Posted Week Commencing: Monday 27th September 2004
The Red Cross called for the building of a shelter for the homeless in South Tenerife to meet the expanding region’s social needs.
Visiting the non-governmental organisation’s headquarters in Las Galletas, Arona, Canary Islands President Alejo Trujillo pointed out that a population boom had resulted from the arrival of many immigrants.
The numbers had put extreme pressure on administrative resources and there was a place for a shelter which the Red Cross would run if local authorities took care of funding
Northern Los Rodeos Airport’s new inter-island terminal should be operational by the beginning of next year.
Building work on the project costing almost 3 million euros is expected to be completed during October. 10 check-in desks and 6 departure gates are included in the ground floor facility planned by Spanish airports authority AENA. Tenerife Cabildo Councillor Ángel Llanos said Los Rodeos’ growth was important to the future of the North and, while AENA regarded the airport as the inter-island hub, the objective was to increase the number of international flights and provide attractive facilities for airlines. Based on the current rate of business expansion, Los Rodeos should reach capacity around 2011/2012.
If work on widening the TF-1 seemed to have been progressing at a snail’s pace, there have been extenuating circumstances of an environment-friendly nature.
Snails – 640 of them, in fact – were in the way of bulldozers beside the northbound Candelaria-Santa Cruz section of the Tenerife motorway where drivers will eventually enjoy the benefit of 3 lanes in each direction.
They were not just any old slow-moving molluscs, but examples of threatened Hemicycla plicaria which are endemic to the Canary Islands.
The snails’ habitat was two small plots at Punta Larga and Samarines within the project area so the Council of Infrastructures, Transport & Housing called in biologists to relocate the creatures which are sensitive to change.
New homes with similar living conditions were found nearby and work on the widening scheme was able to resume.
Canary Islands workers are among the poorest paid in Spain.
National Statistics Institute data revealed the average monthly wage as 1,230 euros for the second quarter of the year. Only employees in mainland Extremadura were worse off with 1,205 euros in their pay packets. Salary increases in the archipelago from April-June were among the lowest, too, rising just 2% against a national average of 3.1%. Canarians also work longer, putting in 161.8 hours a month to head the country’s league table.
After a summer of flight delays and cancellations, Spanish airports authority AENA came under pressure to equip the Canary Islands with a comprehensive air navigation system.
Canarian Government President Adán Martín demanded that the state agency provide the technical infrastructure to go operational within 2 years. And he urged that work should be speeded up so the controversial radar station planned for Cruz de Taborno in Tenerife’s Anaga rural park would be ready before next summer.
Martín spelled out the Canaries’ navigational needs in talks with AENA Director-General Manuel Azuaga Moreno who said both parties would work together to pinpoint places where radar could be located so tourism would not continue to suffer the same hold-ups.
After meeting Manuel Azuaga, Tenerife Cabildo President Ricardo Melchior said he had learned that the delayed work on a new terminal for Reina Sofía Airport was going out to tender and improvements to arrivals and departures were on schedule.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s thin blue line has still not been sufficiently reinforced in the fight against crime.
Despite the Home Office assigning 104 officers to the Canary Islands – divided equally between the province and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – the National Police force remained 315 below strength on Tenerife alone.
Parents hit out at the practice of pupils on different courses sharing the same classroom at Adeje town school.
Worried about the negative effect on the standard of their children’s teaching, they refused to rule out the possibility of a demonstration if the Canarian Government’s Education Council did not respond to the criticism.
Their demands were supported by Gonzalo Delgado Díaz, Adeje’s Education and Culture Councillor.
In other news, Arona Education Councillor Pedro Cabeza gave notice of improvement work starting on three primary pupils’ classrooms at Luis Älvarez Cruz School in Las Galletas where parents had complained about the poor state of the facilities.
Arona Radio Taxi Association met Mayor José Alberto González and Transport Councillor Pedro Cabeza to spell out local cab drivers’ problems, notably the activities of unauthorised vehicles invading the territory and hitting their earnings. Local Police action had led to 18 fines being handed out and the Mayor said operations would continue.
Almost 100 residents associations called on the Canarian Government to put pressure on Madrid and oil giant Cepsa to have Santa Cruz’ refinery moved from the Tenerife capital.
Residents expressed their worries about the installation and gas emissions after a recent fault caused the city to be enveloped in a dense cloud.
Association representatives want the refinery moved without damaging the island and Canarian economies or jeopardising jobs.
During the first eight months of 2004, Tenerife welcomed 3,323,792 tourists which was 1.68% more than during the same period last year.
Hotels saw their bookings increase by over 3% during this time
The vice-president of the Town hall and insular advisor of Tourism and Planning, Jose Manuel Bermúdez, explains that, in spite of the difficult situation currently facing the tourism sector as a whole, Tenerife was in a better position than the other Spanish islands due to the amount of time and money that is spent on promotions targeting new and return visitors .
More than 6% more tourists visited from Spain and the number of Enlgish arriving on the island was up by 3.13%.
Although visitor numbers were down in August, increases in other months, including July contributed to the overall improvement.
Residents of Valle de San Lorenzo have asked the Arona Town Council governing group to increase the number of rubbish collection points in the area and improve street cleaning.
Tenerife recycled more than 2.9 million kilos of glass – 34% of the total in the Canary Islands – during the first six months of this year. The island has 1,366 containers, affectionately known as igloos, dotted around the municipalities in which residents can deposit glass.
To meet Arona’s needs, the company with the cleaning service concession for the southern municipality announced the addition of extra equipment and personnel.
The first phase of the new Guargacho cultural centre should be completed by the end of the year according to San Miguel de Abona Town Hall. Classrooms, a workshop, a junior information point and offices are included in the project. The second phase of the two-storey building for residents of Guargacho and Punta del Lomo will feature more classrooms and a 220-capacity function room.
More than 80% of the Canary Island city councils have their own web sites, which is a stark contrast to the fact that only two schools on the island are on line.
The person in charge of the Foundation Auna, who carried out the survey, Manuel Gimeno, said that in some respects the Canary Islands were way ahead of their Spanish counterparts although in areas such as technology training, they were far behind. In many schools, for example, many pupils know more about computers and the internet than the teachers taking the lessons.
The Canary Islands occupy the first place as far as ADSL connections are concerned with 4.27 connections per 100 inhabitants, Madrid has 4.14, and the Balearic islands register 4.05.
A self-defence course for women running from October 5th to December 14th will launch a Social Services programme for residents of San Miguel de Abona. Costing 15 euros, classes will be held at 6pm on Tuesdays in Las Zocas Institute pavilion. The second course, aimed at young people from 13 to 17 years, will concentrate on the personal combat technique of Muay Tai for sport or self-defence
Around 60,000 people took part in the recent Sansofé 2004 organised by Granadilla de Abona town hall.
The cultural, sport and leisure initiative was principally centred in El Medano and Los Abrigos and organised by the councillors for Youth, Sport and Culture.
This was the thirteenth year that the event has taken place with a full programme of activities throughout July, August and September. There was something for all ages with summer camps, dance classes, cinema projects, painting exhibitions and workshops.
Road communications with the North were improved with the official unveiling of 1,230m of the TF-82 at Santiago del Teide crossroads, passing between the accesses to Valle de Arriba and Arguayo. Apart from the provision of kerbs, pavements, parking spaces and a new road surface, the year-long project included the installation of such services as sanitation, water supply, electricity and telephone.
Two Canary Islands environmental protection projects were among the schemes benefiting from a total of 76 million euros approved by the European Union as part of the LIFE Nature 2004 programme. Priorities in the archipelago are the urgent conservation of the Canarian sub-species of the Egyptian vulture in its threatened habitat and to seek solutions to preserve the endemic forests of the islands.
2 people have died and 9 seriously injured in a coach crash in Gran Canaria.
The brakes of the vehicle failed and the bus overturned on the border of the tourist area of Mogán.
2 women aged 30 and 40 died and another 32 people were hurt. The mayor of Mogán, Francisco González, said the coach was 15 years old and the driver tried to control the situation by a swerve but the coach overturned off the road. According to the emergency services the coach had all the papers and revisions in order. The bus was carrying a total of 54 passengers including the tour guide.
The town hall of Adeje are distributing 10,000 beach ashtrays to promote the tidiness of the beaches.
The council for the environment have delivered 10,000 plastic ashtrays specially designed to be used by beach goers. This initiative pioneered by the municipality has the objective of promoting a better conduct and avoid the loss of environmental quality of the beach of the presence of cigarette butts and other small objects that are difficult to eliminate with mechanical beach cleaners.
Adeje Town Hall put out to tender a 6 month renovation scheme costing 120,000 euros for Edificio Tamaide in Las Nieves district where the future Security School will be located. Three storeys high and covering 1,700 m2, the building will have classrooms, multi-purpose rooms, a laboratory, offices, a residency for students and sleeping quarters for instructors. Work is also due to start on building Local Police quarters at Barranco Las Torres which will complement Fañabé Civil Defence installation also housing Adeje fire brigade.
The matriculation of vehicles within the Santa Cruz province has increased after a rise of 2.48% in August. During the first 8 months a total of 23,557 vehicles have been registered, 1209 more than last year. These figures exclude motorcycles, special vehicles and tow trucks.

Posted Week Commencing: Monday 20th September 2004
Experts have drawn up an emergency plan of preventive measures to be activated in the event of an imminent volcanic eruption threatening Tenerife.
As part of the Civil Defence Plan of Co-ordinated Action, the blueprint outlines the minimum organisational requirements, operational criteria, basic intervention steps and co-ordination controls.
Also mapped out are the roles of action groups such as hospital or Red Cross (Cruz Roja) personnel and fire crews.
Seismic movements are still being registered on the island and, although the strongest measured just 2.1 on the Richter scale, a yellow alert has been maintained.
Only five of the 150 low-intensity earthquakes recorded between April 22 and September 8 were detected by the population, said the National Geographic Institute.
Epicentres were concentrated around Mount Teide and in the municipalities of Icod, Buenavista, Garachico, Santiago del Teide, Guía de Isora and Vilaflor.
Island Cabildo President Ricardo Melchior said that living with volcanoes was part of the daily routine and there was no need for the Tenerife population to fear an imminent eruption.
As the sun sets on Tenerife’s summer season, Tourism chiefs gave their assurances that the loyalty of long-standing British and German holidaymakers will not be compromised as the Canary Islands tap the potential of emerging markets in the 2005 tourist promotion of the archipelago.
Details were kept under wraps, but Pilar Parejo, the Autonomous Executive’s Deputy Councillor for Tourism, said there had been fruitful Santa Cruz marketing talks between sector experts and island cabildos drawing up the plan of attack.
One of the aims was improved co-ordination of promotional activities abroad and presence at international fairs under the Canaries banner.
There was a need to exploit the business possibilities offered by emerging markets, but without neglecting promotion in such countries as the UK and Germany which had been the mainstays of the tourist trade.
Raising the archipelago’s profile on the Spanish mainland had produced good summer results so that source required special treatment.
Improving the Canaries’ promotion abroad was among the suggestions from José Antonio Santana Rodríguez, President of Tenerife Federation of Leisure and Services Businesspeople and Professionals, whose 2,000 provincial associates include restaurants, bars, pubs, discos and golf courses.
While not abandoning sun and sand holidays, he felt there could be more accent on quality tourism with a boost for congresses, golf and leisure in general.
Santana Rodríguez reported that a drop in tourist numbers had resulted in losses of up to 40% in the leisure sector this year. “When tourism sneezes, the sector catches a cold,” he said.
All-inclusive packages had taken their toll on bars, cafes, restaurants, etc for, if clients didn’t leave their hotel, other businesses had no customers.
The BBVA Spanish bank have bought the Texan bank Laredo National for 700 million euros.
The bank announced that they have bought 100% of the Texan bank for 850 million American dollars. The acquiring of this Texan bank, on the part of the bank group BBVA and financed 100% of their own funds of the group, will create value from the first year where already on the last figures the Texan bank have had net profit of 40 million dollars which is 22% up on the previous year.
TF-1 users have been warned to expect possible traffic hold-ups after Tenerife Cabildo approved a road improvements package costing 8.2 million euros that will include raising safety levels on the South motorway.
In order to lower the accident toll and reduce the number of serious incidents, the island authority plans to revamp the crash barriers in a three-phase project.
Work will be carried out on the verges and the central reservation of the motorway passing through Adeje, Arona, San Miguel, Granadilla, Arico, Fasnia and Güímar.
A stretch of the South carretera general at the San Miguel turn-off and the surface of the section of road between Chío and Guía de Isora are also due for attention.
The Island Water Council gave the go-ahead for the enlargement of the Adeje-Arona water treatment plant at a cost of more than 40 million euros.
Improvements will be carried out at Barranco de Troya and to the infrastructure of Caldera del Rey where the plant is located.
The Council also agreed to a project for the purification and re-use of sewage in Arona and San Miguel de Abona with a budget of almost 35 million euros for a scheme undertaken by the State as part of a national plan.
The ‘balls’ were well and truly back in Tenerife Cabildo’s court over the remodelling of Avenida Rafael Puig in Playa de las Américas.
Already in despair over a three-month project being extended to 18 months, businesspeople and traders on the shopping strip linking Arona and Adeje face more disruption while modifications are carried out.
Drivers and pedestrians have had problems distinguishing between road and pavement, while large concrete balls, apparently placed for decoration, have caused amusement and confusion.
Now, the balls are going, pedestrian crossings will be raised, shoppers will be separated from road users by shrubs and large flower pots, and the zone where vehicles circulate will be asphalted rather than covered with paving slabs.
The basic intention of the plan – financed by the State, Canarian Government, Cabildo and Arona and Adeje town halls at a cost now believed to be over nine million euros – was to create an area with plenty of space for pedestrians and limited traffic.
Santa Cruz Town Hall has drawn the line between swimmers and sporting craft at Las Teresitas beach with marker buoys.
Fearing the possibility of an accident, the local authority decided to delimit the bathing zone and boats anchored without permission risk a fine. A clean-up of the sea bed led to the discovery of three sunken vessels, car batteries, tyres, nets and other rubbish.
Six of the 25 innovative bioclimatic homes being developed in Granadilla are understood to have been completed.
ITER, the Canaries Technological Institute of Renewable Energies based on Tenerife, is involved in the project to build housing that is completely self-sufficient. The key is a system of renewable energy for the power supply, hot water, desalination, etc. Solar panels are already a common sight throughout the Canary Islands.
Canarian Statistics Institute data shows that the southern tourist municipality of Arona attracted the most immigrants last year with 3,812 registered, the majority arriving from the European Union.
The same was true of Adeje which officially welcomed 1,639 new citizens from abroad, while British and Germans formed the bulk of Puerto de la Cruz’ 876 foreign arrivals.
By contrast, La Laguna (+1,785) and capital Santa Cruz (+874) were the targets for South Americans starting a new life.
Venezuelans headed the overall list with 3,999 settling on Tenerife out of 5,672 who made for the Canary Islands. Argentinians were next, followed by Uruguayans.
Out of a total of 29,048 new foreign residents in the Canaries last year, 13,009 chose Tenerife, almost twice the number opting for Gran Canaria.
New residents from other parts of Spain added 25,195 to the archipelago’s expanding population, Again, Tenerife was the leading destination, drawing 9,545 against Gran Canaria’s 6,749
The new school term meant classroom roll calls for 302,567 pupils throughout the Canary Islands, 7,207 up on the start of the previous academic year.
Autonomous Executive Education Councillor José Miguel Ruano described teaching staff levels in primary and secondary centres as sufficient, hitting back at criticism of a reduction in numbers.
Of the total intake, 121,090 were primary pupils, 92,225 secondary, 58,381 infants and 30,871 GCSE O-level.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife welcomed 140,336 children to classes and Tenerife itself, notably the South of the island, had one of the biggest concentrations of immigrant pupils with 8,742.
Foreign students of 135 different nationalities could be found in the archipelago and the main countries of origin were Colombia, Venezuela, the UK, Argentina, Germany, Morocco and Ecuador, in that order.
More than 40,000 youngsters were taking advantage of school transport on over 1,000 routes and the Education Department had increased and improved the meals service.
Seven new education centres had opened, while IES Las Zocas (San Miguel) and CEIP Barranco las Torres (Adeje), introduced last term, now had second phases functioning.
That meant a total investment of 31.5 million euros in 151 units offering 4,280 new places, said Ruano.
In addition, more than 10 million euros were being spent on extensions that would provide another 2,915 places and next year would see a start on 16 new projects, including 13 centres, at a cost of 44 million euros for 2006-7 opening.
In the south Tenerife village of Las Galletas, from Monday, September 20, there will be a Cultural Week of the Sea 2004 organised by Arona Town Hall.
That day will see the opening of exhibition The Arts of Fishing in the village’s Cultural Centre.
From September 20-24, there will also be a course for anyone wanting a licence to handle pleasure craft up to six metres long and with an engine of maximum 54hp (6-9pm).
The Cultural Centre will be the venue for lectures that range from Environmental Aspects of Fish Farming (September 22, 8pm) and Environmental Control of Fish Farming on Tenerife (September 23) to The Value and Protection of Underwater Heritage (September 24, 8.30pm).
Councillor Dionisio González said the week had been arranged because Arona was a coastal municipality and the sea was a tradition and way of life for many inhabitants.
A baby boom spelled hope for the survival of La Gomera’s giant lizard, regarded as the most endangered of the threatened reptiles in the Canary Islands.
Two early morning births were followed by 11 other new arrivals, all said to be in good health and normal weight for the species, and more were expected.
That welcome boost raised the total to 41 lizards under protection in La Gomera’s Valle Gran Rey and matched the forecasts of the Life project funded by the European Commission, the Canarian Government, the island Cabildo and Valle Gran Rey Town Hall.
To the naked eye, the giant lizard (lagarto gigante) has such distinguishing features as a vivid white neck in adults, an extra scale between the body plates which is not common to other family species, brown dorsal markings and small blue patches on the sides.
In other news, the El Hierro recovery centre also had great expectations for their island’s unique giant lizard following the birth of 29 young and another 38 anticipated.
The recent arrivals were being fed on small insects and flowers in a controlled temperature of 29-30C at the centre in the reptiles’ habitat of Valle de Golfo.
The births were the first in El Hierro’s annual reproduction programme and a success for the conservation project which saw 33 lizards come into the world at the centre last year.
Almost 200 have been released to inhabit the hillsides of Julan, Roque Chico del Salmor and La Dehesa.
A sanitation system and infrastructure costing 1.7 million euros for the Arona village of El Fraile was among six drainage projects given the go-ahead by Tenerife Cabildo. A total of 1.1 million euros will be spent on connecting the Agua Dulce-Piedra Hincada network with Playa de San Juan pumping station in Guía de Isora, while the same amount will cover sanitation and urbanisation for El Socorro, Güímar.
Work is due to start next March on building the long-awaited South Tenerife public hospital at a cost of almost 40 million euros.
Architect José Ángel Domínguez said the complex at El Mojón in Arona would be similar in size to the Canaries University Hospital (HUC) in La Laguna, covering 37,403 m2.
But there would be plenty of room for expansion with another 64,000 m2 of land available.
There will be 336 beds and 60 day centre places in the complex consisting of two and three-storey blocks. Apart from a casualty department, the hospital will have two operating theatres, consulting rooms and a rehabilitation centre.
Other facilities will include services for the elderly and the disabled, a treatment pool, a chapel, a cafeteria and a tree-lined zone with parking for 400 vehicles that can be extended.
The Community Platform for the South & South-West Public Hospital accused Tenerife Cabildo and the Canarian Government for misleading citizens with a project which lacked the essential services for the region, pointing out that the original plan envisaged a complex occupying 90,000 m2.
The Platform organised a weekend rally in Costa Adeje and Playa de las Américas with support including Granadilla de Abona Town Hall and the Citizens’ Collective for the Progress of Tenerife which believes the hospital is vital for the development and maintenance of islanders’ quality of life.
Sierra Leone police may have thwarted an immigrant smuggling ring’s plan to ship 500 illegals to the Canary Islands.
A trail led officers to a rusting hulk in the African country’s capital, Freetown, where another large vessel was boarded recently before setting sail with a similar cargo.
That discovery prompted the Central Government office in the Canaries to consider the possibility that the smugglers were changing tactics by using bigger boats and different routes.
Although more than 10,000 immigrants – over half Moroccans – were detained trying to enter Spain illegally in the first eight months of this year, the number was nearly 9% down on the same period of 2003.
The Canaries remained a major destination with 4,743 immigrants intercepted and 92 boat skippers detained. Almost 150 of the vessels were caught heading for Fuerteventura.
Cabo Blanco was promised an infrastructures programme by Arona Mayor José Alberto González to make up for some of the area’s deficiencies. One of the projects was a green zone covering 8,000 m2 with an ample children’s play area and residents’ recreational space alongside displays of plants. Improvements would be carried out to San Martín de Porres estate and there was a scheme to cover two barrancos which, through a pedestrian walkway, connected Avenida San Martín with the church square and the carretera general.

Posted Week Commencing: Monday 13th September 2004
Road traffic is belching out 700 kilos of contamination daily into the Tenerife atmosphere.
ITER (Technological Institute of Renewable Energies) came to that conclusion from readings taken in the Avenida de Tres de Mayo tunnel in capital Santa Cruz.
Experts were able to isolate and evaluate the pollution attributable to vehicles. Traffic circulation was the major source of fuel consumption and responsible for the greater part of emissions by combustion, said ITER.
The institute is engaged in the Cabildo-funded TENAIR 2005 project to detect and measure atmospheric pollution generated by human activities.
An eight-strong force of neighbourhood police on motorbikes will make their first appearance on the streets of Arona’s southern coastal towns during September.
They will form part of Mayor José Alberto González’ response to requests for increased security from residents of Costa del Silencio, Las Galletas and El Fraile.
In Silencio, to meet local representatives and hear their demands for upgrading the area, he said the officers would operate two patrols on morning and late shifts.
With a new school year starting, residents also called for a Local Police presence at start and leaving times of La Estrella and Las Rosas education centres where pupils had to cross a busy road.
Another of Silencio’s needs was an improved public transport service to South Tenerife’s Reina Sofía Airport because only two buses ran daily at present.
Arona Town Hall has set aside 2.4 million euros to improve Silencio’s image and the Mayor explained that streets Minerva, Diana and De la Te plus Avenida José Antonio Tavio had been earmarked for renovation of pavements, kerbs and tarmac, green and public spaces, gardens, signposting, seating, etc.
Residents, ecologists and traditional fishermen staged a demonstration in Las Galletas to protest about the siting of fishing cages 800m off the Arona village's coast. About 300 people converged on the Rambla where there were children's workshops and lectures on the possible pitfalls of the spread of fish farming in community areas. Apart from an obvious visual impact, the cages were destined for an area where tourism was fundamental to the economy, it was pointed out, and the Regional Government was asked not to grant any new concessions.
The town hall will contribute 60,000 euros to improve the Motocross circuit in San Miguel.
The circuited in located in an old quarry on Montaña Luceña and has been specially adapted to cater for the needs of local riders.
Dámaso Arteaga, the insular advisor for sports said that the area needs upgrading so that in the future, the site can host National competitions.
Work on closing the old rubbish tip in Arico would be finalised during September, said Tenerife Cabildo Environment Councillor Wladimiro Rodríguez Brito after visiting the site. The cost of sealing the dump has been estimated at almost 5.5 million euros and Tenerife Cabildo has set aside 800,000 euros to plant indigenous flora in the area.
Canary Islands hotels were Spain's second busiest during July with a tourist occupancy level of almost 69%.
Only the Balearics (83.23%) did better, although the average stay in the Canaries was longer at 7.32 days. A total of 459,297 travellers were welcomed in archipelago hotels with 244,098 arriving from abroad and amassing 2,333,332 overnight stays. National Institute of Statistics' data also showed that Canarian hotel prices were 0.1% lower than in July 2003, although takings rose by 2.8%.
At least 25,000 illegal immigrants working in the Canary Islands could benefit from an amnesty announced by Madrid.
Central Government unveiled a plan to legalise foreigners who could show that they were in regular employment. Consuelo Rumí, Secretary of State for Immigration, said the offer applied to those having a job before the last general elections, but who had not been able to obtain work and residence permits.

Posted Week Commencing: Monday 6th September 2004
Two South Tenerife tourist authorities have teamed up for a joint promotion in the Scandinavian holiday market.
With the support of the island Cabildo, Arona and Adeje are breaking new ground in their bid to attract more Swedish visitors next winter.
Linking with the Spanish Embassy and national Tourism Office, the municipalities are building a profile of an important market to formulate a strategy.
On their first visit to Stockholm, they have arranged a series of meetings with the area's leading tour operators, TUI and My Travel.
The delegation will include José Manuel Bermúdez, together with the general manager of SPET, Alberto Bernabé, the director of the tourist promotion section from Arona, Ana Maria Lluick and the councillor for tourism from Adeje, Miguel Angel Santos.
If this first shared initiative produces good results, there is every possibility of their repeating the experience.
The Technological Institute for renewable Energies (ITER) recently installed a photovoltaic lamppost to show that new technologies can work alongside existing infrastructures.
The lamppost 'guarantees light' as it will shine even if there is a power cut, it requires little maintenance and is more efficient than standard lamp columns.
The columns stand between 4 to 7m high and can operate up to 12 hours daily depending on the location
A German travel company is targeting the Canary Islands with a winter campaign offering 119 archipelago destinations, 60% more than in the previous brochure. Neckermann Preisknüller, created a year ago as a low-cost subsidiary of tour operator Thomas Cook, also reported that summer bookings in the Canaries were showing an 8% increase.
Arona Town Council budgeted 200,000 euros to ensure that Las Vistas beach at Los Cristianos had all the facilities needed to guarantee safe entry to the sea for the elderly and people with reduced mobility, both residents and visitors
Canary Islands ferry company Fred Olsen announced a 6% increase in tariffs resulting from the high cost of crude oil.
New prices mean archipelago residents paying between 70 cents and 1.60 euros more per journey depending on the route used.
The price rise took effect from September 1.
Competitors Trasmediterránea and Naviera Armas were holding prices for the time being.
In other news, Binter Canarias will also increase their prices by one euro from 14th September.
The routes affected will be Tenerife-Gran Canaria and Tenerife-La Palma. A spokesman for Binter said that the company had tried to delay the increase as long as possible but now it was impossible to avoid.
Gonzalo Delgado Diaz, the Adeje councillor for educational promotion, culture and sport, recently announced the start of the programme "Deportes Para Todos" (Sports for All).
The councillor explained that the objective of the programme was to encourage local residents to participate in sporting activities regardless of ability, age, sex or economic situation.
The programme will take place over an eight month period at five different sports centres in the area. The activities on offer include rhythmic ballet, tennis, karate, judo, aerobics, artistic gymnastics, yoga, dance, basketball, volleyball and football.
Canarian hoteliers are warming to the prospect of a bumper winter season.
Good results for the high spot in the archipelago's year were forecast by Fernando Fraile, President of the Hotel and Tourism Business people's Federation.
He was full of expectations and confidence about the winter trade, especially as people from countries who have suffered poor summers would want to get away from it all.
Granadilla de Abona Town Council has invested 240,000 euros in carrying out necessary improvements to municipality education centres ready for the new school year.
San Miguel de Abona Town Hall also spent about 120,200 euros improving and enlarging schools in Guargacho, Aldea Blanca, Las Zocas, El Roque and San Miguel itself, while Candelaria education authority ensured that around 2,000 pupils would receive free textbooks.
Energy giant UNELCO experts on a fault-finding mission used a high-technology eye in the sky for the first time in the Canary Islands.
To carry out a thorough check of high-tension power lines, they brought in a low-flying helicopter employing an advanced inspection system known as Sky II combining video and thermographs.
From the high-definition infra-red images, the experts could detect and correct potential faults, ensuring the quality of the power supply.
Costing around 250,000 euros to develop, this operation was being used on all the Canaries' high-tension lines which cover about 800kms.
After working in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria province, the helicopter switched to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Tenerife itself has around 295kms of high-tension lines (220,000 and 66,000 volts) and checks began between the stations of Las Caletillas in Candelaria and Granadilla de Abona then Las Caletillas-Puerto de la Cruz before continuing in the South.
Tenerife is still on volcanic alert yellow as all is quiet on the Teide front.
Scientists have been constantly monitoring the seismic activity on the island and in the week ending August 29, there were 39 'events' reaching a maximum of 2.1 on the Richter scale - activity which is quite normal for an active volcano.
Although the activity was greater than in previous weeks, the monitoring station located near the top of Teide registered normal levels of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.
Traffic chaos marked the opening day of a new temporary access to the South Tenerife tourist resort of Los Cristianos.
For a year, drivers will be expected to approach the Arona town from El Mojón because of works under way on the future entrance and exit roads. Local Police were on hand to direct drivers uncertain of the new circulation, but were unable to prevent traffic jams building up. The new access is near to the TF-1 motorway intersection and passes close to a tourist complex before reaching Edificio Simón. Drivers should leave via a new roundabout at the end of Calle Juan Carlos I next to the Apolo Centre.
Tenerife town hall have presented the Spanish Red Cross with three new ambulances and an all terrain vehicle to help modernize their existing fleet of vehicles.
The ambulances will be used in Santa Cruz, San Miguel, La Orotava and Los Realajos. Money has also been set aside to purchase a further 20 vehicles in the future to help the Red Cross deal with a variety of activities including searching for missing persons, dealing with casualties from forest fire and floods and transferring patients between hospitals on the island.