Posted Week Commencing: 30th January 2005
More protection for Barranco
Adeje’s Barranco del Infierno tourist attraction is now protected by an official preservation order.
This determines the permitted uses and activities of the 1,843 hectares making up the special nature reserve.
Lying just above the municipality town, Hell’s Gorge features a path which visitors walk to a waterfall in three levels pouring into a natural pool.
From the hamlet of Vento, in neighbouring Arona, another track climbs to Roque del Conde which is also protected.
Habitats, plant and animal species, geological formations, ecosystems and evidence of human occupation – Guanche mummies were found in caves high in the rock face – must be preserved to maintain the biodiversity of the island and the archipelago.
The clean up continues
Phase three of Arona Town Hall’s campaign to keep public thoroughfares clear was due to get under way as we went to press.
Having carried out a blitz on posters, signs and other commercial advertising that contravened the southern tourist municipality’s by-laws, the local authority was targeting blocked pavements and passageways.
Chairs, tables and umbrellas put out by bars, cafes and restaurants will be under scrutiny along with vending machines and such items on sale as clothing, footwear and newspapers.
Mayor José Alberto González said a Town Hall team would check zones to see whether businesses were complying with the regulations and any which lacked proper authorisation could expect property to be taken away.
Penalties for removing items on public thoroughfares would vary between 60 and 3,000 euros, he warned.
Local Police and a clean-up squad carted off more than 400 posters, signs and other advertising material in the second phase of the campaign after the Town Hall had given notice of the visits.
That action in the tourist areas also led to proceedings being opened against over 300 businesses for infringing by-laws.
The Mayor said a balance had to be struck between the public’s right of way and commercial interests to remove elements which caused a deterioration in the municipality’s image.
Success of Farmer’s Market rewarded.
The town hall have granted the Farmer’s Market Association of San Miguel de Abona the right to use the building in Las Chafiras on a permanent basis.
The market, which sells agricultural produce and home made cakes, has been functioning since the 2000 and now has thousands of customers who take advantage of the fresh produce being sold directly from the farmer’s and their families.
The deputy mayor for the town hall of San Miguel,Valentin Rodriguez, explained that the decision to formalise the use of the building is a form of consolidating an activity which was not guaranteed success when it was inaugurated five years ago but which has proved to be a success in promoting agricultural produce of the area.
In fact the success experienced by the San Miguel farmer’s market has had very positive economic repercussions in the borough. Fields which had been abandoned years ago have been replanted and since the middle man has been eliminated, the families of even the smallest farmer can feel the real benefit of selling their produce.
Las Galletas improvements delayed
Roberto Tapia, president of the Las Galletas neighbourhood association Sol del Sur, is concerned about the delay in the improvement work planned for the harbour area of the fishing village and is requesting that the work be commenced as soon as possible.
Members of the association say continued delays are harmful to the area’s interests and called on the local authority to ensure the work programme did not clash with the village’s busy summer season when large numbers of tourists visit the town.
The project will update the harbour to cater for both fishing and sporting interests which will be a much-needed injection for Las Galletas and attract more tourists, say residents.
Work is also due to be carried out to improve the village’s natural beach as a benefit for residents and visitors who often seek out other spots along the coast.
Tenerife’s investments for 2005
A second runway is not considered a priority in the Ministry of Promotions’ 2005 investments at Tenerife’s southern Reina Sofía Airport.
Although the bulk of the money destined for the island will be spent on the airport, improving and enlarging the departures terminal is the main project.
Of the 47.425 million euros earmarked for Reina Sofía, 32 million euros will be needed for that terminal.
Another 12.5 million euros will be used to improve the arrivals terminal and more than 2.9 million euros have been set aside for a sophisticated baggage inspection security and control system on a par with European airports.
Works costing over 14.5 million euros will also be carried out at northern Los Rodeos Airport.
Capital Santa Cruz’ port represents an investment of 12 million euros, while the complementary Granadilla commercial port, which Tenerife hauliers want to see under way as a matter of urgency, will have 40.3 million euros and Los Cristianos quay scheme 1.3 million euros.
Almost 12.116 million euros will be for road projects, headed by the TF-1 third lane from Santa Cruz-Güímar (six million euros) and Icod de los Vinos-El Guincho (5.5 million euros).
Icod-Santiago del Teide (230,000 euros) and Adeje-Guía de Isora (315,000 euros) are also included.
New health centre for San Miguel
Work on the new health centre on the Los Carneros curve in San Miguel town centre has begun with machines levelling the plot of land recently signed over by the town hall.
The centre, which has a budget of 1.2 million euros, will have a an emergency waiting room, a consultation area, an administrative area with reception, a store room, toilets, dressing rooms and offices as well as a mortuary. On the top floor there will be six consulting rooms for adults and one for paediatric consultations.
The councillor for health matters in the borough, Teofilo Bello, explained that the construction of the new health centre has been on the agenda for some time as the old installations have become too small to cope with the growing population of the borough. He hoped that this new centre would be able to offer an improved health care service to the residents of the borough.
The centre will be built in the upper part of the botanical gardens complex which is under construction in the Los Carneros bend area of San Miguel and its design will consist of traditional rustic style walls and waterfalls. The centre will also have an outdoor patio area overlooking the gardens.
More needs to be done
Alter attending the FITUR International Tourism Fair in Madrid, mayor of Adeje, Jose Miguel Rodriguez Fraga, expressed his concern over what he considers to be a lack of a model for tourism and economic development on the island.
He believes that, although many of the local authorities agree that the island must not be allowed to lose its competiveness among European holiday resorts and must maintain its position as a top class resort, little real action is taken. He emphasised that we live in a society where a lot of meetings and discussions take place but very little is actually done. He believes that in a world that is constantly on the move, we cannot remain still.
Rodriguez Fraga explained that he believes tourism is the principal source of wealth for the island. He emphasised that although many local residents believe that tourism is destroying the island, any problems and attitudes can be overcome by means of education.
“We have an excellent sun and beach holiday resort but we cannot sit back and rely on our reputation. We must work together improving promotional methods in order to take full advantage of the potential Tenerife has.” He said at a recent press conference.
Rodriguez Fraga also said that there is no cause for alarm and that the tourism market is working adequately but emphasized that there is much room for improvement. Tenerife does have the possibility to establish itself as a first class European resort with many of the advantages that exotic destinations offer, but resorts, facilities and other attractions must be improved to guarantee economic security in the future.
Port plans scaled down
There was a new twist to the long-running saga of Granadilla de Abona industrial port when the project was scaled down a second time to meet the limits of impact laid down by the Environment Ministry.
The State department then gave the nod to the revised plan as the definitive project with the minimum dimensions needed to be functional and to be regarded as complete rather than the first phase of a bigger scheme.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority said the latest change in the plan meant a reduction of 234m in the length of the outer dock in a northerly direction, complying with the environmental order of February 2003.
As a result, the works would have to go out to tender again, explained a spokesman.
The project had already been slimmed down drastically by the Central and Regional Governments in response to European Union environmental demands.
Ecological organisation Greenpeace regretted the ministry decision which ignored the prospect of environmental damage, accusing Madrid of supporting a project that had been plagued by irregularities from the start.
Top quality resort to open in October
An exclusive tourist complex with a 300-bed luxury hotel is due to be inaugurated in Tenerife’s Guía de Isora municipality in October.
One hundred and twenty villas and a golf course and academy are also included in the development costing 250 million euros.
A model of the project, named Abama, was unveiled by Ignacio Polanco, President of the Timón Group developers, at Fitur international tourism fair in Madrid.
He said the complex would be aimed at a select clientele from Europe and the mainland seeking top quality sporting, leisure and health facilities.
In other news, Loro Parque founder and President Wolfgang Kiessling announced that Siam Park, the Adeje theme park costing 50 million euros, would be inaugurated on December 17, 2006.
Revamp for natural beach
Madrid is studying a regeneration plan for Arona’s natural beach between Barranco de Troya and Punta del Guincho.
Through the Coasts Office, the Environment Ministry has undertaken to draw up a project for a stretch of coast which is popular with surfers.
No specific details have been disclosed, but the idea is understood to be to provide easier access to the sea for residents and tourists as well as improving the small strip of coastline that has remained virtually unchanged.
During the mid-1980s, administrations considered the possibility of an artificial beach with breakwaters against the heavy swell, but no work was ever carried out after protests from sections of the community.
A fossil beach in the zone is protected as a place of cultural interest because of its paleontological value.
Over the years, Arona and neighbouring Adeje town halls, Tenerife Cabildo and the Canarian Government have financed improvements to the area’s pedestrian walkway.
Tourism revenue up on last year
Revenue from tourism in the Canary Islands totalled 12,746 million euros in 2004, an increase of 2,000 million euros on the previous year.
Announcing the figure at Fitur international tourism fair in Madrid, Councillor José Juan Herrera related the higher income to a rise in the number of visitors from the mainland.
They added up to nearly 2.048 million, although the influx of foreign tourists had continued to the tune of around 9.427 million and promotions would be reinforced in the main UK and German markets.
British tour operator Thomson, part of the TUI group, expected to repeat last year’s success of bringing 265,000 visitors to the Canaries and had programmed 100 weekly flights.
National tour operators Iberostar and Globalia proposed Tenerife as the destination for a big promotional event to encourage the sale of island stays through their travel agencies.
In other news, the Canaries Tourism Council was reported to be flying the flag at 51 fairs during 2005, mostly to consolidate trade in markets where the archipelago already has a presence.
Ten will be on the mainland, nine in Germany and four each for the UK and France, while Russia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic are territories to be explored.

Posted Week Commencing: 23rd January 2005
Green and pleasant land
Southern region administrations could be green with envy when a newly inaugurated Arona project is in full bloom.
Central Park, between Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas, is reckoned to be the South’s biggest public green zone.
And Mayor José Alberto González Reveron believes the completed scheme will be three times better than Tenerife capital Santa Cruz’ celebrated García Sanabria Park.
So far, 42,000 of the available 100,000 m2 of land have been developed to feature a variety of plants and indigenous flowers as well as a children’s playground at a cost of more than 880,000 euros.
Underground parking is scheduled as the project takes shape in phases.
The Mayor thinks the park will be a boost for residents’ quality of life and improve amenities for visitors.
The completed area was inaugurated last week in a ceremony which was attended by representatives from both Arona town hall and the Cabildo.
Island’s image to be studied
Using the Society for the Promotion of Tourism, Nature & Leisure, the Canarian Government has ordered two studies to discover how the archipelago’s image stands in the main tourist markets.
With an investment of more than 263,000 euros, the projects will also examine the Canaries’ impact in rival destinations to help boost the Regional Executive’s promotional strategy in future campaigns.
In other news, the Canaries were on show at Belgium’s main tourism fair, a four-day event in capital Brussels which attracted exhibitors from nearly 50 countries and almost 80,000 visitors last year
Leftovers from the war hampers progress
A Second World War relic has bunkered efforts to clean up a South Tenerife beach.
Now Arona Town Hall is seeking Coasts Office permission to remove the eyesore on the stretch between Fitenia beach and Punta del Guincho.
The offending object is a bunker that was built during the early 1940s, although Spain was neutral during the war.
A similar construction on the beach behind CC Verónicas was dismantled almost two years ago, but residents have continued to complain about the remaining bunker’s environmental impact as Playa de las Américas has grown up.
The local authority has asked the Environment Ministry’s Coasts Office to give the go-ahead for demolition on health and safety grounds so the beach can be spruced up.
One big worry has been that the bunker is often occupied for illegal purposes.
Local carnival celebrations
On Friday 4 February, children from the El Fraile Infant and Primary School celebrated the carnival in style.
More than 1,000 children, aged between 3 and 13 years, paraded through the streets of the town dressed in colourful carnival costumes and carrying the traditional king size sardine which the pupils had made.
The Infant and Primary school of El Fraile, near Las Galletas, where children of fifty different nationalities study side by side, is one of the largest schools in the Canary Islands.
Phone donations taken - literally
A call for unwanted mobile phones to be handed in to help needy causes has had a good reception in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province.
Non-governmental organisations the Red Cross (Cruz Roja) and Entreculturas are benefiting as British company Corporate Mobile Recycling pays up for phones recovered.
Supermarkets Carrefour, Hiperdino and Supersol, BBVA bank, Mapfre offices and educational centres are among the collecting points with containers where mobiles can be deposited.
The Pon tu móvil campaign urges people to donate unused phones which can be recycled to aid educational, development and integration projects.
The Regional Government’s Environment Council recently reported that during 2004, more than 2,360 kilos of used mobile phones and accessories were collected via programme Tragamóvil in the Canary Islands, 27% more than the previous year.
More improvements in El Fraile
The second phase of drainage improvements in El Fraile has begun.
The Tenerife Cabildo are co-financing the project with the local town hall, at a cost of 1.7 million euros, to improve the infrastructures and drainage systems of the area.
The island councillor for Municipal Cooperation and Housing, Maria del Pino Leon, recently visited the area accompanied by local mayor, Jose Alberto Gonzalez Reveron and councillor for Infrastructures for Arona, Manuel Barroso, who explained that this phase involves the installation of large drainage pipes in calles Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Barroso added that the repairs/resurfacing of the road surface would also be completed, that pavements would be finished off, that drain pipes would be installed outside each house in the area and that underground cables for lighting and telephone would be installed.
The work is expected to take around fourteen months to complete and Maria del Pino Leon assured residents that they would be kept informed at every stage.
The work forms part of a cooperation plan between the Tenerife Cabildo and the town halls of the island and similar projects are planned for the boroughs of Adeje, Arico, Fasnia and Vilaflor.
SUC Team in the island of Sumatra.
A second Canarian contingent made up of two doctors, one sanitary technician and a transport technician have set up in the Banda Aceh region in the north of Sumatra with the objective of helping those affected by the tsunami in the area.
Once the military group, in charge of the reconstruction of the Aceh provincial hospital which was destroyed, has completed their work, the team will form part of the international group of helpers who will organise medical help for the local population which is becoming larger every day as people return to the city.
Meanwhile the Canarians are helping out in temporary post such as the hospital which has been set up in Aceh airport where emergency cases arriving in helicopter from the south of the island are attended. Once the patients have been discharged from the emergency service they are either transferred to hospitals or moved to refuge camps where they receive food and shelter.
South Tenerife is making a big show of solidarity with the victims of the South-East Asia tsunami disaster.
Eight town halls are supporting an initiative encouraging residents to organise fund-raising events.
Residents’ associations, educational centres and other organisations are being offered promotional material and aids to make individual contributions to the cause.
Arona, Adeje, San Miguel de Abona, Granadilla de Abona, Santiago del Teide, Guía de Isora, Arico and Vilaflor are the local authorities which declared their support.
Activities have included a variety festival featuring various groups at Villa Isabel (Arona) and a fair organised by South Tenerife Hindu Association in Adeje, while all municipalities joined in a symbolic act of reading an official announcement and releasing doves at noon on Sunday.
Support lessons in San Miguel.
The Town Hall of San Miguel de Abona, in collaboration with the local Education Department, will be offering extra lessons for children from the borough who are in need of extra tuition.
Around thirty children from the State schools of San Miguel Arcangel in San Miguel and Juan Bethencourt Alfonso in Las Zocas will receive the lessons in The El Monte Centre in Guargacho from next week.
The councillor for Education, Milagros Gonzalez, explained that this educational programme will be carried out with groups of eleven children at a time who have been carefully selected according to their educational needs and the economic situation of their families i.e. those who are not able to pay for private lessons.
The Town Hall will provide all the necessary materials and a qualified teacher will coordinate the programme.
Although Gonzalez emphasized the success of last year’s programme, she did underline the importance of close co-operation between the tutors of the children who are to receive the classes and those who will be running the programme.
Titsa under pressure to improve
Official complaints from angry passengers has prompted Granadilla de Abona Town Hall to put pressure on transport company Titsa to improve the municipality bus services.
The local authority asked the company to plan routes and timetables to meet the population’s needs, providing access to health centres, schools and workplaces bearing in mind that an important number of young and elderly inhabitants had considerable distances to travel.
Special attention was drawn to urgent measures required for timekeeping on lines 416 (Granadilla-Adeje) and 035 (Granadilla-Güímar) and co-ordination of hours for transfers to 111, 116, 450 and 470.
In other news, Tenerife’s transport sector will be modernised with the help of island Cabildo subsidies totalling more than a million euros.
Pleasure trips, freight and taxis will benefit from a series of projects which aim to improve accessibility, take care of the environment and incorporate new information technologies.
Associations, foundations, federations, co-operatives and haulage companies will be on the receiving end with aid for programmes concentrating on quality management, professional training, safe driving, dangerous goods, occupational illnesses and work hazards.
Collaboration between hauliers will be encouraged, while the promotion of safety measures and the study of a new fares structure are on the cards for the taxi sector.
More funds needed for tourism
Madrid has been asked to give an injection to the Canary Islands’ lifeblood, tourism.
The Regional Executive is pressing the Central Government for an increase in funds to revitalise the sector.
Canarian Tourism Councillor José Juan Herrera put the case to Pedro Mejía, Secretary of State for Tourism, during his visit to the archipelago pavilion at Fitur international fair in Madrid.
Pointing out that tourism represented virtually a third of the Canaries’ gross product, Herrera said the islands wanted to build on a 15% rise in mainland visitors over the previous year.
South Tenerife mayors sought an increase in the frequency of regular flights from the mainland to Reina Sofía Airport and the island Cabildo explored new avenues of collaboration with national tour operators Viajes Marsans and El Corte Inglés.
Binter Canarias will complete a fleet renewal with the addition of two ATR-72 planes at the end of February, Islas Airways plans to increase services after a record-breaking 2004 and Fred Olsen line will cover all the islands with a fast ferry from March.
In other news, Tenerife signed collaboration agreements with three major tour operators as the Canary Islands’ holiday sector prepared for a big take-off in 2005.
Regional Government, tourism officials and companies were in optimistic mood at the archipelago pavilion at Fitur international fair in Madrid where President Adán Martín called for the seven islands to project a united image.
Displaying a new tourism logo to general approval, Tenerife announced an important promotional campaign for April-June at a cost of 900,000 euros with the island paying half and the rest shared by tour operators Iberojet, Soltour and Travelplan.
Adán Martín invited island authorities and businesspeople to contribute to the archipelago’s new tourist promotion company, Promotur Turismo de Canarias, created in December with capital of 600,000 euros from the Regional Executive.
The aim was for cabildos and businesses to have a 49% share in this public company, he said.
Pedro Luis Cobiella, President of Santa Cruz de Tenerife hotels association ASHOTEL, was among those welcoming the news that Canarian groups Lopesán, Satocán and Travelmaxx had formed tour operator Holiday Jack, specialising in the German market. Autonomous Executive support was promised.
Trial for internet voting system
Arona in South Tenerife is one of 52 Spanish municipalities where voters in the European Constitution referendum can take part in a pilot scheme using the Internet.
Although this will be a dummy run and the votes cast won’t be valid, the 32,395 people on the electoral roll are being urged try out the electronic system as part of a study to test the validity of using the Net in the future.
While the actual Canary Islands voting in the referendum takes place on February 20, Internet users were given from the beginning of the month until February 18 to play their part in the experiment.
They need to visit the registration office set up at Arona Town Hall to request a digital certificate on production of their DNI identification. The registrar will issue a card or certificate with a password.
To vote, they can use a computer in the registration office or at home if they have an Internet connection.
One representative from each of Spain’s 52 provinces is involved in the pilot scheme and Arona, which has the largest population outside Tenerife’s metropolitan area, was selected from Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Telde municipality is participating for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Work progresses on new court building
An offical visit was recently made to the ‘intelligent’ building which will house the new courts of Los Cristianos.
The Mayor of Arona, Jose Alberto Gonzalez Reveron, the councillor for local development, Agueda Fumero and the Judge of the Region, Maria Jesus Garcia Sanchez, accompanied the Canarian Minister for Justice, Maria Australia Navarro on the visit.
Navarro explained that if the department received the building in August, the courts could begin functioning towards the end of the year. When the building is opened, there will be a considerable improvement in the working conditions for the civil servants currently employed and the service offered to the general public will also be greatly improved ensuring that cases are dealt with more efficiently and on schedule.
The Canarian government has assigned 8 million euros from the general budget for 2005 for the project which it is estimated will cost 16 million euros in total.
The building will have 16 court rooms and each one has been designed for ease of use, to be functional and to maximise discretion for example a person who is under arrest can be taken directly to the court room without being seen by people waiting and each courtroom is separated from the next by means of screens guaranteeing privacy but facilitating reforms in the future.
There will be individual offices for judges, secretaries and lawyers, a large administration office and a desk for attending to the public for each individual court.
A Civil registry department will be located on a lower floor together with a deanery, public attention offices, installations for the Judicial police and a specially equipped forensic department.
The building will also include police cells, general inspection rooms, archive storage and a garage for the police vans with direct access to the cells.
The building has been described as ‘intelligent’ for a number of reasons. One being that the employees will be able to switch on the lights or the air conditioning from the car park with a card. Employees will only be allowed access to the records connected to their own department and furthermore a system will register who has entered the records room and how long they spent looking for information in case any documents should go missing.

Posted Week Commencing: 16th January 2005
Busy year for advice centre
After a busy 12 months dealing with more than 85,300 inquiries, Arona citizens advice bureaux are to offer an even better service.
Mayor José Alberto González said the three SAC offices had been well received by residents and plans were under way to improve the system as part of the administrative decentralisation for a municipality which had experienced enormous growth in recent years.
A total of 85,363 matters ranging from tax payments to presentation of documents were dealt with by the 18 staff during 2004. Los Cristianos was the busiest office (41,662), followed by Arona town (24,633) and Las Galletas (19,068).
Opening hours are 8.30am-2pm and, from October, 4-7pm from Monday to Friday with the town office also available on Saturday (9am-12.30pm).
The Mayor pointed out that the decentralisation also included a citizens’ 010 hotline 12 hours a day and website arona.org
Canary Islands third cheapest in Spain
Foreign visitor numbers in the Canary Islands increased at almost double the rate of the worldwide growth between 1977 and 2002.
While tourists from abroad were up 8.6% annually in the archipelago, the global improvement was 4.7% and Spain overall recorded a 3.2% rise, according to a study by the Savings Banks Foundation.
From 1980-2002, British sunseekers taking foreign breaks rose by 5.7% a year around the world, but those heading for the Canaries showed an 11% hike.
In the archipelago in 2002, an average of 154,447 people making Social Security contributions were involved in tourism activities, representing 21.3% of the workforce against 12.5% for the rest of the country except the Balearics (26.2%).
During that same year, the Canaries were responsible for more than a quarter of the country’s income generated by foreign tourism.
An analysis of the competitiveness and prices in Spanish destinations specialising in sun and sand holidays placed Tenerife as the third cheapest behind Costa del Maresme and the Costa Brava.
Tenerife fashion on the catwalks of Paris
The fashion company M&M, which forms part of the Tenerife Isla de Moda group, will show its Autumn-Winter 2005-2006 collection in the Salon Pret-a-Porter in Paris this weekend.
The island director for Economic Development, Commerce and Employment, Juan Antonio Nuñez, emphasized that the presence of Canarian textile companies at important national and international fashion events confirms the prestigious position occupied by Tenerife Isla de Moda.
Marcos Marrero and Maria Diaz, the creators of the company M&M, will take their latest collection of designs characterised by soft tones contrasting with black, highly detailed full dresses in very feminine styles and shapes and now a classic of M&M, decorated with traditional embroidery.
The two designers began to make clothing in Puerto de la Cruz more than twenty years ago and the company showcase their work on a frequent basis on the international cat walks and export their products to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, Tokyo, Singapore, France and Great Britain.
Tenerife Isla de Moda groups together Canarian designers whose products come under the category of ready to wear fashion and is creating a prestigious image on a national and international level.
Local delicacies on offer
Tenerife served up food for thought and digestion at the third Madrid Fusion International Gastronomy Summit.
Island Cabildo Vice-President José Manuel Mermúdez, who is also Tourism Councillor, explained how Tenerife delicacies were a complementary dish for sun and sand holiday attractions which was why the authority invested more than 300,000 euros annually on a gastronomic plan.
He was delighted with the welcome given to island specialities at the world summit, especially by celebrated cooks Ferrán Adriá, from Catalonia, and Australian-based Japanese Tetsuya Wakuda.
Praising Canarian cookery enthusiastically, Adriá revealed his passion for much-requested papas arrugadas with mojo sauce, while Wakuda raised a glass to malmsey wines.
Twenty cooks prepared a menu of Tenerife cuisine and wines to be enjoyed by more than 1,000 delegates and 300 journalists.
Emergency service data released
GIE, the Canarian Government’s emergency control group, carried out a total of 1,016 missions last year, 607 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province.
The overall number was 122 (13.6%) up on 2003 and was made up of 315 cases of medical assistance, 237 maritime salvage operations, 236 fires, 144 traffic accidents and 84 support actions for Local Police.
In other news, calls to the Canarian Government’s 112 emergency services rose to 2,657,067 during 2004, a 15% increase on the previous year.
Incidents requiring emergency turn-outs numbered 437,187 which was 10% more than in 2003.
A total of 1,044,376 calls included requests for information as well as emergencies, while 714,906 needed no mobilisation of resources.
Health-related cases accounted for 228,631 call-outs and matters involving citizens’ safety showed a sharp increase of 23% to 138,926.
Traffic accidents and school, work, domestic and sports injuries added up to 35,884 and there were 7,434 fires and salvage and rescue operations.
However, the Canary Islands’ road toll was cut back in 2004 with fatal accidents reduced by more than 24% to 90 and the number of deaths down by 21.64% to 105, according the Home Office data.
Injury accidents in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province fell by 344 (14%) to 2,045 and fatalities dropped slightly to 51.
Accident black spots identified on Tenerife included the TF-1 motorway at Guaza, the Granadilla-El Médano road and the TF-655 (Las Chafiras-Los Cristianos).
Amnesty provokes huge response
Hundreds of Africans and South Americans were reported to have besieged their countries’ consulates in the Canary Islands as a result of Spain’s amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Many were said to be boat people who had arrived in the archipelago then moved on to European countries two or three years ago.
They had returned to the Canaries to inundate consulates with requests for certificates of criminal records before starting the process of obtaining Spanish residence and work permits between 7 February and 7 May.
The consulate of Guinea Conakry was understood to have taken on six extra staff to deal with inquiries from around 500 immigrants originating from such places as Sierra Leone, Mali and Liberia.
Guinea Bissau consulate was also a target along with representatives of Venezuela and Colombia.
In other news, Minister of Promotions Magdalena Álvarez visited the Canaries to witness an exercise by Marine Rescue simulating a typical call-out to a boat carrying illegal immigrants.
Fuerteventura is the island usually chosen by gangs trafficking in illegals and the Minister went up in a helicopter to watch teams go into action off Gran Tarajal in Tuineje municipality.
Afterwards, she confirmed the need to speed up the supply of more human and technical resources in a bid to save the lives of boat passengers making dangerous journeys, beginning with the provision of another patrol boat.
Hit the road, Jack!
The new Canarian tour operator, Holiday Jack, predicts that 600,000 Germans will be familiar with their name as a result of the campaign to be carried out over the next five years.
The company, which has been created by Canarian business groups Lopesan, Satocan and Travelmaxx, will spend 11 million euros on a publicity campaign in Germany, explained company director Jurgen Branse, the expert in tourist promotion mediation who is in charge of the project.
To begin with, the company will be based in Gran Canaria with offices in Germany but there will also be a central reservations centre for those who wish to book their holiday over the internet.
It is estimated that the project will reap 300,000 million euros in the first five years and although the benefits for the operators themselves will only be zero to three percent, the company expect to be financially viable after three years.
It is hoped that the German holiday maker will identify with ‘Jack’ and will feel attracted to the product on offer which will primarily be hotel accommodation, car hire and cheap flights.
Jack is being aimed at middle of the road holidaymakers who want value for money.
New look for beach front
Playa de la Jaquita at El Médano will undergo a facelift estimated at three million euros thanks to funding by the Ministry of Promotions.
Confirming Madrid’s green light for the scheme, Granadilla de Abona Mayor Jaime González Cejas revealed that he was in negotiation to try to extend the project from Playa de el Cabezo to El Médano quay.
The works on the southern municipality’s coastal zone will involve the improvement of services, notably along the promenade, and include the creation of a public area such as a plaza and observation point.
Pet register proves popular
More than 218,000 pets can be found on the Canarian Register of Animal Identification.
Launched last year by the Regional Council of Veterinarian Colleges, this database of microchipped animals is located through the Internet on the local Zoocan website, national REIAC and European Pet Net.
Tenerife is home for 100,631 of the pets registered and Gran Canaria has 82,137.
During last year, there were more than 6,800 visits to the Zoocan webpage (www.zoocan.net) and 457 had been made in the first two weeks of January.
The register is a useful aid for tracing lost pets or for anyone wanting to give an animal a home.
Preservation is a top priority
Tenerife Cabildo granted access to the South’s protected spaces, but with strict limitations on use.
Authorisation followed the recent green light for plans regulating activities at nature reserves Malpaís de Güímar and Adeje's Barranco del Infierno after similar approval for Montaña Roja in Granadilla de Abona and Malpaís de Rasca.
Environment Councillor Wladimiro Rodríguez said the preservation of such spaces was a necessity to be attended to with all the measures at his department’s disposal.
But, at the same time, people had a right to enjoy the countryside and the natural wonders while respecting the importance of conservation.
Organised excursions by educational centres, associations or tourist companies will need the island authority’s permission on provision of such data as the planned route, the time and date of the visit and the size of the party.
With work having been carried out to repair damage caused over the years, vehicles will be banned from the most sensitive areas.
In other news, the Federation of Associations of Rural Development in Tenerife, an organisation made up of groups related to agriculture stock breeding and rural tourism, will be publishing a booklet entitled “A Guide to the Natural Protected Spaces of Adeje.”
The idea for the booklet came from the Department for Local Development which is headed by Luz Maria de Leon and the authors aim to extend the guide in the future to include leisure activities in the area which will be useful for both tourists and residents.
12,000 copies will be printed in the first edition of the guide - 6,000 in Spanish,3,000 in English and 3,000 in German.