The Cabildo Insular backs new technologies with Tenerife Lan Party 2008

Encouraging the use and knowledge of new technologies in the Canaries, making them available to Tenerife society, particularly among young people, and applying them to activities such as the leisure sector, are some of the general objectives of the Cabildo Insular (Tenerife Island Council), now reflected in the Tenerife Lan Party 2008.

Encouraging the use and knowledge of new technologies in the Canaries, making them available to Tenerife society, particularly among young people, and applying them to activities such as the leisure sector, are some of the general objectives of the Cabildo Insular (Tenerife Island Council), now reflected in the Tenerife Lan Party 2008.

Nowadays, poor or no access to the digital world indicates inequality both functionally and socially. This has led the Cabildo to maintain an active interest in encouraging local people to use new technologies, thereby reducing the digital gap.

Consequently, the Cabildo has collaborated in the organisation of the Tenerife Lan Party, a festival of leisure and new technologies open to the public that provides all 500 participants with a broadband connection of 1 G.

The festival will take place from 16 to 20 July at the Recinto Ferial (Trade Fair Centre, Santa Cruz) where it has been transferred from El Rosario, the site of the last two Lan Parties. This year’s party has made a qualitative and quantitative leap and aspires to becoming the largest of such events held in the Canaries.

Tenerife’s technology festival will include activities involving digital art, computer design and electronic leisure, and the programme will feature competitions, workshops, conferences and courses for all participants. Registration will open in May, but those interested can now access information through www.tenerifelanparty.com.

Tenerife Lan Party will be divided into several areas that will in turn be classified into two large groups: areas only accessed by participants and other areas of free access for visitors. Innovations at this year’s festival will include games' areas, Manga Hall, audio zone, free software and 3D world, and computer animation.

Experts participating in the festival include Daniel Ferreira, a computer special effects specialist from Puerto de la Cruz, who has participated in films like Spiderman II, and Carlos Baena, acclaimed computer developer from Las Palmas.

The Cabildo hopes that this annual event will grow to become one of the most important of its kind in Spain and that it will help incorporate and develop the sector of new technologies in Tenerife, particularly electronic leisure.

It seems Business Pages Tenerife is now being used by everyone, even the fast and famous. This photo was sent into the team at bptenerife.com, to prove how popular our directories have become.

The well known holiday maker was frantically looking for a decent mechanic to fix a blown head gasket on his Ferrari. The first place he turned to was the Business Pages Directory. After finding his number he also called our offices and thanked us for such a fantastic product. “I’ve been visiting Tenerife for a number of years” he told us”and this is the first time I’ve been able to find exactly what I need for such an unusual car”.

You can find a number for every service and product on the island with Business Pages Tenerife and bptenerife.com. Or if you need a number fast (excuse the pun!) simply call the live operators on 902 789 925, offering business numbers in business hours. You can even win your self 100 euros in cash if you lucky enough for the cash box to drop down when visiting the homepage. The click and win competition is easy to play, just enter your email address into the promotion box and click, it really is that simple and you could hit the jackpot with 100 euros in cash.

If you own a business in Tenerife, make sure you have your numbers listed in the directory, a basic listing is free of charge, and gets your business numbers visible. Just log on to the homepage and register your details, this will ensure they are also listed in the paper directory for 2008-09. Don’t miss out or you will have to wait a whole year to get your numbers listed. If you don’t have access to the web, just call the team on 902 881 061.

In the meantime we’ll get back to helping the island out with what they need, and see if we can help our unlucky tourist, fix this old Ferrari!

The mayor Guide Isora, Peter Martin, said that among the benefits of the hotel GM Isora Palace, which was built in La Jaquita (Alcala), will be "A new kindergarten for the coastal zone, the improvement of sports centres, centres for the disabled and a new water reservoir for the coast of the municipality."

The hotel chain handed diplomas to nearly 200 people who participated in the first of its courses Continuing Education Plan for future workers in the five-star luxury resort Gran Melia (GM) Isora Palace, which plans to open its doors this summer. Among those attending the event include the chief executive officer of Sol Melia in the Canaries, Carmelo Perez Abreu, director of the Palace hotel Isora, Oscar Ramos, and the mayor and councillor for Tourism and Local Development isoranos, Peter Martin and Hector Gomez, respectively.

Most of the 1,200 jobs that this compound will produce will be filled from residents in the region, said the president of the Municipal Corporation.

2.7% Spain's economy grew in the first quarter of this year, less than eight tenths between October and December 2007 and 1.4 percentage points lower than one year ago. It is the smallest advance since the fourth quarter of 2002, according to a broadcast by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The growth has eased as a result of a lower contribution from domestic demand, which was only "partially offset" by a less negative contribution of the external sector, analyzed the INE.

The evolution of the quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 0.3%, a rate that is five tenths lower than that recorded in the previous quarter and the lowest since 1995. Failing to meet on 21 National Accounting Quarterly Ultimately, the Spanish economy continued its slowdown that began in the second quarter of 2007, which has led the Executive to revise downwards its growth forecast for this year from 3.1 % To 2.3%.

The figure published by the INE is one tenth lower than expected by the Bank of Spain, on the April 30, in their latest newsletter, estimated at 2.8% estimate. The supervisory agency also considered somewhat higher growth of the economy, estimated at 0.4%, a tenth more, and noted that the deceleration was noted by the shortest rise in demand.

In addition, the governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez, considered a growth of 2.8% in the first quarter is a "very reasonable starting point" to ensure that the increase in GDP in whole year will fall "at 2.3% and 2.4%."

The Bank of Spain warns in the first months of the year minor activity in most sectors, especially in construction, which also has moderated further investment, which slows down in all components.

The household consumption grew by only 2.7%, four tenths less than in the previous quarter, according to the agency, in a context marked by economic uncertainty and international financial, high inflation and lower consumer confidence and retail trade.

The minister of Economy, Pedro Solbes, said yesterday that the growth in the first quarter "is compatible" with the provisions of Executive for the whole of 2008. The Government’s vice president acknowledged, however, that in the early months of the year there has been a "significant drop" of growth and that Spain is going through a "clear slowdown, and we can say that deep."

At a press conference within the framework of the meeting of ministers of Economy and Finance of the European Union (Ecofin) in Brussels, Solbes said that the indicator advanced growth "is no surprise" and that the slowdown respect to the last three months of 2007 derives mainly from the property sector "will adjust more quickly than planned", and financial turmoil.

In addition, he highlighted the role of inflation, which "found it difficult to change course" as a result of oil prices and food. In any case, noted that Spain remains "in a comfortable position" in comparison with other European countries.

Several experts agreed yesterday forecast that the slowdown in the Spanish economy will be more pronounced in the coming months. They believed that the latest government forecast, which estimated growth of 2.3% for 2008, may not be achievable and revised downwards in summer.

The director of the Foundation Situation of Savings Banks (FUNC), Angel Laborda, even suggested that the Spanish economy is now "almost in recession", which does not mean that the GDP registered a decrease. The recession, Laborda said, is part of the economic cycle in which GDP growth is "well below" growth "trend" and its existence must be recognized in a context of sharp falls in investment and employment.

The director of the Research Institute of Economic Studies (IEE), Gregorio Izquierdo, warned that "the worst is to come" and, although the economy "not bottomed out" and not decrease, will reach its "minimum point" early 2009.

Weekly flights to link Los Rodeos with Senegal and Cape Verde

The Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Tenerife Island Government) has reached an agreement, beginning in October, for weekly flights from Los Rodeos Airport to the capital cities of Senegal (Dakar), Cape Verde (Praia). This initiative is the work of months of secret negotiations and will foster the movement of people and finances between the two African countries and Tenerife.

There is currently only one line, operated by Iberia, linking Madrid with Las Palmas and Dakar, and another, operated by Cape Verde airlines, connecting the capital of Gran Canaria with the Island of Sal (Cape Verde). The initiative aims to strengthen connections between the Canaries and the nearest African countries, not to replace some for others.

The new flights are very important for the continued consolidation of relations between the Canaries and Africa and for increasing trade relations between small- and medium-size companies in these territories. Entrepreneurs on Tenerife had long been calling for new connections.

Finally, and with a view to extending transport routes between Tenerife and Africa, as a fundamental means of activating the island economy, the island government has announced its continuing efforts, despite delays, to create a sea link between Tenerife, Cape Verde and Brazil. To this end, talks are ongoing between ministers of the countries in question.