Request from Santiago del Teide Council

Santiago del Teide Council is organising another coastal clean up for the Los Gigantes area, like Alcala did last week.

The event will be on Saturday 9th August, meeting at 9.00am on the marina of Los Gigantes.

Volunteers are wanted to help local fire men, local surf club and the local youth club to clean the coast.

Everyone is welcome, so please come along and help to keep our coasts clean.

8.8.08 Update: There has been a last minute change of plan for the clean up tomorrow. Because of parking problems the meeting point is now the beach in Puerto Santiago at 10.30am

The newly remodelled Plaza de Espana in Santa Cruz has officially opened.

The public areas of Santa Cruz, including the Plaza de Espana, the Duke of Alameda St. Helena and the Plaza de Candelaria, which have undergone massive renovations, are now finished and were officially inaugurated last Thursday by the highest representatives of the Cabildo.

An area of 36,160 square metres which has undergone the huge remodelling during the past two years only needs the completion of the required testing techniques to fill and empty the lake.

The project was designed by the architectural firm Herzog and Meuron and executed by the joint venture (UTE) constituted by Acciona and VVO Building and Infrastructure Projects.

A 4% increase in bus and tram fares, as of today, has been announced by the Tenerife Cabildo.

In the metropolitan area the increase is €1.25 to €1.30 per journey, or 0.95 with a Bono card (bus pass).

An increased of 4% has also been introduced on Interurban routes throughout the island.

The price of the monthly Bono ticket will remain the same, €40.

The Titsa Bus service is heavily subsidised by the Cabildo and the Canarian Government but still loses money, mostly on little used but essential outlying routes, which act as an essential lifeline to remote communities.

The first anniversary of the forest fires, which affected many people in Northern areas of Tenerife, has been chosen as the time for the affected people to vent their anger at the lack of aid received.

The authorities promised that compensation would be paid immediately to hundreds of people, particularly farmers who lost land in the fires that broke out on 30 July 2007.

Residents of Los Realejos and Masca say that little help has been received in helping to clear potentially hazardous scrub to prevent a the blazes of last year happening again.

The accusations have been rejected by the island authorities, who insist that applications for assistance have been processed in full except for a small number of claims.

Santiago Del Teide now have a Notary office in the Municipio.

The new office opened its doors on 21st July 2008. Address is Avenida Maritima number 25, Edificio La Mar, Local 40 Puerto De Santiago.

Hours : Monday to Friday, 9.00am till 3.00pm.

Santiago Del Teide Town hall together with the Tourist Board of Tenerife and the Canarian Government are organising a Tapas competition in the Municipality of Santiago Del Teide 2008. This is the first time a competition of this type has been organised.

The Tapas route competition 2008 will start from 1st August until 10 august 2008.

Prizes will be presented to the best 3 entries:
First prize 300 Euros and a diploma
Second prize 200 Euros and a diploma
Third prize 100 Euros and a diploma

During the competition the business entering the Tapas route will:-
Be visited by the judges, and the public.
Each Tapa must not cost more than 2 Euros, the name of the Tapa must be displayed.

The Tapa will be judged on:
Quality of ingredientes
Quality of work involved
Presentation
Originality

For a full list of entries issued by the tourist board http://www.losgigantes.com/board/index.php?topic=1161.0

The results and winners will be announced on the 26th August 10.00 at a press meeting.

TRY, TASTE AND ENJOY

An archaeological sites in the cliffs above San Juan de la Rambla and in two major barrancos may well complicate or halt plans to extend the motorway along the northern coastline of Tenerife.

The Government has approved a decree by which the cliffs as well as the Chaurera and Ruíz barrancos are to be declared areas of cultural interest and classified as an archaeological zone. In other words, they could become untouchable by law.

The area is a maze of caves and aboriginal Guanche dwelling sites, many of which have been excavated and well documented since the 1950s.

Many of the sites have been tamped with over the years. Experts say these sites must be protected for their historic and scientific interest.

Some of the sites already documented include a burial ground at La Gotera in the Poncio gorge, where human remains have been discovered along with primitive tools and utensils. Stone-age ceramics were found in caves inside the Ruiz ravine. If this decree goes ahead it will confirm a recent trend where archaeological sites take priority over progress.

The municipality of Villa Historical of Santiago del Teide, together with the Agency for Employment and Local Development, is immersed in a project to improve all the municipal gardens.

Currently the gardens of Playa de La Arena, Los Gigantes and Viewpoint Archipenque are being worked on. Work will gradually continue its way through all the districts of the municipality.

The Ministry of Environment is planning the dredging of more than four million cubic meters of sand from the seabed of Tenerife for the regeneration of various beaches on the island.

The five beaches where sand will be dredged are Punta de Anaga (655,905 cubic meters), Antequera (573,975 cubic meters), Punta de Abona-El Médano (896,062 cubic metres of marine sand), El Sauzal (1,345,225 meters cubic) and Los Gigantes (776,060 cubic meters).

An exhibition, opening for guided visits from September has been completed underneath the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz.

During excavations for the new main square a section of wall was revealed which turned out to belong to a medieval fortification, the Castle of San Cristobal. It was this castle that gave the name to the popular Calle Castillo main street.
Work on the new square was halted until new plans could be drawn up which would preserve the fragment of the castle.

A series of panels in the underground passages show the history of the castle and the town from 1575 to its semi-demolition and burial in 1928. At the end of the passage visitors can see a 40 metre stretch of the wall.

After the success of last year’s coastline cleanup campaign at San Juan, the beaches and shoreline of Alcala will undergo a massive clean up tomorrow, Saturday July 26th 2008.

Work will begin at 9am when the volunteers meet in the Plaza de Llano, in Alcala. Several groups will be formed, and each will cover their specified area.

At the same time there is a plan to inform all citizens about the rules of recycling and garbage separation.

After a full range of security checks, technical adjustments and final touches
Siam Park is currently undergoing its final technical adjustments including safety checks and water flow studies for maximum amount of fun and safety for everyone.

The dream has been realised and we are in the final stages before the grand opening. With great care and attention, the vegetation has continued to grow to achieve the camouflage of the structures on the attractions adding mystery to a whole range of surprises.

Our art team are putting the final touches to the park, as in the big elephant which brings in good luck and represents harmony between Mankind and the Universe. This elephant also represents prosperity and was one of the reasons for the Burmese and Siamese war in XV century which fought to conquer the land where the white elephant lived.

The artist Paolo Bonanno, created this 5m tall elephant which will greet visitors at the entrance giving the impression of an oriental setting in the most spectacular theme park with water attractions in Europe.

More information please visit www.siampark.net

Gone are my days of being able to fiesta all night and work all day! How the local Canarians manage it is beyond me, but they did, as every night of the recent eight day fiesta was well supported. Many of the winter residents had organised a couple of weeks extra holiday especially for the occasion.

Around 4,000 people gathered in the Puerto Santiago Plaza as celebrations kicked off on Sat 12th with Fiesta Joven, (concert for the young) organised by the department of youth, Santiago del Teide council and the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife. Girl group Las K-Narias was top of the bill supported by Madel.

The week continued with nightly entertainment by comedians, ventriloquists, clowns, folklore groups and many others, and the evenings always finished with a dance continuing almost to sun rise.

Gema Montesdeoca García(pic left) was crowned this year’s Fiesta Queen. Maids of honour were Selene Melián Gorrín, Ingrid Belardi Colombo, Mercedes Carmen Pérez Treiber, Yamilé Hernández Correa and Patricia Socas Domínguez.

The big night was Sat 19th – Firework night. No work on Sunday, so armed with camera and all accessories we made our way to Puerto Santiago, pausing to laugh at all the youngsters’ attempts to stay on the bulls which were a main attraction at the fairground.

A friend’s balcony above Puerto Santiago beach was the perfect viewing place, and over a couple of drinks we had a spectacular view of the procession and the fireworks.

Each year the fireworks get brighter, louder and last even longer and the vibrations could be felt through the walls and floors – I did spare a thought for all those terrified pets in the area.

Once the display finished it was back to the Plaza for another night of music and dancing to the wee small hours – this time to one of my favourites the Arguayo Band.

……..And if you missed it all, it will all be repeated at Santiago del Teide, Tamaimo, San Juan and Alcala in the next few weeks!

More pictures of the fireworks can be seen on losgigantes.com photogalleries

Tenerife is the top destination that Brits are jetting off to this summer, new research has revealed.

Cheapflights.co.uk analysed searches on its website for holidays between May 1st to June 30th 2008 and the Spanish island came top, reports Travel Weekly.

It was followed by sun-soaked Orlando, Florida, which thanks to the weak position of the dollar against the pound was 60 per cent more popular this year compared to the same period in 2007.

Other places popular with Brits included Euro zones such as Alicante and Malaga, while further afield the charms of Bangkok and Dubai are still luring in holidaymakers.

The only Greek entry was Paphos (7th) and fellow European destinations The Algarve and Turkey also slipped into the bottom half of the top ten.

Source - Travel Industry News

198 were discovered in a house in Fañabé

Police received a tip-off that a house in the Fañabé area was being used for  production. Most of the plants were being cultivated in a small greenhouse and the rest disguised under a canopy.

Police say the 26-year-old Italian, who now faces charges of drug trafficking, also had a small amount of ecstasy tablets in his possession when he was arrested.

The Blarney Stone in Playa Arena is back under its original management and will re-open it doors on Friday 18^th July at 8pm

Augustin and Colette aim to have the bar back in full swing just like old times. They have owned the bar for 12 years. Many of us knew the bar originally as Tiffanys, until 4 years ago when it was refurbished and opened as the Blarney Stone.

In the past there have been many reviews here are 2 of them:-

16 January 2006 a visitor from Leigh, Lancs UK wrote:
Review Subject: The Blarney Stone
Review title: “The Blarney Stone Is A Very friendly Well Run Bar And Restaurant”
Travel date: December 2005
The Blarney Stone situated across the road from the beach at Playa de la Arena is a very friendly well run bar and restaurant. The food is excellent, the atmosphere very hospitable and the owners Collette and Augustine work extremely hard. The entertainment is good, there is a quiz every night and karaoke. We certainly enjoyed our visits there. The Christmas night meal was fantastic. Well done to all concerned.

Review date: 12 March 2006 a visitor from Yorkshire wrote:
Review Subject: The Blarney Stone
Review title: “The Place To Go”
Travel date: December 2005
We spent Xmas again in Playa de la Arena for the fifth year running and went to the ‘Blarney Stone’ every day. The reception you get from Collette and Augustine is second to none. The food is of good quality and plenty of it. You must try the carvary - excellent. There is a great atmosphere on a night when people get up to sing. Sometimes you have to wait your turn to sing. They run a quiz every night. There is a great selection of beers, wines, spirits, cocktails etc. If you take a trip to Playa de la Arena, call in. It’s well worth a visit.

The Blarney Stone restaurant/entertainment bar will be open for breakfasts, lunches and evening meals with a varied menu and a special Sunday carvary. Their daily entertainment programme will be listed on losgigantes.com “What’s on locally” and will vary between live music, quiz nights and karaoke evenings.

To celebrate the opening on Friday 18th Augustin, Colette and their staff have a great night lined up with live Irish music and a finger buffet, guaranteed to be a great night out and everyone is welcome.

Los Gigantes Dive Centre owner Nev, having finishing his first days diving after returning from a well earned holiday, was relaxing over a well needed beer, when the marina suddenly erupted with activity!

There was much shouting “Nev, move your boat a car wants your berth”

Rather puzzled Nev wandered over to find………….see pic right

As the car was not over the water enough to tip the balance so it fell onto his boat Nev decided there was no need to panic, however a rope quickly appeared and the car was tied to the nearest lamp post until it could be winched back from the brink.

It turned out that the owner of the car, who wishes to remain anonymous, had forgotten to put the hand brake on, Oops! His major concern now with all the very enthusiastic boys in blue around:-Would he get a parking ticket as he was well over the newly painted yellow line!

However the local fire brigade were soon on the scene and the car was winched back onto the road.

Photo by Amy

New government rules revealed yesterday that false promises made by internet service providers could soon be a thing of the past.

Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastián said the government wanted to stop internet providers advertising broadband speeds which are far higher than the customer actually gets.

Under the new rules providers will have to guarantee to provide a minimum of 80% of the speed they advertise.

Up to now, providers advertise the highest possible speed, and that higher speed is only available to consumers living very close to a telephone exchange. Those customers further from the exchange, needing a longer cable, get a slower speed.

The Centro de Información de Carreteras (Road Information Centre) to include an intelligent transport control system

The Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Tenerife Island Council) has recently given the go-ahead for funds to develop the Centro de Información de Carreteras (Road Information Centre), located in the Intercambiador de Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz Interchange), which will manage video surveillance of the island’s main roads and access to Santa Cruz and La Laguna, and possible congestion or danger points. The new device will facilitate immediate action for road incidents and will provide information at all times to users about the state of the roads. Read Full Story » »

Campaña Contra Incendios de Tenerife 2008 is to incorporate satellite use.

Over 700 personnel, 8 helicopters, 36 vehicles, 8 surveillance towers and three communications networks are the main resources available for the operating unit of the 2008 anti-fire campaign organised by the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife (Tenerife Island Council). Read Full Story » »

To encourage people to explore the capital on wheels Santa Cruz council has launched a new bike hire service.

The scheme was unveiled at the García Sanabria Park by Mayor Miguel Zerolo and his deputy Ángel Llanos where the pool of 16 bicycles and four tandems will be based for the next 12 months.

The bikes can be hired for just one euro an hour and must be returned back to the Park. The hire service runs on Thursday and Friday afternoons and all day Saturday and Sunday.

The council hopes the service, which is being sponsored to the tune of 25,000 euros by a well known food company, will enable visitors to see a different side of the city, not just the pedestrian shopping streets and main buildings, and keep the tourists fit in the process.

After living in Tenerife for seven years Birmingham couple Gayle and Mick Curtis headed back home. Due to rigorous quarantine procedure their two beloved dogs, 8 year old Ebony, a Staffordshire bull terrier, and 13 year old Libby, a White West Island terrier had to be left behind for a while, and they knew they would have to wait a few months before they could see them again.

After the wait was over the couple looked forward to welcoming their faithful hounds back at their Marston Green home. When they arrived at Manchester airport to collect the dogs they were left devastated when officials told them they had lost their pets on the flight from Tenerife to Manchester.
Instead of being unloaded, bungling baggage handlers forgot to take them off the aircraft and the poor dogs were left on board for an hour before being sent all the way back to Tenerife – a round trip of nearly 4,000 miles and nine hours.

Beside themselves with worry they were told the dogs would be walked, given water and food when they landed back in Tenerife.

Ebony and Libby finally arrived back in Birmingham at 9.30am on Saturday morning, nearly 24 hours after they left Tenerife. They had been on the aeroplane for around 12 hours.

A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook said: “The welfare of the animals transported on Thomas Cook Airlines is always a priority. We would like to apologise to Mr Curtis for any upset and inconvenience caused.”

A spokesman for baggage handlers, Menzies Aviation, said: “As soon as the error was realised staff took immediate action to ensure the animals were met by a vet in Tenerife and were examined before being allowed to travel back to the UK. Menzies Aviation is undertaking an investigation into this incident and will take disciplinary action where appropriate.”

A defibrillator is to be install in one of the south’s busiest tourist areas to help speed up responses to medical emergencies.

A special unit is to be set up in Playa Fañabé by Adeje Council. It will be manned by civil protection volunteers and equipped with a state of the art portable defibrillator for use in heart attacks.

In the coming months the equipment will also be installed at other beaches in the area.

The corporation adopted the decision unanimously yesterday after an in depth debate on insurance cover for personnel who are called on to intervene with the defibrillator.

The newly refurbished beach promenade in Los Cristianos was officially opened by the Arona council on Friday 27th June.

The project took 15 months to complete and cost the council over three million euros. The work consisted of, “improvements to the 20 year-old promenade which involved repaving, replacing the furniture, creating accesses to the beach, public lighting and services such as the provision of toilets, showers and security. Read Full Story » »

A large haul of marijuana was intercepted shortly after it arrived by boat in the coastal town of El Médano. The haul is believed to have come from Morocco.
During searches of a number of properties in the area police uncovered 3000 euros in cash, night vision binoculars, GPS equipment and 20 mobile phones, all of which are thought to have been used in smuggling operations over the past year.

The identities of three men of different nationalities who have been detained have not been released. All three were remanded to Tenerife II prison.

During a routine inspection Santiago del Teide police discovered that two bars, one in Playa Arena and the other in Centro Comercial Tenir in Puerto Santiago, were operating under the same opening licence.

The bar owners are identified only by their initials, O.G.M. and D.G.M. and are brother and sister. The original licence applies to the bar in Playa de la Arena.

The two licences have been forwarded to the judicial authorities, as there was no clerical error in the municipal records.

Lions presidents night is the night when we celebrate the start of a new lion year and traditionally the president officially hands over power to a new president who has been elected by the club in a democratic (no arm twisting, vote rigging or opposition killing allowed) election.

This year was no exception, the main difference being that our current president was unanimously voted back for a second year in office.

Mary Thompson is now going into her second year as Lion President and her speech was short and to the point. Mary also, as is traditional, handed out a number of awards. The Lion of the Year award this year went to Club Secretary Jon Thornley. (pic right) and appreciation awards went to Ken Ward, Sheila Widdrington and Richard Dobinson.

Then night was held at El Marques in Puerto Santiago and what a fantastic night, the food was a sumptuous buffet, the staff were helpful and polite, José the head waiter was only too happy to help with last minute seating plan changes.

The entertainment was superb, Rick Porter had one of the hardest jobs of the night providing the pre-dinner and background music for the evening, he was followed by Steve Delsey (left) a very funny man who had the audience laughing with some very quick humor, and then just to show his talent more he finished his show with an operatic song Nessun Dorma, which had the audience on there feet in appreciation.

Next Rick was back with some dance songs to get the dinner worked down, then a special surprise Tuxedo Nights(right), a close harmony singing trio, Tom Bell, Eddie Hastings and guess who, yep the one and only Rick Porter, had every one up and dancing, and brought the night to a fantastic close.

For more information on the Lions Clubs International Santiago del Teide branch and what they do visit their web site

http://lionsclub.losgigantes.com/whatwedo.htm

Photos of the evening are posted in our picture galleries http://www.losgigantes.com/pictures/

Jungle Snake, adventure in the Siam Park jungle.

Siam Park is getting ready to open in 2008 and currently we are working on the final phases of decoration and technical trials. The park offers brand new and innovative attractions as well as the classical water rides that all have a special Siam touch.

The Jungle Snake is one of the rides that’s ready for everyone to enjoy. This attraction twists and turns in a jungle setting and can be enjoyed by the whole family. It can be ridden in individual or double tubes and as you plunge down on a thin film of water you slide through an amazing adventure. Each of the slides inside the Jungle Snake offers a different ride through open air sections with great views and other sections that are enclosed and in total darkness. The slide is designed to look like entwined snakes that are hidden amongst the lush greenery so that riders are not sure where the journey will take them and this really adds to the sense of mystery and adventure they will experience.

A key part of the design is to make sure that the attraction harmonizes with the setting and so the slides are set on a slope covered with plants, bushes and trees that camouflage the structure underneath. The height requirement is 1.25m and will be loved by all ages. It will without doubt be an experience they won’t forget. Siam Park is currently updating it’s website to include the latest news about the park www.siampark.net

The naked body of a man, thought to be aged between 30 and 35, was found floating in the sea off Diego Hernandez beach in Adeje on Sunday morning. People on board a private boat made the initial discovery. The body was recovered by Guardia Civil officers in their patrol boat Rio Gallo.

The man, who has not yet been named has long hair, a beard, a tattoo on one arm with the words Maria Ines inside a heart, as well as other tattoos.

Forest fire units in Tenerife sped into naction for the first time this summer to deal with a blaze near La Esperanza.

The fire broke out around 4pm yesterday near the road which is used by many tourists to drive to and from Mt Teide.

The flames, initially confined to the right hand side of the road soon crossed over, triggering alarm among locals with houses nearby.

Four helicopters were quickly on the scene and began ferrying giant buckets of water, which were emptied from the air to dampen the surrounding area and prevent the fire from spreading further. The blaze was put out shortly afterwards and a fire brigade team stood by for the rest of the evening to make sure it was not rekindled by the strong winds.