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.

“Those are our founding fathers”, says Ken pointing to the row of three portraits looking down on us from their elevated status above the bookcases of the reading room. “Pointing them out is what we begin our school tours with, if we can keep the children quiet long enough to hear us.”

Keep them quiet? In a library? Surely that’s a given. But there’s no wall of silence here in the English Library in Puerto de la Cruz. Where you might expect covert whispers there’s a quiet buzz of conversation and where you might look for bespectacled librarians despotically maintaining strict cataloguing systems, you’ll find sections that shift wholesale to make way for the ever-expanding DVD library, and a hand written note pinned to a bookcase that reads “Humour has  been moved…”.

The English Library is not simply a repository for books written in the English language. For over a century it’s been a social hub for the British ex pat community for whom it has provided a source of knowledge, reading and entertainment along with a hefty helping of socialising, support and gossip exchange.

The First Edition
The first meeting of British residents of Puerto interested in the establishment of a library is recorded in ‘The English Library, A Brief History’ as being in 1900 when a Mrs Boreham, resident of the town, decided to put her habit of allowing friends and visitors to borrow books from her extensive personal collection onto a more formal footing. Ably assisted by the Parson, Reverend Humphries and the then Vice-Consul, Mr Peter Reid, the first order of books was placed, the library was named and the terms of Constitution were laid down. The following year Colonel Owen Peel Wethered pledged a donation of up to £500 including the site for a new library building. After some controversy, the proposition was accepted and work began on the building in Parque Taoro which today still houses the English Library.

I first visited the library six years ago when I was dropping off some magazines. At the time I was astonished at the existence of such an institution which appeared to occupy some parallel universe of England in the 1940s, staffed by genteel Brits who painstakingly hand wrote every title being borrowed into large ledgers while discussing the weather with their equally genteel customers. I felt as if I’d walked onto the set of a black and white Sunday matinee.

Revisiting the English Library to meet up with Ken Fisher who, until standing down at the recent AGM, has been President of the library for the past two years, some things hadn’t changed. Books were still being entered into ledgers by hand and the staff and clientele still appeared on the genteel side but there were noticeable differences. In the main reading room the large table was occupied by several people surfing the net on laptops, the bookcases on the long wall were filled with DVDs where previously video collections of TV sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s had taken pride of place and outside, tables and chairs were busy with coffee drinkers enjoying the beautiful garden and warm sunshine.

“Is the WiFi free?” I ask Ken.
“Oh yes. In fact we have a computer support workshop now run by Peter and Mike.”
I tell Ken about my last and only visit.
“Well we only got a telephone installed two years ago when I got elected as President. I insisted,” he admits. Heady progress indeed.

The Latest Edition

Under Ken’s auspices, the English Library has taken a leap forward and newly elected President, Brian Arnold (above), is confident the library will continue to go in the right direction.
“We’re becoming a wider thinking library,” Brian tells me. “Catering to the needs of the English speaking community and finding ways to make their lives easier. We have good links with the British Consul for example and we’re a research resource for those ex-pats who over-winter in Puerto and don’t have access to WiFi or computers.”

Brian recognises that the days of being purely a lending library are behind them and that the future is bleak for the printed word.
“I believe John Lewis were selling one Kindle every 30 seconds over Christmas,” he says. “You can’t compete with that.”

Installing free WiFi and offering computer self help workshops is just one of the ways the English Library is adapting to better meet the needs of its customers. An ever growing DVD lending library is another. Unfortunately it means that the reference library is becoming less and less used but there are still some classics in there, including all volumes of the first edition Oxford English Dictionary, and the library is a valuable resource for researchers and anyone who has an interest in the history of Tenerife and of Puerto de la Cruz. They also sell novels at 50 cents and one Euro – perfect for holidaymakers who haven’t yet discovered the joys of Kindle.

Financed entirely through subscriptions and fund raising events, the English Library is run by a team of dedicated volunteers who manage not only to keep the book lending and cataloguing efficiently but also organise two coffee mornings a week (Saturdays and Wednesdays), nine or ten guest speaker events over the course of the year, a couple of hog roast garden parties and an annual dinner dance.

Finding myself engrossed in conversations with friends old and newly acquired, time slipped all too easily away at the library and I began to understand why so many people found themselves drawn to its smiling faces and familiarity. It’s like popping round to a friend’s house for coffee and a catch-up and I suspect it won’t be another six years before I return.

Epilogue
The English Library; Calle Irlanda, 5; Parque Taoro, Puerto de la Cruz; (0034) 922 383 098; open Monday & Friday 3pm-5.30pm, Wednesday & Saturday 10am-1pm. Annual membership €30, membership for those only resident for part of the year €12.
The next speaker event will be on Feb 23rd at 12 noon when guests will hear about the Churchill and Onassis visit to Puerto de la Cruz. Tickets €5 including “our world famous buffet” to quote Ken. Booking essential as all 60 places are invariably taken up.

Editor’s Note: Fresh from his revolutionising of the English Library, Ken Fisher will soon be gracing the pages of Tenerife Magazine with memories of life in Tenerife from 40 years ago. Watch this space, as they say.

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.

Seven years after sarcoma cancer cut short the promising career of Marcia Garcia Estrada, 40 teams of golfers gathered at Abama Golf Resort, Tenerife to raise 95,000 euros for continued research through the foundation set up to honour the Santa Cruz born player. On 14 January the teams of three amateurs with one professional played golf battled it out before pro star Miguel Angel Martin and his team, Justo del Castillo, Juan Manuel Rodríguez and Luis Bunueri emerged victorious.

The Marcia Garcia Estrada Pro Am is more about the competing than the overall result, and raising awareness of this aggressive form of cancer that killed Maria in September 2005. It was a gripping finale to the action as the winners shared a score of 53 strokes with teams led by Paula Martí, José María Cañizares and Josh Jenkins from North America. All the players and spectators that headed to the west coast course in Guia de Isora enjoyed the day and the boost it gave the foundation.

The on course play was backed by some sterling fund raising efforts and star-studded contributions before the tournament, resulting in a pre-match balance of 21,250 euros. A special auction featured a team shirt and ball from Spain’s World Cup winning football team which alone raised an amazing 7,500 euros. Other big names were also generous with unique offers; Rafa Nadal gave up a pair of his tennis shoes signed by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball player Pau Gasol, tempting a bidder to part with 4,000 euros. There was also a bag of 14 golf balls from Pablo Larrazábal and VIP tickets to a Grand Prix.

The search for answers to beating sarcoma cancer is not publicly funded and relies on the generosity and dedication of organisations such as the Maria Garcia Estrada Foundation. Thankfully in Tenerife there are plenty of major companies willing to support the Pro Am tournament. This year the organisers were very grateful to Abama Golf Resort, Turismo de Tenerife, Gobierno de Canarias, Ayuntamiento de Guia de Isora and DISA.

Scampering up one of the 200 foot masts of the sailing brig Stavros S Niarchos, second officer Ben Wheatley made it look easy. Having climbed the rope ladder, and worked along one of the slats holding the sails, Ben was just below the 12 metre high Up And Over platform, one of the initial challenges to crew members signing on for a Tall Ships Adventure to build character and team work.

Santa Cruz and Portsmouth, the home ports of Stavros, are forever linked in history by a certain Horatio Nelson but these days there’s no need for press gangs. Up to 48 raw crew members of all ages pay to join the ship for week long voyages from its three month base in Tenerife. There are also 10 volunteer crew in key positions and six permanent paid crew who have worked their way up to Captains and Skippers.

I caught Stavros between a Sea Shanty and a Wildlife Watch week as Ben explained. “We had two professional musicians on board to teach traditional sea shanty’s, when we came back into Santa Cruz from our tour around the Canary Islands we entertained a bar full of people. On the wildlife trip we have an expert to educate the crew about the animals we see.”

It’s not all music and mammals, Happy Hour is a jolly name for scrubbing the decks to music. There are also long watches to keep the ship manned around the clock, maintenance, steering, and hauling the sails. “Climbing the masts to set the sails is a small part of the job, they are controlled by hauling on ropes that are coiled on deck. We have a motor but like to use wind power for as much of the voyages as possible. On a good week the sails are our sole source of power for two thirds of the trip.”

Topside the ship looks and creaks like a well worn eighteenth century rig but down in the modern hull the maker’s plate gives the true version, built in Appledore, Devon in 2000. The mess has a modern stainless steel kitchen, not a ship’s biscuit in sight, but the table area is cramped and the six cabins, each with eight bunks are best described as cosy. Sailors’ possessions are limited to a locker and a small box. Ages on the voyages range from 18 to 75 and each work team (watch) is a mixed bag of ages and both sexes. No sailing experience is required for the adventures, it’s a big learning curve that includes map reading, course plotting, and lots of team work.

Ben has been riding the waves since dipping his toe as a raw crew member but seven years on he is dedicated and very happy with a routine of five weeks on and two weeks off. “We tell our new recruits you will learn a little about sailing but a lot about yourselves.”

If anyone fancies a nautical challenge there’s more information at www.tallships.org

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?

Nipping out for some shopping takes on a whole new meaning when faced with a two hour downhill trek. That was the reality in the small village of Jama some 700 metres up above Valle San Lorenzo on the border with Vilaflor. Maybe that’s why most of the houses at Casas Altas are deserted although the freshly restored homes looked magnificent with the Barranco de Chijas and a bounty of plant species spreading out below.

Arona is known for its beaches but the Ayuntamiento (council) is rightly proud of its heritage and beauty and have started a programme of free guided walks to show the other side of the municipality. After dipping into a similar series a few years ago I couldn’t strap my walking shoes on fast enough to enjoy the first of eight walks offered for January with the promise of more to follow.

Meeting at 9am in Valle San Lorenzo I was hoping the full compliment of 25 enthusiasts would have signed up but it was just myself, our council guide Virginia, and three holidaying ladies from Rotterdam, who had seen the publicity at Las Galletas Tourist Information. A steep side road and we were looking up at the small houses perched on the lip of the hill, the sun was poking through two volcanic peaks and the tranquil sounds of nature soon had us moving.

I do a lot of walks but rarely have the advantage of a local guide. Virginia is from Valle San Lorenzo and a keen bird spotter, the high pitched shrill overhead was quickly identified as a Buzzard. The walks are aimed at locals and tourists and the guide’s knowledge comes in several languages including Spanish and English.

As the road changed to a track and then a rough rocky path the upward climb began. A chunky metal water pipe headed up with us but about half way up we found a crossing point of several old concrete channels that were gushing fast with cold water, an amazing work of skill and dedication that stretched down into the town. Even the ugly ducklings of the plant world have a story to tell and the cochineal beetle had left its white scale on many of the cacti, a quick rub revealed the rich crimson colouring that was exported to dye clothes in mainland Europe.

By the time the Jama houses loomed large above us we had been introduced to garlic flowers, mastic trees, Pistacia Atlantica and many more. The most restored house boasted a lovingly tended garden with a well inside and another near the partly re-constructed barn. And how about this as a bonus… a deep, cool cave split into chambers with a long table set out for relaxing away from the high summer sun. Walking inside the dusty shells of the neglected dwellings, I could see daylight through the floorboards of one. Thankfully the next one had a hewn stone floor and a window with a large sill to rest on which afforded inspiring views of the valley.

The wider area offered us a fragrant Rosemary bush. Virginia told us that it was often used locally to make honey. Suddenly my cheese rolls seemed very inadequate. After a short rest we started the walk down. Nature had a colourful rival as paragliders swirled in the air currents on their own graceful descent. It’s always quicker on the downward route but we made plenty of stops to admire flowers and plants, questions are encouraged on these walks and the pace is leisurely, the walk took just over four hours. Back in Valle San Lorenzo we went our separate ways but the Dutch ladies had plenty of good things to report to less active fellow holiday makers and to spread back home.

Here are the walks for the remainder of January, you must register (for insurance) at any Arona Tourist Information Office, or call (0034) 922761600, or via the website www.arona.travel

•  Tuesday 24^th – Montaña Guaza
• Wednesday 25^th – Arona Casco to Altavista
• Thursday 25^th – Barranco Chijas
• Saturday 28^th – Arona to Ifonche
• Tuesday 31^st – Malpais de Rasca

There should be more walks in the following months depending on the response. Publicity had only just been launched before this first walk. Arona is well worth getting to know and this free initiative is waiting to introduce you to a new landscape.