Cuando hayas talado el último árbol.
Cuando hayas comido el último pez.
Te darás cuenta que el dinero no se puede comer

Pisaverde

(When you have destroyed the last tree.
When you have eaten the last fish.
Then you will realise that you can’t eat money)

I first stumbled across Pisaverde at the Pinolere craft fair in 2007 when they were exhibiting a small but highly visible range of shoes and handbags. The colours were so vibrant and intense, the designs so different from the homogeneous offerings of high street shops that they quite literally stopped me in my tracks.

I came within a whisker of buying a pair of boots that would have Portuenses checking their calendars lest Carnaval had arrived unexpectedly. The only reason I didn’t buy them was because it would have cost me a whole lot more than the €30 price tag to acquire an entire new wardrobe to go with them.

At the end of the 1990s in La laguna, Laura Quintero Rodríguez, a licensed marine biologist and Plácido Alonso Ponce, a lifelong leather worker whose family have been shoe makers for generations, recognised that the influx of mass produced goods was killing originality, obliterating personality, destroying the planet and eradicating generations of traditional crafts.

Laura and Plácido undertook to try to save their craft by reinventing it – easy to say, not so easy to do. They began to think about how they could bring their craft into the 21st century and ensure its future sustainability through concept, design, marketing and green production. And so Pisaverde was born.

The first shoes and bags were produced in 1999 and Pisaverde took them to local crafts fairs to see what reaction they would get. Then the magic began. People loved their simple yet striking designs and the philosophy behind their products.
Using recycled materials, imagination, design, a unique marketing approach and their honed skills they manufactured and launched a range of products, every one of which was unique.

As sales grew, Pisaverde opened its first workshop in La Victoria and began to reinvent their trade. Looking for new ways to work the materials and new designs, they began to metamorphose their ancestral craft into a contemporary art without losing the traditional skills.

Their reputation spread and in 2005 they launched their first web page which began to attract international attention. Now confident in their craft and expanding their product range, in 2007 they opened their first shop in La Laguna. Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Madrid followed swiftly.

When Pisaverde began, they had three objectives:

1. Reinvent our craft
2. Apply modern design
3. Innovate

Today Pisaverde can simply say “mission accomplished”.

Now a collective, Pisaverde is more than just a product and a label, it’s a whole philosophy and a belief in a sustainable way of life.  They’ve transformed the concept of handmade footwear into handmade fashion and now design shoes to individual specification so you know your feet are dressed in one of a kind, foot couture.

You owe it to the environment to support Pisaverde…and saving the planet has never looked so good.

Style Counsel
I bitterly regret not buying those boots back in 2007 and this year I went back to Pinolere in the vehement hopes that they would be there, alas they were not. They’ve moved on to bigger and better things. But you can find them and their products at:

• Pisa verde – Calle Nuñez de la Peña nº 37, La Laguna; tel:  922 31 41 28
• Pisa verde – Calle Cano, nº 22; Las Palmas, Gran Canaria; tel: 928 37 12 59
• Folelè - Plaza de Haria, Haria, Lanzarote
• On Girls – Calle Atocha, nº 114, Madrid
• Con Los Pies En Las Nubes – Calle Magallanes nº24, bajo, Santander
• Blanca – Calle Tablao Nº 68, La Alberca, Salamanca

Whilst it’s fair to say that the beaches on the Canary Islands get better the further east you go, Tenerife has invested a great deal of time and money in the importing, sifting and general manicuring of sand to create beaches which, whilst they may not be the best in the world, are exceedingly pleasant places to be.

1. Las Teresitas, Santa Cruz – Archetypal golden tropical beach backed by palm trees and the Anaga Mountains. Great parking facilities; kiosks on the beach have good tapas and cold Doradas; water is gently shelving and perfect for swimming/snorkling and there’s always great people watching.
Downside; if it’s breezy you need a sunbed to escape the fine sandstorm at surface level.
2. Playa Del Duque, Costa Adeje – Tucked into a sheltered bay with views of the over developed coast screened off by cliffs. Immaculately clean, soft white sand; elegant changing booths; stylish Hawaiian-style parasols; quality sunbeds and good restaurants in easy flop flop reach.
Downside; quality doesn’t come cheap and your wallet will get burned.
3. El Camisón, Playa de Las Américas – Small, sheltered bay located right at the heart of the resort but without that mass tourism feel. Gently shelving golden sand; stylish backdrop provided by the fabulous Sir Anthony Hotel; nice beach bar with shady terrace and grassy knoll for sand-phobes.
Downside; location means it gets very busy in high season.
4. El Puertito, Playa Paraíso – Greek-style bay tucked away in a sheltered cove where a sprinkling of white buildings creep down to the shore. Tiny, golden sand beach shelving into crystal, turquoise water where fishing boats gently bob.
Downside; in summer the bay is a magnet  for illegal campers and all solitude is lost.

5. Playa Bollullo, La Orotava – Idyllic, natural, black sand beach hidden away at the foot of the cliffs and frequented mainly by locals. Way off the radar of most visitors with only a handful of sunbeds for hire, a simple beach café with terrace on the cliffside and plenty of space to stretch out.
Downside; on most days the Atlantic rollers turn paddling into an extreme sport.
6. Las Vistas, Los Cristianos – Probably many people’s number one choice; a vast, golden sand beach bridging the join between Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Américas. Easy access from hotels; backed by shops, bars and restaurants; good range of water activities; disabled access and enough space to swing several very large cats.
Downside; regimented rows of sunbeds hog the shore-line leaving a hot gauntlet of Sahara Desert-sized sand to negotiate to the promenade.
7. Playa Jardín, Puerto de la Cruz – Long, black sand beach backed by César Manrique-designed gardens, at the foot of the La Orotava Valley. Stunning setting with Mount Teide in the background; good mix of locals and visitors; well served by bars, restaurants and facilities and great people-watching.
Downside; A lack of breakwater means swimming is only for the brave and the stupid and black sand gets blisteringly hot in summer.
8. La Tejita, El Médano – Natural, Robinson Crusoe-style, endless white sand beach lapped by azure waters and favoured by those who have an aversion to white bits. Accessible by car and big enough to take every resident of  El Médano and still have that away-from-it-all feeling.
Downside; It’s a long walk from El Médano and on windy days (of which there are many) sun bathing is out and sand blasting is in.
9. Playa El Médano, El Médano – Natural, golden sand beach right in the centre of the town and the pulsating heart of the community. Buzzing with activity on all but the rarest of bad weather days, El Médano’s town beach is just a deck chair’s width away from a plethora of excellent places to eat, drink and shop.
Downside; Small and busy, space is a premium and then there’s that wind…
10. Playa La Arena, Playa de la Arena – A sheltered, black sand beach with a permanent European Blue Flag flying and stunning sunsets. Family-friendly beach in the centre of the resort; super clean facilities; great tapas restaurant with shady terrace right on the beach and a stroll away from shops, bars and restaurants.
Downside; Gets crowded in high season and other than sun bathing, there’s little to do or see.

Apologies to all those beaches that didn’t make my cut – you’ll no doubt feature on someone else’s list