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

What Does One of Britain’s Top Travel Editors Think of The Canary Islands?
Not a lot it seems. In response to a tweet stating that the editor of Saga, Emma Soames, thinks Tenerife is only good for getting a tan, Jane Knight, travel editor of The Times, responded on the social media platform Twitter – ‘I just don’t get the canaries. Give me the balearics any day’.
Each to their own and all that but when it was suggested she should try outside of the resorts she came back with ‘…have been outside resorts and not impressed.’
How far outside of the resorts she ventured we don’t know for sure but there was a Jane Knight who co-wrote an article about the Canary Islands in The Guardian a few years ago that included this statement: ‘If escaping the well-worn tourist trails of Tenerife is your aim you can’t get further away than this stunningly positioned lodge-style parador which is over 2,000 metres above sea level.’
Sorry Jane but a visit to the parador in Teide National Park, the most visited spot on Tenerife, isn’t really what we’d consider escaping the well-worn tourist trails.

Always Pointing the Finger at Others
Some news reports this week blamed the authorities in Arona for not warning bathers about a threat of stinging jellyfish in the sea near Los Cristianos. It’s claimed that local fisherman knew about the threat of jellyfish invasion for weeks before it happened but no warning was raised by the local council. There are two things about this that makes the criticism smack of political shenanigans. The first is that if local fishermen knew about it, then so did every other Canario in Los Cristianos – word of mouth is still one of the main ways news travel about this island. Secondly, although there is now a warning flag in place, there is always the danger of meeting something in the sea that will bite you, sting you or stick spines in the soles of your feet. People shouldn’t have to be told that it’s sensible to keep an eye on what’s sharing the water with them whatever the situation. If you wish for a nanny state, you run the risk of creating a situation where people are as dependant as babies.

TV Watching in the Canary Islands
There are a couple of reasons why it might not come as a surprise to learn that people in The Canary Islands watch the least hours of television in the whole of Spain, averaging just under 4 hours a day (239 minutes). The first is obviously the weather. Who wants to spend their time indoors when you’ve got a climate like this? The second is Canarian TV – it’s not very good (anyone who claims otherwise hasn’t seen quality TV in a long, long time) and doing anything else is preferable. But maybe that’s a chicken and egg situation; why invest in good television if people aren’t watching it? Aragón came in as the Spanish province where people have the squarest eyes with 275 minutes a day. How do Canarian TV habits compare to the UK? You might think it would be a lot less but stats claim that UK viewers only watch 4 hours 2 minutes on average per day… or so they say.

Not Much of a Sea Defence
Poor little San Andrés. Nearly every time there are weather alerts for high tides and wild seas, the little fishing village outside of Santa Cruz finds its promenade, and the businesses that line it, flooded. Following serious flooding in September last year, the sea wall and defences have been strengthened to try to prevent this happening again. Last weekend’s weather alert was the first test… and it failed. Although the waves were nowhere near as high as last September’s, they still breached the sea wall reaching as far as the fort on the edge of the town. Residents are concerned that when really high tides arrive the new defences will be next to useless. The people responsible for designing the new defences were unable to comment as they were too busy building chocolate fire-guards.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to… Tenerife Magazine
Snow was forecast for Mount Teide this week and the summit was hidden behind thick cloud as temperatures dropped.  So when someone posted on Facebook a spectacular picture taken from Playa de las Canteras on Gran Canaria of the snow clad peak of Teide we jumped on it and posted the picture on Tenerife Magazine’s Facebook wall. It wasn’t long before a few people pointed out that there wasn’t actually any snow on Teide. A quick check of webcams confirmed that Teide was indeed snow-less. We expected snow and someone gave us evidence… false though it turned out to be. Why anyone would want to post a picture of Teide in snow and claim it was taken that day when it clearly wasn’t is a mystery. But we did note that the original poster was a sociology professor at La Laguna so maybe it was a sociological experiment. If only they’d waited a week, then Mount Teide might actually look like that.

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

The Anniversary of Santa Cruz as Capital of the Canary Islands
Ignore the fact that 190 years isn’t exactly a landmark number to celebrate. Ignore the fact that although the anniversary was celebrated on Monday, the date King Fernando VII decreed Santa Cruz de Tenerife to be capital of the Canary Islands was the 27th January 1822. What is really interesting is the politician who is recognised as being the driving force behind it happening – José Murphy. Tenerife increasingly looks to its Guanche past for its pride and character yet it was a son of two Dubliners who was responsible for Santa Cruz achieving status in the eyes of Spain.

Progress at Last for Las Gaviotas Beach
It is welcome news to hear that Santa Cruz council have allocated €400,000 to make the naturist beach of Las Gaviotas safe again for sunbathers. The beach has been closed to the public since December 2010, so the funding allocation is a step in the right direction. Now comes the bureaucracy and contracting process to determine who carries out the work. No dates have been suggested for when it’s expected to re-open but with any luck lets hope that by the summer it’ll be more than just the local fisherman on the rocks who’ll be able to get their tackle out at Las Gaviotas.

Spain Enters a Period of Drought
Those people who know Tenerife well will have registered that there has been a lack of rain so far this winter. There have been only a couple of days when there has been anything close to decent rain with little difference between south and north coasts. Whilst an absence of rain is what we all want when we take a holiday, it is potentially disastrous for the island. Scientists acknowledged this week that the pattern of a dry autumn (30% less rainfall than normal) followed by an equally dry December and January that has occurred across Spain is a rare and worrying combination. The conditions have also resulted in a lack of snow on the mountains; another valued source of water when spring arrives. Mount Teide has been noticeably devoid of the white stuff so far this winter. The situation isn’t critical yet but if the seasonal February/March rains don’t fall it could be. Still, it’s Carnaval in a couple of weeks and we all know what that means… there will definitely be a downpour of monsoon proportions.

Where Does a Prince Spend His Birthday?
On an island that is still experiencing an undersea volcanic eruption apparently. Spain’s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia spent the Prince’s 44th birthday meeting with the people who were most affected by the eruption off the coast at La Restinga on Tenerife’s neighbour, El Hierro. Thankfully the volcanic eruption behaved itself during Prince Felipe’s visit; this was one birthday party that no-one wanted to go off with a bang.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…The University Hospital of the Canary Islands (HUC)
This week the HUC managed to ‘misplace’ a patient for 11 hours. Worse, not only did they misplace the patient, a woman suffering from mental health problems and a brain tumour, they informed the patient’s relatives that she had actually left the hospital. The woman’s family, being seriously concerned for her safety, reported her disappearance to the police who advised taxis, buses and trams in the area to be on the lookout for a confused woman wearing a hospital gown. Meanwhile the woman’s sister scoured the hospital whilst another family member stood watch at the hospital entrance… but with no success.
Eleven anxious hours later the family received a phone call to inform them that the woman had been found sitting in a wheelchair in Emergencies where, it was claimed, she had been all the time. It’s a claim that the woman’s sister, having searched the hospital’s public areas, disputes. HUC has admitted that there was a mix up in information between different departments in the hospital which led to confusion to her whereabouts although they still insist she was never actually ‘missing’. Could someone let us know the Canarian word for ‘not knowing where someone is’ because it’s clearly very different from the English one.

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

Tenerife – One of the Top Five Places to Live in the World
This week Tenerife, or Santa Cruz at least, was chosen by the Guardian Newspaper as one of the five best places to live in the world. Tenerife’s capital was described as being ‘..Tenerife. But not that Tenerife. ‘ and ‘sexily exotic’. The other destinations on the list were Portland, Oregon; St Pauli, Hamburg; Maui, Hawaii and Cihangir in Istanbul.

The travel article was light-hearted but some readers took it too seriously and reacted with quite venomous comments. Santa Cruz escaped lightly with only a few barbed remarks about its inclusion.

“Devoid of real charm, decent food and culture…” wrote one, whilst another classed it as “…a sprawling shanty town overshadowed by a massive CEPSA refinery…”. Interestingly both comments were from people who actually lived in La Laguna, so no bias there. However, the person who commented “…this city is so far away to be in a 5 best places to live…” actually lives in Santa Cruz (clearly time they relocated).

Whether Santa Cruz is one of the five best places in the world to live is purely subjective but it is a great little city with a lot going for it. The article was positive and different from the usual Tenerife stories that normally make it into the UK travel press. But isn’t it strange that all of the detractors actually came from people who live or have lived on Tenerife? With friends like that…

Bruce Springsteen Plays the Canary Islands…Or Not?
There have been reports over the last week about Bruce Springsteen performing on neighbouring Gran Canaria on 15th May. Before anyone books plane tickets to hop across to Las Palmas,  it’s worth waiting for the deal to be done and dusted. The Boss’s gig has not been officially confirmed yet according to his publicists. At present there are no dates for the Las Palmas concert on Bruce Springsteen’s official website and there are no tickets on sale. Negotiations are still proceeding for the concert to take place. Watch this space.

Throwing Light on Electricity Bills on Tenerife
After a constant stream of complaints since monthly electricity bills were introduced in Spain in 2008, the new Spanish Government are re-introducing bi-monthly bills in a bid to ensure that consumers ‘pay only what they use’.  ‘Only what they use’ – What the hell have we been paying for the last three years? Basically there has been complaint after complaint due to incorrect charges caused by the ‘complexity’ of the monthly billing system – i.e. it was a complete shambles.

Delays on the Ring Road
The controversial ring road linking Costa Adeje with Santiago del Teide is in the news again with latest reports estimating that it will be 2013 before the road is ready; almost three and a half years behind schedule. As it happens the current road up through the mountains is a much nicer drive anyway, so no great hardship for those amongst us who actually enjoy driving on real country roads.

Tenerife Beach to Re-Open
It might not be well known to visitors to Tenerife but the long black sand beach of Playa de la Arena in Tacoronte is a popular R&R spot with locals in the area. Like many beaches backed by cliffs on Tenerife it has been closed because of fear of falling rocks whilst safety measures have been introduced. Playa de la Arena’s closure isn’t as long as some on the island and when it opens again in mid February it will only have been closed for five months.

Something for the Weekend?
This weekend is a big one for Tenerife’s animals with San Abad fiestas in their honour taking place across the north of the island. It’s appropriate that the Neotropico Foundation Rescue Centre has chosen Saturday, 28th January as the date for releasing two rehabilitated loggerhead turtles back into the briny where they belong. The release of the turtles will take place at Playa de la Nea in Radazul at around 11am.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…Police/Politician Relations
Relations between the police and the mayor of Buenavista del Norte are going through a sticky patch after a union official claimed the mayor had suggested on Facebook that four officers who all fell ill over the same weekend may have not been as sick as they claimed. The weekend in question was Tres Reyes (three kings); a holiday period that appears to be such a bad one for sickness that they should name a virus after it – Tres Reyes Syndrome perhaps. Thankfully Tres Reyes Syndrome doesn’t normally last long and clears up completely after Tres Reyes is over.

This breakdown in police/politicians relations isn’t quite as serious as the one between a senior politician from neighbouring La Gomera who, after an ‘altercation’ involving the police outside a nightclub in Madrid was arrested on the charge of assaulting law enforcement officers. The politician has since resigned from his position because of the incident. Probably wise; getting into a scuffle with police in Spain’s capital is probably not the smartest way to act as an ambassador for La Gomera on the mainland.

There’s been a church here since the beginning of the 17th century and although there are a lot of fine churches around Tenerife, this one has the added bonus of a mature drago tree to add to its appealling good looks, something that should act as a clue to help identification…but only if you’ve been here.

This baroque building is located deep in farming country where potatoes and tomatoes are the main crops…but where on Tenerife is it?

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

A Record Breaking Year
Despite newspapers reporting the doom and gloom of a seemingly never-ending economic crisis, The Canary Islands’ airports enjoyed a record-breaking year in terms of passengers passing through them. 35 million people touched down or took off from an airport on one of the islands, the highest figure in the history of air travel in the archipelago. The biggest winner was Fuerteventura which saw an 18.6% increase in passengers with Tenerife South following closely behind with a 17.6% increase. The only Canarian airport that registered a decrease was poor little El Hierro’s…no surprise considering the threat of volcanic eruption. With that situation stabilising, the island should see a significant change this year.

In terms of numbers, Gran Canaria came out top with 10.5 million passengers, although Tenerife Spanish language newspapers were quick to point out that if you added the figures for Tenerife’s two airports together (8.6 million in Tenerife and 4.1 in Tenerife Norte), it came to 12.7 million for Tenerife; much more than Gran Canaria which is clearly the most important piece of news of all.

La Orotava – A Touchy, Feely Town
In a bid to encourage visitors to really get a feel for the town, La Orotava council have produced a small guide whose aim is to encourage visitors to experience ‘los cinco sentidos’ – the five senses. Oddly the guide, which isn’t free but only costs 0.50 cents, has six sections; Mirame (look) which focusses on museums and urban landscapes; Tócame (touch) which concentrates on architecture; Huéleme (smell) about the gofio mills; Escúchame (listen) about churches and religious sites (the listen part is presumably church bells); Saboréame (taste) obviously aimed at wine and gastronomy and the sixth sense (for all those mediums out there), Intúyeme (Intuition?) about discovering the town’s gardens and squares. 50,000 copies of the guide have published – more than enough for the 40,000 visitors to La Orotava’s tourist offices last year. Hold on a minute…50,000 guides for 40,000 visitors? A guide about ‘the five senses’ that actually lists six? Maybe they need to add a new section called ‘count me’.

A Plague in El Médano
The sea at the main beach in El Médano was not the place to be this week as the local council restricted access due to a plague of jellyfish (medusas in Spanish, which is rather mythical). At least seven people had to be treated for stings. If you happen to be in the vicinity when someone is stung by a jellyfish, scientists actually advise against doing what Joey did in Friends all those years ago and urinating on the victim. A) it’s anti-social and B) some scientists claim it might even aggravate the sting. Best course of action is to run to the nearest restaurant, grab a bottle of vinegar and wash the infected area with that.

The North Hospital Nearly Ready to Open
It’s good news, bad news time again on Tenerife. The good news is that the new north hospital near Icod de los Vinos will open on 31st March. The bad news is that it will only be able to provide a restricted emergency service. The potentially worse news is that there are still issues over funding and staffing, with possible trouble brewing after it was suggested that medical staff from other facilities were drafted in to meet the deadline for opening. Robbing Peter to pay Paul simply isn’t a solution.

And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…Arona
The Blue Flag status of the beaches in one of Tenerife’s main tourist areas, Arona (which includes Playa de las Américas, Los Cristianos, Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio, Palm Mar) could be in jeopardy according to opposition politicians who claim that ‘disastrous management’ on the part of the council has led to the municipality losing its maritime rescue service.

The contract to carry out the role of patrolling the coast, sea rescues and the management of bathing facilities for people with disabilities ended in November…but no action has yet been taken to renegotiate a new contract by the council according to opposition sources who claim this should have been done and dusted by June 2011.

It seems incredible that something as important to tourism in an area that has been one of the most popular with visitors to Tenerife for over 40 years could be simply overlooked. But as our heading says – this is Tenerife.