spanish and Canarian authorities to justify the project are, at the very least, questionable. "

More (in Spanish) in this article in La Opinión de Tenerife. Interestingly, the photo of the sign board announcing the works on the port (currently suspended by the courts) is shown because it states that the project is co-financed by the EU. This, say The Greens, is clear evidence of the lies surrounding the project, because not one euro has been granted from Europe for this infrastructure.

Via: Canarias dice NO AL PUERTO DE GRANADILLA Facebook group

Labels: Puerto de Granadilla

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A question that people often ask, is how far is Tenerife from the UK. The distance between London, England and the capital of the island of Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is approximately 1,800 miles or 2,897 kilometres, "as the crow flies".

Click here to book flights to Tenerife via Flightline

But we haven't seen many crows on holiday, so here are the distances between the main UK & Irish airports offering direct flights to Tenerife:

Flights from England to Tenerife

Birmingham (BHX) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1849 miles (2976 kilometres)
Blackpool (BLK) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1904 miles (3064 kilometres)
Bournemouth (BOH) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1748 miles (2813 kilometres)
Bristol (BRS) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1764 miles (2839 kilometres)
Doncaster Sheffield (DSA) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1926 miles (3100 kilometres)
Durham Tees (MME) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1979 miles (3184 kilometres)
East Midlands (EMA) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1881 miles (3027 kilometres)
Leeds Bradford (LBA) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1936 miles (3116 kilometres)
Liverpool (LPL) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1880 miles (3026 kilometres)
London Luton (LTN) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1846 miles (2971 kilometres)
London Gatwick (LGW) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1809 miles (2911 kilometres)
London Gatwick (LGW) - Tenerife North (TFN) - 1775 miles (2857 kilometres)
London Stansted (STN) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1861 miles (2995 kilometres)
Manchester (MAN) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1893 miles (3046 kilometres)
Newcastle (NCL) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 2007 miles (3230 kilometres)

Source: Great Circle Mapper and Metric Conversions Via: Yahoo Answers.

Flights from Scotland to Tenerife

The distance to Tenerife from Scottish airports will be a wee bit further:

Aberdeen (ABZ) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 2132 miles (3431 kilometres)
Edinburgh (EDI) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 2034 miles (3273 kilometres)
Glasgow (GLA) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 2013 miles (3240 kilometres)
Prestwick (PIK) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1988 miles (3199 kilometres)

Flights from Wales to Tenerife

Cardiff (CWL) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1752 miles (2820 kilometres)

Flights from Northern Ireland to Tenerife

Belfast (BFS) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1909 miles (3072 kilometres)

Flights from Eire to Tenerife

Cork (ORK) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1695 miles (2727 kilometres)
Dublin (DUB) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1828 miles (2941 kilometres)
Shannon (SNN) - Tenerife South (TFS) - 1746 miles (2810 kilometres)

We were quite amused by World Airport Codes who not only quote the distance between London Gatwick (LGW) and Tenerife South (TFS), but also estimate how long it would take in various types of aircraft. (The flight to Tenerife from any UK location is around 4 hours, a bit more from the north and Scotland.)

It's a pity the Boeing 747 or Airbus A340 are not operated on the route, because the estimate is that they'd cut the time down to 3 hours and 12 minutes.

Be glad your holiday flight isn't in a Cessna SkyHawk, however, as they estimate the journey time from Gatwick to Tenerife in one of those as 12 hours and 46 minutes. Does that include fuel stops at every post, I wonder?

But, the pace of life in Tenerife is leisurely, so why rush to get there?

If you follow the walking directions - well they don't do flying routes - provided by Google (see map). (Do, please, heed the warning that walking directions are in beta and may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths; especially the bits over water, we reckon, although they do let you "cheat" and use the Portsmouth - Bilbao and the Cadiz - Santa Cruz ferries.) Going that route, your mileage increases to 2208 (3553 km) and it'll only take you about 12 days 2 hours!

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Four teams will compete between April 18 and October 31 for the championship of the island of Tenerife in the 2009 Canarian Baseball League.

The teams are the Caribeños (Caribbeans), Halcones (Hawks), Marlins (Marlins) and Tiburones (Sharks) and games will take place at the Centro Insular de Béisbol El Burgado (The Island Baseball Center at   El Burgado, Puerto de la Cruz).

Tournament games will be played on the Saturdays when home team, the Marlins don't  have home games in the Division of Honor.

Fixtures April - July are listed here and August to October games here.

Via: Federación Canaria de Béisbol y Sófbol

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A total of 425 model planes, from 119 countries, "landed" at the Pueblo Chico theme park in La Orotava (see map), Tenerife on Friday and will remain on display until April 12th. The commercial and military aircraft, in various scales, form just part of a private collection, put together over a period of 30 years by Miguel Ángel Artiles Viera, with everything from a model of the largest aircraft in the world, the Airbus 380, to a model of the first aircraft from 1903.

Artiles recalled that in his early collection, way back in the 60s, the models had "comprised of thousands of pieces with the instructions in English." And you thought you had problems constructing Airfix kits!

While the exhibition is on, visitors can enter a draw to win model planes or tickets for real flights with Binter Canarias and Islas Airways.

Photo of the model airport at Pueblo Chico: Tenerife-Photo

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Facade of the Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA), that will be in darkness for half and hour later tonight. Photo: by Mataparda. After the apagón (huge powercut) that left almost the entire island without electricity for several hours already on Thursday, March 26th, it's hard to imagine that Earth Hour will have  many supporters willing to voluntarily switch off their luz (light / power) again on the island tonight. Or maybe Unelco's failures give even more reason for joining in.

As an aside, earliest reports suggested that Thursday's blackout had been caused by lightening striking a substation - may turn out to be their main power station at Las Caletillas (Candelaria). And whilst lightening is still given as a likely cause, in more recent reports, CEO of Unelco Endesa, Pablo Casado, says it will take them several weeks to to discover the cause of the incident.

Call me an old cynic if you like (and certainly, I'm not a member of the Unelco Fan Club), but from that, I have to wonder if they mean it will take them several weeks to come up with a [vaguely plausible] excuse to save admitting that they've failed, yet again, to make the necessary investments in installations or carry out maintenance, in order to provide a service of the quality that should reasonably be expected in this century and for the price.

Unelco were already sanctioned over their rusty old pylons that couldn't stand up the ravishes of stormy weather during Tropical Storm Delta in 2005.

There are those who criticize Earth Hour saying it's a meaningless gesture, others say Earth Hour Causes Global Warming, because if you use one candle for each extinguished light bulb, you’re essentially not cutting CO2 at all, or worse.

Nevertheless, Tenerife is joining in. Though hopefully not all as half-heartedly as the Cabildo (Tenerife Island Corporation), who it's reported here, will be switching off the lights on the Palacio Insular and the exterior facades of the Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA), the Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos and the Auditorio de Tenerife  for 30 minutes (between 8.30 p.m. and 9 p.m.) Earth Hour (small clue) an hour = 60 minutes!

Even if it is just a gesture it counts: it's an hour, which is not that long. Effectively saying we don't treat it seriously enough to go the whole way, or we can get away with only 50% commitment, set's what kind of example to people? Join in or don't, but doing it half-cocked, seems to me to only be taking the piss. 

NB: Theoretically the switch-off will be going on at the same time in Tenerife as in the UK (from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.) and, equally, the clocks in Tenerife will also "spring" forward an hour tonight, doing islanders out of an hour of sleep.

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Headlines such as "Los Rodeos closed by fog" should become a thing of the past in June this year, when the Tenerife North Airport gets a new and upgraded (from the current category I to a level II/III) Instrument Landing System (ILS) that will allow planes to make full instrument landings on autopilot.

The new system will require, amongst other things, special lighting on the runway and was to have been operative in the first quarter of the year, but this date has been delayed. Spanish airports authority, (AENA) have now announced the date of June 12th for the new system to come into operation.

There are very few Spanish airports (mostly those in the north of the country) that have the type of ILS system that Los Rodeos is to have and the principle reason is to reduce the number of disruptions to flights that have to be delayed, cancelled or diverted to other airports, when there is low visibility.

Los Rodeos already has ground radar installed to prevent occurrences like the 1977 runway incursion that took place, in fog, 32 years ago today.

Labels: Tenerife Disaster

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From research carried out by The Association for British Travel Agents (ABTA) and Thomas Cook, The Telegraph this week has compiled a list (via Anorak and Boing Boing) of 20 ridiculous complaints made by holidaymakers (obviously, this is a companion guide to their 20 stupid questions asked by tourists.)

Stories like this make me want to crawl into a hole or apologise profusely for being British, but it helps one to understand why people have some pretty weird perceptions about Tenerife, when you discover that this is the way some folk's brains work (well, using the terms "brain" and "work" loosely.)

So, for those who still harbour misconceptions, here are answers to just some of people's stupid questions, as they apply to Tenerife:

Lots of the sand in Tenerife is black. It's not yellow (except the imported bits) and it's not white. It's black and this doesn't mean it's dirty. It may still be too sandy for some people, but the colour is a bonus, designed so you can clearly see the grains in your egg sandwiches (paraphrasing TV presenter Juliet Morris on a visit to Puerto de la Cruz.)

You'll generally have to leave the resort to see too many (Canarian) Spanish people in Tenerife!

It only takes about 4 hours to fly back to the UK (depending which airport) from Tenerife, about the same amount of time as it took to get there. And, if it makes you feel better, it will take the Americans much longer, because it's their turn to cross the pond. (Air Europa will be flying direct from Tenerife south to Miami USA in the spring, using the Airbus 330 with a flying time of eight and a half hours, it is thought.)

You'll need swimming trunks (or cozzies) and towels at water parks, because the water in Tenerife is still wet. (We only pretend that the rain isn't.)

Ray Ban sunglasses bought from street vendors in Tenerife are still fake.

Shopkeepers are often still lazy (!) and take siestas in towns and cities like La Laguna and Santa Cruz, but have no fear they're far too keen to take your money in the big shopping malls or the resorts to slack off at these times.

Putting a 3,718 meter / 12,200 foot volcano in Los Rodeos flight path was not the cause of the 1977 disaster.

There's no lake at La Laguna (it means lagoon, or lake), nowadays, but you can find man-made lakes at Erjos where you can go bird watching.

But the Teide National Park was not man-made! And all of the caves and galleries are underground.

Get used to seeing topless, bottomless and totally naked sunbathers. WARNING: Link not safe for Maiden Aunts: As well as naked male hikers.

Unlike Wales, Tenerife is not closed in winter, because it's Eternally Spring all year round. 

Serious issue: The mosquitos still bite in Tenerife and, while it's not considered a risk area for humans (for neither malaria nor West Nile virus), for those of you who live on the island and have pets, it IS inside a risk area for heartworm.

Don't worry, there won't be fish in the sea for long, if the authorities get their way and contaminate it with their industrial port in Granadilla.

They don't turn the mist off in the island's Laurisilva cloud forests, ever.

They do sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts in Tenerife, as well as Bourbons, many other brands you'll recognize and whole racks of Scottish shortbread, for some unknown reason. Try the local home made biscuits too though.

There's a LOT of hills and some dodgy pavement surfaces in Tenerife, so you might not want to wear high heels, unless you're a bloke at Carnaval, of course, when doing so is pretty obligatory.

Queuing is a whole lot different, more relaxed and casual, in Tenerife, but if it's being done outside, you'll still find that there's no air conditioning!

To get from one Canary Island to another, you should catch the same type of bus as you might to get from the Orkney Islands to the Shetland Islands!

If you don't like spicy food at all, you're in luck in Tenerife, because the locals seem to be scared stiff of it too. Just steer clear of the red mojo sauce - which is the one exception - and you'll be fine.

People (women, mostly) get pregnant in Tenerife in much the same way as they do anywhere else in the world and still just as unexpectedly, but if you stick around on the island to have the baby, you'll find that the level of care far exceeds what one would expect in the UK.

Sorry, we don't have any information about Samantha Fox' boobs either, but apparently we do have some data concerning Jennifer Lopez' bum.

A Playa is not where the Gangstas live in Tenerife. Actually, scratch that!

And, finally if you're a man of a sensitive nature, coming to Tenerife for your honeymoon, you'll be relieved to know that the elephants pictured above are the only ones we know of in Tenerife (the topiary trio can be found at the Loro Parque) and, hopefully, that's as aroused as they'll ever get.

(Photo of Tenerife's elephants by Gerald England of Hyde Daily Photo.)

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You simply can't mention Tenerife, nor its neighbouring Island of La Palma, without mentioning astronomy.

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) (Canarian Astrophysics Institute) has the Observatorio del Teide  on Tenerife and the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma, with the exceptional quality of the sky for observation over the Canaries protected by Law 31/1988; which is known as the "Sky Law".

The IAC has been participating in the Año Internacional de la Astronomía (International Year of Astronomy) through various initiatives, plus:

Friday, March 20th, at 19.30 in the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (Museum of Science and the Cosmos, C/ Vía Láctea (Milky Way Street, seriously :), San Cristobal De La Laguna | map), Dr. Antonio Marín of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias asks the question, "Are globular clusters the fossils of the galaxies?"

Well, fairly obviously, he'll be asking and discussing the question, "Globos en el Universo.¿Son los cúmulos globulares los "fósiles" de las galaxias?", in Spanish, but those of you who do or are sufficiently fascinated with the stars ... 

The Biblioteca Pública del Estado (Public Library), Calle Comodoro Rolín (info | map) in Santa Cruz also wanted to join in on the celebrations and are housing an exhibition (from February 16th, through to April 30th), provided by the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, entitled METErrORITOS (meteorites), which states that these "are not as dangerous as they paint, but they can destroy the Earth." Take heed! :) Should be easy to find in the library's entrance hall.

Activities also include a 7-hour Maratón Messier (Messier Marathon: a term describing the attempt to find as many Messier objects as possible in one night), on Saturday, March 21st, from 7 p.m., with the Grupo de Observadores Astronómicos de Tenerife (Tenerife Astronomical Observers Group) -  affectionately known by the acronym of GOAT - and a similar group from La Gomera, competing with La Palma in this "sporting" event. :)

Aimed at schools, on Friday, March 27th, from 8.30 for around 1 1/2 hours, the Teide Observatory will be transmitting observations from the IAC80 telescope (The Canary's Eyes) over the internet in a project called TeleAstronomía. The webcams are situated in the control room as well as in the dome of the telescope.

If none of that applies or appeals to you, you could just download one of these astronomical Fondos de Escritorio (wallpapers), including the one pictured left of the circumpolar stars, taken by Daniel López (who works as an observer of space rubbish: it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it), from the Observatorio del Teide. See more of Daniel's spectacular Cielos del Teide (Teide Skies), astrophotography and nocturnal landscapes.

The Año Internacional de la Astronomía (International Year of Astronomy | International Year of Astronomy in the UK) coincides with the 400th Anniversary of when Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky , in 1609.

And long may he be celebrated for daring to push a "radical" theory that the Sun- not the earth - is at the centre of the Universe.

My hope is that Sheila (yes this is an invitation :-) will come along and tell us something interesting and useful about these events to fill in the gaping void (i.e. I know nothing whatsoever) in my knowledge of astronomy. :) 

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Can go dressed just like daddy! 

And, unlike in other locations in the over-sensitive, PC world, nothing sinister is read into such fun. 

Photo from Aalborg Carnival, who have a whole set of images from Santa Cruz: Carnaval & children - Carnaval Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Set), as well as sets from the “Coso” Apoteosis del Carnaval - Tenerife 2009, the Reina del Carnaval 2009 - Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Carnival floats 2009.

More carnaval photos; Carnaval 2009 - Coso Apoteosis, Carnavales, Carnaval on Tenerife 2009.

Labels: Carnaval 2009

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Mayor of Granadilla calls upon the other politicians to listen to what citizens are asking.

First reports indicate that up to 50,000 people according to the organizers and more than 15,000 according local police joined today's demonstration to say a resounding NO the building of the industrial port in Granadilla.

Among the demonstrators was mayor of Granadilla, Carmen Nieves Gaspar (Canarian Coalition), who said the concept of the port was so contested and she felt politicians should take note to act accordingly and stop the port.

Gaspar told Europa Press, "This demonstration is a further demonstration that the people of Tenerife has taken to the streets to reject an infrastructure like the Port of Granadilla, which is harmful, unnecessary and, moreover, violates the environment and [is] against the interests of the whole island. "

Also, the mayor alluded to the tourist area of El Médano, which in her words would be "seriously injured" by the construction of the Port.

Leading the march was Professor Emeritus from the University of La Laguna, Wolfredo Wildpret, who has spent more than 10 years preparing reports which warned of the serious environmental consequences of building the port.

Wildpret also underlined that 53 species will be affected by this infrastructure and warned that what will be lost is part of Canarian biodiversity.

Another of those attending was former president of the Tenerife Port Authority, Anatael Meneses, who said "Today is an important day for Tenerife, the Canary Islands and Spain because the port has become an icon to which people have said ' no', because it's completely unnecessary and violates many laws. "

Photo: José Mesa who has more images from the demo here.

Labels: Puerto de Granadilla

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Carnaval is taking place in Los Cristianos this weekend. Their main parade is from 5 p.m., Sunday, March 15th, from Aptos. Paloma Beach, via the Avenida Juan Carlos I, ending at the Fair's Enclosure (by the Valdés Center.) Afterwards, there's the Carnival Dance with Orchestra Wamampy in the Fair's Enclosure.

Meanwhile, San Miguel de Abona have their carnaval today, Saturday, March 14th, with a carnaval procession starting at 5 p.m.

And Granadilla de Abona also have their carnaval parade this afternoon, Saturday, March 14th, starting at 5.30 p.m.

Later, at 7 p.m. in Los Cristianos, there's the Pasacalles del Carnaval (Passacaglia derives from the Spanish pasear (to walk) and calle (street): the streetwalking (in the non-prostitute sense), in question being a less formal procession.

From 11 p.m., Los Cristianos hosts a Carnaval Ball with the orchestra, Sensación Gomera in the Fair's Enclosure (in front of the Valdés Center.)

On Monday, Monday, March 16th, 2009. 20:00 hours. Burial of the Sardine parade, leaving from Los Cristianos Cultural Center, to the Los Cristianos beach.

Via: Tinerguia. Photo: raymondo182

Labels: Carnaval 2009

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Right up there with watching paint dry on the excitement scale, you too can now watch a 1 minute 23 second video of the Mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga's, office in Tenerife. A clear case of have video camera, will use it.

Doesn't mean he should, mind you!

Still, if you've never actually seen inside a mayor's office before, but you've seen paint dry and you've watched grass grow and you've nothing else left to do. Just remember you can't get those 1 minute 23 seconds of your life back.

Via: ElDigitaldeCanarias, who criticise the mayor for slapping the video of his luxurious appointments on his website, in the middle of a financial crisis.

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If you want to do something really worthwhile in Tenerife this weekend, may I recommend that you join the demonstration FOR protected species - FOR compliance with the law - and NO to the Granadilla Port.

Saturday, March 14th, 12:00 mid-day, from the Plaza Militar to the Presidencia del Gobierno, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife  (see map).

Joni Mitchell got the idea for the song, "Big Yellow Taxi", during a visit to Hawaii. She looked out of her hotel window at the spectacular Pacific mountain scenery, and then down to a parking lot, apparently.

And I can't help thinking that there are numerous similarities to be drawn between Hawaii in the Pacific - where you'll find the world's #1 and #2 volcanos and Tenerife, in the Atlantic, where you'll find volcano #3, Mount Teide.

Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" was released way back in 1970 (that should make a few of you feel pretty old), so the problem isn't new, nor is it exclusive to volcanic islands that attract tourists either, but by now, you'd think we'd know better than to destroy the very nature and beauty that attracted those visitors in the first place and, there seems no worse example (to me) than the project for, not a parking lot this time, but the Granadilla industrial port.

The story so far, for those not familiar with the controversy that has been going on for years, is that the authorities in Tenerife want to built it and nobody else wants it; not scientists, not ecologists, not residents and, if only they knew about it, I'm absolutely certain that tourists too would be none to happy about the idea of such a facility only a few miles from tourist beaches either ...

"Bring the family, see the passing container ships, free oil slick." NOT!

Tenerife already has a port in Santa Cruz and there are some very serious questions over whether there would be any need for another one.

In a post aptly entitled, Tenerife vacaciones en el paraíso, el paraíso de la corrupción (Tenerife holidays in paradise, the paradise of corruption), Canarias Insurgente point to a new blog, in German, Teneriffa, Apocalypse Now!, timed, given that the German press is silent on the Granadilla issue and that the most important tourism fair in the world, Internationale Tourismusbörse (ITB) is currently talking place in Berlin (11 Mar 09 - 15 Mar 09).

Island Connections call the port the Worst job creation project, calculating the cost per employee of the controversial port to 622,000 eu­ros per job.

We've looked at the coast that will be destroyed before, when the Canarian Government's Minister of the Environment, Domingo Berriel, (conveniently) signed an order to declassify as an endangered species, the Cymodocea nodosa. Perhaps it does not seem important but this sea grass is "the equivalent of laurel forest in the marine environment of the Canary Sebadales, the problem is that it is not visible and therefore its value is not so easily seen."

"The most interesting part of this protected species is the plant itself, but the whole ecosystem is as important, in the same way that there are more than just the trees in a forest." [Source] And I don't think you need to understand the science to "get" that it wasn't listed as a protected species for no reason at all, but that there has to be something fishy about removing such classification.

... and as the lyrics say: "That you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot,
With a pink hotel, a boutique,
And a swinging hot spot.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Work on the port is currently suspended: work had been allowed to start (last Friday 13th) after the highly contentious declassification of the sea grass, Cymodocea nodosa - described at the time by Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción (Ecologists in Action in Tenerife), as "one of the most evident presumed illegalities in the recent history of the environment in the Canaries."

Saturday's demo is all the more vital to ensure work remains stopped, forever.

No al puerto de Granadilla. Carnaval 2009. Pictured are José Mesa's incredibly artistic - and ecological - cardboard Caballitos de mar (Seahorses); costumes made for the carnaval to also make a statement against the port, which  seemed like a wonderfully peaceful way of making the point and it's also interesting to see just how many people were happily taking and wearing stickers about the demonstration. Join them on Saturday and take a stand.

   Manifestación contra el Puerto de Granadilla on Facebook

Labels: Puerto de Granadilla

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A reader wrote recently:

"I read with interest an article in Island Connections newspaper about Unelco estimating very low bills in December and then over-charging the 'real' reading in January to gain millions of euros at the new rate for units used in December.  I have spoken to some friends and we have ALL been victims - I wonder if you have an insight into this matter.  Apparently the Governments on the mainland are investigating the electricity companies.  Is Tenerife going to follow suit?"

It seems that the Canarian Government - or it's Energy Directorate - has done the right thing (there's always a first time for everything), having sent "electricity suppliers in the archipelago" (er, Unelco is the monopoly), a resolution ordering them to re-bill consumers for electricity consumed in 2008 that they had invoiced in 2009 at the new (thus wrong, higher) tariffs. The Department of Energy's decision was in response to many complaints they had received after monthly billing was introduced on November 1st, 2008.

Theirs was certainly not the only complaint about the new billing system and the biggest shock to that change, write LosGigantes.com was an unexpected bill between Xmas and New Year. As timing goes, they couldn't have made it more painful for the already crisis affected consumer, could they? Are they sadists?

Earlier reports indicated that island councils were demanding explanations over the increases in tariffs and that the Canarian Government were negotiating  the return of the amounts taken in payment of electricity bills.

The news item on the resolution, dated yesterday, says, "Furthermore, the Directorate General of Energy states that the results of this [new] calculation should be incorporated in the first bill to be issued from April 1 2009, which will consist of an easily understandable to the user, the concepts of that bill, as well as an explicit reference to compliance with this resolution."

Yes, we're wondering about the "easily understandable to the user" concept.

(Don't read anything into the April 1st timing though, as December 28th is the day for such foolishness in Spain. And there was no point me holding the news until tomorrow, Friday 13th either, because Spain does Tuesday 13th.)

Anyway, the Canary Islands Government decided to take the initiative to respond to all users, without the need for individual claims, so it's probably reasonable to assume this will be adjusted automatically, however if you don't see your adjustment or have a similar issue (with Unelco, or any other supplier or service), your best bet is to go to your local town hall's consumer office, Oficina Municipal o Insular de Información al Consumidor (OMIC/OIIC).

Photo: by otrasislas. The sign reads, "Unelco, la próxima vez... descuéntamelo de la factura" (Unelco, next time ... discount it from my invoice). This was referring to their failings during the Tropical Storm Delta in 2005.

And my spell checker still wants to change Unelco to Unwelcome.

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Together with travelguru.tv and Prestige Holidays, Holiday Extras is giving away a luxury four-night holiday for two at the 5-star Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque Resort, located on the Costa Adeje on the west coast of Tenerife.

Entrance to the prize draw is open from March 2-April 30, 2009.

More details and enter their free prize draw to win here.

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With Carnaval, in Santa Cruz at least, having ended (sniff) yesterday for 2009 (no doubt sequins will be being sewn on costumes and dances rehearsed shortly for 2010), we bring you a roundup from this year's events, mostly illustrated ...

Many many more photos here of Carnaval Queen, Ana María Tavarez Mata.

Carnaval kicked off with the Cabalgata Anunciadora (photos) on the evening of Friday, February 20th. Around 5,000 people participated and more than 70,000 packed the streets of Santa Cruz to see the multicolor display.

On Shrove Tuesday, February 24th, 5,000 people took part in the main parade of Carnaval in Santa Cruz, with an estimated 120,000 spectators lining the streets to see the parade that started shortly after 4 p.m. Here's a collection of magnificent photos of the Coso Apoteosis (Main Parade) 2009. Near the end of the parade are the Carnival Floats 2009, every one of them a work of art.

This 11 minute video of highlights from the main parade - Rudy y Ruymán who present it: two Tenerife lads who are "famous" for, er, I dunno, something to do with TV contests, seem REALLY keen on pointing the camera at themselves, but because of that, not despite it, they take you right into the parade at street level and that makes you feel like you're part of it rather than just watching.

On Wednesday, February 25th, Santa Cruz celebrated the traditional funeral for it's sardine, attended by thousands of "widows, nuns and curates". The paper-mâché and cardboard figure of the fish, a work carried out by Luis Eduardo Fierro, measured 5.5 meters long and 3 meters high. The note says that the town hall wanted to underline the fact that no plastic was used in the construction, to reduce the damage that burning it would cause to the ozone layer.

200,000 people (getting close to the quarter of a million at Tenerife Carnaval's Guinness World Record feat in 1987) turned up for the daytime carnaval concerts on Saturday, February 28th to see Craig David, amongst others.

More video: The Canarian Desynchronised Swimming Team! :)

Reports from the Carnaval Hospital ...

Say this year, at least 598 people (goodness knows why they didn't say "about 600") were attended at the Carnaval Hospital (the field hospital put up each year), which, when you consider that there were; 70,000 people attending the opening parade on Friday, February 20th; around 40,000 for the Dance Carnaval night on Monday, February 23rd; at least 120,000 for the main parade on Shrove Tuesday and as many as 200,000 on Saturday, 600 is a very small number.

And, no surprises here, the principal causes for "hospital admission" (more like needing first aid) were alcohol and drug intoxications in 293 of the cases.

During the daytime Carnaval de Día, only 20 people needed medical assistance, only one of those owing to alcohol. The number of people needing attention on the last night of carnaval, however, doubled this year from 66 in 2008 at 132 in 2009. Of those; 62 adults and 9 minors were drunk or high; 19 people fell over, 13 had common ailments and only 20 had anything to do with aggression. On any ordinary Saturday night in any British town, there would be many more!

It's tempting to be cynical and assume they're just not reporting the whole truth, but remember I've been amongst these celebrations enough times to know - and I've gone alone, a woman, at night and not felt under any threat.

As Islandmomma says, of the Santa Cruz Carnaval, "It is remarkable for its good nature and lack of crime. Of course, there is crime, but nothing like the level you might expect of that you hear of in other places." We hear that!

Operatives from the town hall collected 218 tons of rubbish in the first few days of the Carnaval - Santa Cruz would never cope with fortnightly collections!

Carnaval celebrations elsewhere in Tenerife ...

This street theatre event was apparently started in 1992 to attract the crowds back to the Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) and draws upon traditions related to witchcraft and the belief that witches can transform themselves into donkeys to be able to carry out their spells. Of course.

As in all good witchcraft stories, the witches are eventually condemned to the bonfire - this time along with the unfortunate sardine - on the orders of the Bishop, who arrived with the Inquisition.

As Tenerife Matters say, "Sounds like a typical Friday night in Güímar then."

In Puerto de la Cruz, Going Native at Tenerife Carnaval means:

"When a giant sardine with long blond hair and fluttering false eyelashes starts bearing down on you it means one of two things - it's time to give up the alcohol, or it's the surreal Burial of the Sardine which is a major part of Carnaval across Tenerife."

Image titles: 1. Reina del Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2009, 2. Not available, 3. CABALGATA CARNAVAL SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 2009, 4. Not available, 5. Not available, 6. Not available, 7. DSC_0376, 8. DSC_0390_01, 9. DSC_0397_01, 10. Not available, 11. Not available, 12. Entre guiris, nativos y demás..., 13. Not available, 14. Fuegos Carnaval de Día Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2009, 15. _N014913, 16. Clásicos en el parque.

Labels: Carnaval 2009

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What better way could there be to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day - coming up on Sunday, March 8th to bring political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide - than with a Ladies Night?

With male strippers.

Now either you're going to think this has all the sensitivity and political correctness of, say, serving pork sausages on a Bar Mitzvah buffet, or you'll think it's poetic justice that the boys flaunt their "exploited" bodies for a change.

If you're of the latter persuasion, then get down to the El Faro Chill Art Bar, C.C. Costa Torviscas. Loc. 79. Torviscas Bajo, 38660 Adeje, on Saturday, March 7th, at 11 p.m. FREE entry. Via: Gabriel at Blog-Tenerife.

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