The sand takes me by surprise. It seems a strange thing to say, but my first reaction on stepping onto Playa del Duque, one of the most upmarket beaches on Tenerife, is one of confused surprise. The pale golden sand doesn’t feel like…well sand.

This is a new one on me. Tenerife’s black volcanic sands can burn like a branding iron and some man-made beaches such as Playa de las Teresitas feel like being at the centre of a Saharan sand storm at the first suggestion of a breeze, but they are usually soft on the soles. With every step, Del Duque’s harsh pale grains nip at my feet with the ferocity of miniscule terriers.

After being mugged by the sand, the next objective is to find a spot to lay out my beach mat. In front of me is a wall of straw umbrellas and beyond that, hugging the shoreline, is another wall of rainbow coloured parasols. It’s a sizzling hot Saturday morning in August and Spanish mainlanders are on the beach en masse occupying their favourite playa position right beside the water’s edge. They seem to instinctively know the surf’s limitations, their towels inches from where the waves teasingly lap the sand.

As a sufferer of beach claustrophobia, I stretch out on the empty expanse just behind the sunloungers and soak up the surroundings.

Lying at the western end of Costa Adeje, Playa del Duque is separated from the rest of the resort by a large rock formation jutting far out into the sea which acts as a natural curtain lending the beach an air of detached exclusivity. The Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque dominates the backdrop to the beach. Its palatial main buildings and mock Canarian beach-side architecture makes the area feel like one giant film set. Del Duque’s  St Tropez style beach huts and a white restaurant on stilts, straight out of the Caribbean add to the Hollywood feel of the place. With its movie star looks, golden sand and powder blue seas, it’s a beautiful looking beach for sure.

The feeling of being on a film set is enhanced by the fascinating beach opera being performed all around me – a beach opera starring Del Duque’s colourful hawkers. The score is provided by fruit vendors carrying baskets filled with melons, pineapples and coconuts who sing ‘Tooty fruiteee, veetameen, cocos-nuts’ as they parade between the bronzed audience.

The dancing comes courtesy of a couple of svelte, sarong sellers demonstrating their wares by weaving amongst the sun beds, swirling and twirling bright sarongs with the grace and sensuality of harem dancers. Finally, preparing the extras for the shoot, are the South East Asian masseurs; gently kneading sunbathers’ muscles that are, let’s face already pretty damned relaxed.

Then the villains of the piece appear in the form of a police car at the back of the beach; the singers fall quiet and the dancers, with practiced perfection, drop their sarongs to reveal bikinis. As the sarongs fall to the ground covering the rest of their stock the two girls follow suit, lying atop the bright cloths like any other sunbather…and Act 1 of ‘Scene at Playa del Duque’ comes to a close.

After broiling nicely for an hour and a half in 30C+ temperatures, my flesh feels cooked enough to slide easily onto a kebab skewer. Common sense dictates a change of scene. I make my way across the harsh sand to the cool shade and even cooler décor of the stylish beachfront bars at the rear of the playa, order a frosty beer and settle back to see what Act 2 brings.

One of the tastiest and most colourful of fiestas on Tenerife took place on the last Sunday in August in Tejina above the north coast. The celebrations surrounding the Hearts of Tejina (Corazones de Tejina) has been opened in the past by celebrities such as Julio Iglesias, but it still remains a secret to many British visitors to Tenerife.

Tenerife Magazine was there capture this little northern Tenerife town’s hearts

They might not be big enough to carry the hearts yet, but the children in Tejina are involved in the fiesta from a very early age.

Groups of traditional musicians (parrandas) accompany each of the hearts.

Shortly after midday the hearts receive a blessing in front of the church.

Then it’s a race to see which of the three streets involved can get their heart erected first.

The winners go on a tour of the other hearts, mocking them mercilessly for not being as quick…and not being as good.

In truth all hearts are fabulous creations; constructed with fruit so perfect that it looks like wax and elaborate pastries depicting traditional and mythical scenes.

Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife

Come on Baby, Don’t Light My Fire
The irony regarding the spate of heatwaves that have characterised what seems to be nearly every week this summer on Tenerife is that the unusually hot weather that visitors are lapping up is turning Tenerife into a tinderbox.
Hats off to the fire fighters and forestry workers who have battled fires throughout the week to prevent a replay of the devastating fires of 2007. Two of the worst occurred yesterday (Sunday 29th August) near Tacoronte and El Sauzal where some residents were advised to evacuate their homes as a precaution. The fires were brought under control at about 7pm after damaging 10 hectares of land in El Sauzal and 1500 square metres in Tacoronte.
Neither area receives many British visitors, but that probably won’t stop certain British tabloids if they get wind of the story from reporting that tourists had to flee Tenerife’s beaches to escape the fires .

Green Tenerife
All those people who think that Tenerife is just a hot, dry rock might be surprised to discover that up to 40% of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife region is carpeted by forests according to a study conducted by MARM (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino).
The areas which have the most forest coverage in Spain include Barcelona and Girona with between 51 to 63% forest cover. The most arid spots with less than 16% are Almeria and Valladolid.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife falls in the middle…above neighbours Las Palmas de Gran Canaria which only has between 18 and 30% of its countryside covered by forests – that should give them something to pine about.

Good News and Bad for Los Gigantes Beach
The good news is that Juan Damián Gorrín, mayor of Santiago del Teide, announced last week that from October work should begin to make Los Guíos beach safe again for sunbathers. The bad news it will be at least five months before the first sunbathers will be able to lay out their towels. The worse news is that there isn’t enough money to make the whole beach safe from rock falls, so only half of the beach will be opened to the public after work has been completed. In this case life might well be a bitch, but for Los Gigantes, it isn’t a beach.

Something to Fume About
Members of El Club de Fumadores (Smokers’ Club) were out and about in Santa Cruz collecting signatures against proposed new smoking laws in Spain. A spokesperson for the organisation said that a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants would force smokers into the streets, which would subsequently create a lot more noise and disturb residents. Wait a minute? This is Tenerife with its year round temperate climate where most life takes place…on the streets. It wasn’t really a strong argument for a pavement café society. Members of the club handed out ear plugs to passers by, presumably to protect them from smokers bitchin’ noisily about having to sit outside. Much better if they purchased some very dark sunglasses – then as well as not being able to hear, they could also avoid seeing the writing on the wall.

Train of Thought
It wasn’t much of a story, but it set the alarm bells ringing. Environmental group Ecologistas en Acción submitted a report to Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias (TSJC) about concerns over an agreement to allow the proposed southern train to pass through Montaña Guaza, a natural monument. It looks as though the TSJC took the right action and nullified the license to rape an important part of Tenerife’s countryside. The big concern is why on earth was it allowed to pass in the first place? We’ll ruin the scenery, but hey we’ll have a nice shiny new train to show for it. Boys and their toys…

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to… the owner of an abandoned monkey.

When a friend asks you to look after their pet monkey while they go traveling for a few weeks how can you refuse them? They’re cute, cuddly and probably a lot of fun. Unfortunately for a woman in Alcalá who found herself looking after a friend’s titi monkey, the owner failed to return from his travels. Subsequently she did what a lot of people on Tenerife do when they find themselves with unwanted pets, she released him into the wilds earning herself and the original owner the TIT of the week award; or in this case, titi of the week.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Michael Caine

Plot: Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is part spy, part thief, but the bank vaults he sneaks around in are the corridors of the mind – Cobb invades people’s dreams to steal ideas which he then sells to unscrupulous corporations. The stakes are raised when Cobb is forced to go a step further to enter unknown territory to invade a target’s mind to try to plant an idea instead of stealing one. With imagination as a battlefield anything can happen.

9/10 – Two factors should give audiences the heads-up that Inception is going to be something special. It stars Leo DiCaprio and anything Leo stars in is pretty much guaranteed to be watchable. Secondly, and more importantly, it’s directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight). When Nolan’s at the helm, audiences can expect something original, dark and thought provoking and Inception doesn’t disappoint. Using the strangest corners of the mind as locations for this hi-concept and unique thriller, Inception is a complex movie that’ll have you clinging to its coat tails to keep up with the plot developments and action.

Original cinema can be an exhilarating experience and Inception’s multi-layered plot is superbly aided and abetted by a class act of a cast which includes Michael Caine, the wonderful Ellen Page and Ken Watanabe.

Inception may not ring the bell of fans of Jason Statham type action movies. But for those who were wowed by the originality and style of the first Matrix movie, this is a truly fresh mindblower that will have you debating its clever storytelling for weeks. Unmissable.

Screening Times: 5.40pm daily.

Tickets: €6.50 Buy YourTickets Here

In the second of our series going undercover of the night to check Tenerife’s nightlife, Tenerife Magazine went bar hopping in Costa Adeje.

With the sun casting a golden glow over the land, I knew the perfect place to begin investigating Costa Adeje’s nightlife. Lighthouses usually act as a warning to steer clear, but the one at Faro Chill Art Bar is a beacon attracting the effortlessly cool, beautiful people…well, them and me.

Faro Chill Art Bar – Part One
Über-chic and then some, Faro Chill Art is the type of bar that deserves to be frequented by Hollywood stars. The décor oozes such style and imagination that even if I’d been wearing a carnival queen’s costume I’d have felt dull and conservative by comparison. After being tempted by the Zen terrace and the Mediterranean blue cushions of the Greek terrace, I ordered a glass of vino and climbed to the Ítaca terrace to enjoy the sunset from the rooftop. Drink prices at Faro are higher than average, but a visit is an experience not to be missed – and guys you have to try the bathroom. Feeling like I was being adulterous by simply visiting the loo was a unique experience.

By 10pm, it was time to stop chilling and start rocking.

In & Out
In & Out’s typically beach side tables and chairs can’t match Faro’s style. But you don’t need style when you’ve got heavy metal heroes, Soundchaser wowing the crowds night after night. I’d read rave reviews about Soundchaser, but was still blown away by how good they were. Note-perfect covers of Hendrix, Zeppelin, Dream Theater and Cream classics as well as their own compositions had old and new rockers in the crowd head-banging in ecstasy. Lead singer, Marcos Rodriguez possesses bucket loads of charisma and his witty asides pumped up the entertainment factor; at one point casting his eyes heavenwards in disgust as a woeful version of Sailing drifted down from a karaoke bar above. Again prices were a bit higher than average (€3.50 for a pint of lager, €8 for a spirit and mixer), but good value with a quality band like Soundchaser in the mix.

Captivated by Soundchaser’s demonic spell I’d lingered longer than I’d planned; reluctantly I tore myself away to seek out other forms of nightlife.

I paused outside Moonlight Bar, but strains of Engelbert Humberdinck emanating from inside had me quickening my step again. Following Soundchaser with music that was outdated when I was a teenager just didn’t do it for me. Similarly AJ’s Bar None lacked the buzz I sought and I wondered if I’d been spoiled by Soundchaser. Then the sound of soft reggae weaved its way through the night and I instantly knew my next stop.

Lisboa Bar
An unassuming bar whose mock Tudor beams seemed unusual for somewhere with a Portuguese name. It turned out that it was under new ownership and had only been open in its current incarnation for two months. There was nothing particularly special about the bar except that Grinder Circus, the two guitar playing musicians who formed the bar’s band, were creating some damn fine music; a quasi-acoustic mix of reggae and hip-swaying Cuban sounds with some U2 thrown in for good measure. It was simply a friendly bar in which to knock back a beer (€2).

Eleven thirty and time for pastures new. Onwards and upwards took me past Harley’s. Having a cocktail in the back of an open topped Cadillac looked fun, but I was seeking something livelier. A few steps more and I found it.

St Eugene’s
The perfect holiday bar, St Eugene’s (or Eugen’s – the website has two different spellings) was a revelation. An attractive bar with soft lighting and greenery giving it a warm and welcoming ambience. It was packed with people who weren’t just having a good time; they were having a party. Eugene’s was buzzing and that set it apart from bars I’d body swerved. This was clearly helped by the act, IS who kept the dance floor filled with crowd pleasing tunes ranging from Mowtown favourites to the Black Eyed Peas and Kings of Leon (note to other bars churning out Please Release Me & Little Old Wine Drinker Me – everyone from 16 to 60 year olds sang along to The Kings of Leon). Bar service was quick (just as well as the table service wasn’t) and prices were reasonable given the entertainment (€3 a pint of lager). The atmosphere in Eugene’s was such good fun that I was sorry when IS finished their set.

By 1am bars seemed to be winding down and I was about to call it a night when I noticed that cars were streaming into the area.

Faro Chill Art Bar – Part Two
A botellón (open air party) was in full flow in the plaza outside Faro and hundreds of young Canarios downed JD’s and Coke before joining a massive queue snaking towards the entrance to Faro.

The queues were too long and I felt way too old to re-enter Faro’s world at this point anyway. So, as bars aimed at visitors wound down and those aimed at Canarios filled up, I decided I’d hopped my last bar and it was time for a meeting with the sandman.

Factfile:  All bars featured are located in the area around and above Puerto Colón. Soundchaser perform nightly from 9.30pm at In & Out: There are different acts each night at St Eugene’s from 10pm: Faro Chill Art also regularly features theme nights and live music – keep an eye on their website for details

Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife

Franco? Nope, Never Heard of Him
The fate of the statue dedicated to Franco in Santa Cruz,  Ángel de la Victoria by Juan de Avalos, has come under threat following the removal of the last statue of Generalissimo Franco in the Spanish city of Melilla in North Africa. The political movement ‘Si se puede Tenerife’ says that its presence isn’t in compliance with the Ley 52/2007 de la Memoria Histórica. This law basically recognises the rights of those who suffered persecution during the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship. Part of the law involves the right to withdraw monuments which commemorate Franco.
‘Si se puede’ argues that it isn’t appropriate that this icon of Franco’s dictatorship welcomes visitors to Santa Cruz. They suggest that it should be put in the Military Museum and replaced with something more suitable.
The trouble with sweeping unpleasant aspects of history under the carpet is that there is always a danger that they may be forgotten. Franco’s statues may be a constant reminder of a dark period of Spanish history, but isn’t that an argument for keeping them?

Paying the Price for Devotion
Every year the authorities on Tenerife prohibit people from walking along the TF1 motorway during the annual pilgrimage to Candelaria to honour the Black Madonna…and every year pilgrims ignore it. Nearly 100,000 people made the pilgrimage this year, most sticking to the official routes. However, 14 of those who defied the prohibition found themselves facing Guardia Civil officers and an eighty euro fine. It might seem a hefty amount for simply wanting to demonstrate devotion, but after walking on the TF1 they should think themselves lucky that the price they had to pay wasn’t something much, much higher.

2009 – A Good Year for Wine
It might not have been a good year for tourism on Tenerife, but it looks like 2009 was an excellent year for wine in the Ycoden Daute Isora region in the north west of Tenerife. The white wines of the area especially have been given the thumbs up for taste and quality and 390,000 litres have been bottled ready for our pleasure. Of course they’re going to tell us that their wine is excellent, so in the name of research and performing a valuable public service, Tenerife Magazine promises to try a few bottles…just to make sure that it’s as good as they claim.

Is this the End of Arico Cheese?
It’s good news, bad news time. The tragic news is that from later this month the factory that produces the delicious Arico cheese, winner of the best cheese in the world title at the World Cheese Awards in 2008, will close.
The good news for cheese lovers, if not for the employees at the factory in Arico, is that the delicious award winning cheese will continue to be produced in Benijos in La Orotava. Wallace & Gromit can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The Images on My TV are Garbled
At least a thousand people in the El Tanque area are still unable to receive a decent TDT signal. Residents in Erjos, San José de los Llanos, Tierra del Trigo and Ruigómez have complained that they’ve only been able to view garbled images since the switch from analogue television earlier this year. After hearing about this it was rumoured that thousands of people called out engineers, also complaining of garbled images and programmes disappearing suddenly from their screens – to be told by  ‘the signal’s fine, you’re receiving Spanish TV perfectly.’

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to… the organisers of the Romantic Bolero Nights Festival in Los Cristianos

Supposed to be an invitation to hear music under the moonlight, the festival turned out to be a catalogue of disastrous and misguided organisation, exhibiting some of the most frustrating aspects of trying to positively promote Tenerife. On the Friday night of the festival, the power went off for at least twenty minutes during the set; the band Clave de Son who were supposed to heat up Saturday afternoon with Cuban vibes at 3.30pm didn’t perform till 5pm; on Saturday night the music still hadn’t started 45 minutes after it was supposed to and then security bizarrely stopped official press from taking photographs. More unromantic bols-up than romantic bolero and a perfect example of how not to run a music festival.

Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot
The big news of the week was the heat wave which pushed temperatures above the 40C mark across much of the island. As the hot calima winds turned Tenerife into a tinderbox, the Cabildo issued advice prohibiting any kind of fire in the hills and we kept an eye on the skies, listening for the ominous sound of helicopter blades – usually a sign of a fire somewhere at this time of year. And so it proved to be the case with thirteen fires reported in the space of one 12 hour period. Six were in La Laguna, three in Arona, two in Granadilla de Abona and one each in San Miguel de Abona and Santa Cruz. Thankfully the island’s fire services were able to extinguish them all. As residents worried about forest fires, tourists revelled in the hot temperatures. Every coin has two sides.

No Partying Here – This is a Tourist Resort
Some members of the council in Costa Adeje want to impose fines on those involved in the practice of enjoying a botellón in the resort. A botellón is a practice carried out throughout Spain which basically involves youths meeting in open air spaces to socialise and drink. It’s a cheap way of having a party without paying inflated bar prices. Botellóns can be messy affairs and areas where they take place look like a tip afterwards…but it is part of the culture. However, not a part of the culture that some politicians want tourists exposed to. There’s a certain irony that in an area designed for drinking, being merry and having a good time, there’s a chance that rules will be imposed to stop young locals doing exactly that, albeit in their own way.

Watching the Detectives
It doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the sleuthing abilities of Tenerife’s boys in blue when you learn that the council in Güímar hired a private detective agency to do a bit of detecting instead of using its own police force. The situation became even more bizarre when it was revealed that the private dicks had been hired to spy on the Güímar police. In a ‘you couldn’t make it up if you tried’ scenario, the private eyes followed eight officers who had a reputation of pulling sickies on fiesta days. One officer allegedly suffering from a bad shoulder was seen carrying heavy blocks whilst another with an arm in a splint was spotted cleaning a car using the injured arm. Not so much a case of the long arm of the law as the wrong arm of the law.

If You Go Down to the Woods Today…
You might just meet a procession and we’re not talking about pilgrims returning from their annual jaunt to pay homage to the Virgen de la Candelaria.
Part of the pine forest in the upper La Orotava Valley around the stone rock rose has become temporary home to a quite serious little pest called the pine processionary caterpillar, so named because groups of them travel around the forest in a line. This little fellow is quite a nasty piece of work. They can decimate pine trees, leading to a higher risk of fires due to the increased level of pine needles they leave on forest floors. The authorities have advised that the pine processionary caterpillar is a seasonal visitor and the threat they pose to the forest should disappear when they do. If anyone stumbles across any of these caterpillars, don’t touch as they are dangerous. In fact run in the opposite direction as their hairs, which can be released into the air, are toxic and can cause painful rashes and itching which lasts for up to three weeks.

For Whom the Bells Don’t Toll
One of the nicest churches on Tenerife, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de La Luz in Los Silos was at the centre of a row which had the townspeople up in arms.
There has been a long tradition of the church’s bells sounding throughout the night for generations, but that was in danger when a resident who lives right behind the church complained about the noise and demanded that the bell ringing was stopped.
Initially the bell ringing ceased during the hours of darkness, but an impassioned outcry by the townsfolk soon had them ringing proudly again. We say well done to the people of Los Silos for standing up for your town’s traditions. The man who tried to silence the bells turned out to be a Spanish mainlander who had been living on the outskirts of the town before recently moving to a house behind the church. It never goes down well when a newcomer moves into a town and then tries to force people to change their traditions just to suit, but for a Godo to try it on Tenerife…

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to… the Humboldt Mirador in La Orotava

This beauty spot which wooed explorers, scientists and adventurers is a white elephant of classic proportions. It was reported last week that after four years of waiting, the Humboldt Mirador would finally open at the end of September…maybe.

The four year waiting is nothing unusual; it’s the story behind it that earns it the TIT award.

Construction of the Humboldt Mirador began in 1999 and in theory it was completed in 2005. However, bureaucratic shenanigans have delayed its opening for so long that the building fell into disrepair and required renovating…even though it had never been opened or used. So far the mirador-that-never-was will have cost around 2 million euros. It is so Tenerife – brilliant, but also criminally wasteful.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copley

Plot: Anyone over thirty already knows the plot to this blockbuster summer offering. Four members of a top special ops team: Hannibal (Neeson), Face (Cooper), B.A. Baracus (Jackson) and Howling Mad Murdock (Copley) are framed for a crime they didn’t commit and thrown in the big house.
Everyone should know that trying to stitch up a crack special ops team is like grabbing a tiger by the tail. In no time The A-Team bust out of prison to embark on their most dangerous mission yet – to clear their names, find out what the hell is going on and take down the bad guys. Cue a rollercoaster ride of action, explosions, wisecracks and cigar chomping.

7/10 – The original A-Team was pure utter hokum, but we loved it. Big screen remakes of top TV shows are always more likely to disappoint than delight, but director Joe Carnahan has wisely chosen to keep all the ingredients that made the TV series a massive hit. It’s nonsense, the plot has bigger holes than those created by the explosions in the movie…but so what, it’s fun.
The ingredient that separates The A-Team from other no-brainer action movies is the cast. Like last Star Trek, It was always going to be vital that they chose actors who could live up to the memories of the originals. In casting Liam Neeson and Co, they’ve played a blinder, especially with Bradley Cooper as Face and Sharlto Copley as Murdock who tackle the roles of the smart, cool one and the completely nutty one with relish. Oh, and Jessica Biel is in the melting pot as well providing a bit of eye candy.

The A-Team doesn’t pretend to be anything other than escapist fun and in that respect it delivers the goods in an explosive package. Fans of action movies that didn’t grow up with the TV series should enjoy it anyway. And those who did and spent ages trying to make a bazooka out of a squeezee bottle and an elastic band won’t be disappointed…well except for not hearing enough of that iconic theme tune.

Screening Times: 7.10pm daily.

Tickets: €6.50 Buy YourTickets Here

The last photo challenge was clearly far too easy, so this one might be a little more testing.

This Guanche warrior obviously isn’t too happy with the gods. He stands shaking his fists at the sky beside a road that links a number of hill towns. He’s a larger than life character and an impressive fellow in many ways (in the interests of decency we thought it was better to go with a rear view).

Although on a relatively quiet road, many people are attracted to this spot by some absolutely WOW views…but where on Tenerife is it?

Award yourself a bonus pat on the back if you know who he is and what he’s doing.

Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife

Tenerife Left in the Dark…again
Once again much of the island was left without electricity on Wednesday following a fault at the central substation in Candelaria. The metropolitan area and the north were worst affected with the electricity being off for two hours as engineers scratched their heads, fiddled, poked about and eventually sent out to the nearest ferretería for a new fuse.
Think we’re joking? It has been widely reported that the blackout was caused by a short circuit in a switch.

New Tourist website for the South of Tenerife
It’s good to see the south of Tenerife’s rural towns and attractions being promoted following the launch of a new government website CauceSur. The site is designed to encourage Canarian, Spanish and European visitors to explore and experience life along the old Carreterra General del Sur.
It’s an admirable project, but if the Cabildo are seriously hoping to encourage visitors into the area they might want to consider making the website available in a few different languages instead of only Spanish.

Don’t Drink the Water in Granadilla de Abona
Not a good week for the utility companies on Tenerife – after the fiasco with the electricity, it was discovered that the water in some parts of Granadilla de Abona was contaminated with Clostridium perfringens, a bacteria which can cause diarrhoea and nausea. The local council came in for flak for not immediately making the problem known to the 10,000 residents who have been affected by the contamination since last Thursday. Residents have now been advised to not drink the water or use it for cooking whilst the problem continued…and to stock up on papel higiénico just in case.

Don’t Worry Be Happy in Valle De Guerra
National Police closed down a marijuana farm in Valle De Guerra in La Laguna this week, arresting a 39 year old man on suspicion of committing crimes against public health. It seems an ironic offence considering events elsewhere on Tenerife. The farm was apparently very well organized with a well thought out infrastructure designed to optimize the planting, processing, drying and distribution of the marijuana plants.
Sounds as though, instead of sending him to prison, they should make him head of the water company in Granadilla.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to… the authorities responsible for maintenance of the Barranco del Infierno

Barranco del Infierno really is becoming Hell’s Ravine. Closed since 2009, one of Tenerife’s most popular walks looks as though it’s going to remain out of bounds to the public indefinitely.
Following the consequences of the tragic rock fall in Los Gigantes last year, the parties concerned with the maintenance of Hell’s Ravine are worried that if similar was to happen there, they would be held responsible and could face prosecution. Therefore, with a guarantee of 100% safety to users being impossible, the Barranco del Infierno remains shut.

It’s difficult to see how this state of affairs can be resolved until the Chicken Little syndrome dies down. This is nature for God’s sake – not a theme park. You can walk anywhere on Tenerife and be exposed to the same risks…but then you don’t get charged an entrance fee to enjoy Tenerife’s countryside anywhere else.
Here’s an idea – get rid of the entrance fee, put up a notice to say ‘enter Hell’s Ravine at your own risk’ and let people enjoy the Barranco del Infierno without trying to make some dinero out of it.