The Santiago del Teide Branch of Lions certainly have no time to laze around.

On 21st October a surprise phone call “Hi, I’d like to give you €500 for the Lions club”. It was John Sharples from the Comedy act ‘Bitter and Twisted’. “We need you to come and collect it”.

On 23rd October New member Sheila Lee Peg was badged up by President Mary Thomson at their club meeting this month.

On 25th October the Club visited the Ladies handicapped centre in Santiago del Teide to hand over a cheque to Mother Superior. The money had been raised in the Lions Grand Summer raffle.

Then on the 26th October it was time for the Lions and friends to let their hair down for a fun day with their annual treasure hunt where 6 teams battled it out for the Ralf Jennings memorial Trophy.
You can read the full stories of all events on the Lions web site

…………and the work does not stop there. Make a note in your diaries Sat Nov 22nd. The day starts with their Christmas Fair at 12:30 where they join forces with other local charities. In the early part of the evening entertainment is being organised by the Carnival Commission. Then at 10pm – 2am the lions team up with Viana shows to bring you all an amazing variety of entertainment which will be taken live by the Power FM Road Show to all seven Islands.

It’s the time of year again when we all need to be on the lookout for the injured chicks of the Pardela Cenicienta, (Cory’s Shearwater in English).

These birds are protected in the Canary Islands and the Medio Ambiente will arrange to collect any injured bird which is reported to them. The birds will be cared for, and those which recover will be ringed and set free.

The cliffs of Los Gigantes are an ideal nesting place for these birds however, there are dangers too. These birds fly at night, you’ll probably not see them but we hear their calls. The fledgelings get confused by the street lighting when they fly over Los Gigantes and often crash land, stunning or injuring themselves . This leaves them prey for cats and dogs.

This is where you can help if you come across one. Carefully catch the bird and put it in a box, as they are usually stunned youngsters they can be caught fairly easily! (We had an amusing time last year when we found one in our swimming pool. It took two of us in the pool at midnight to catch it. Fortunetely it seemed to be only stunned).

Keep the bird in a dark place until morning, there is no need to attempt to give it food or water. Take it to the local police station where they will arrange for it to be picked up by the Medio Ambiente.

If you are thinking about going on a shopping spree tomorrow it may be a good idea to postpone it until next week.

Tomorrow, Saturday November 1st, is All Saints Day ( Todos Santos), a national holiday in Spain and the Canaries.

Catholics will celebrate by having a family gathering and a special evening meal. The afternoon may be spent putting flowers on the graves of loved ones.

At 8am this morning residents in the El Varadero area were awakened by Police and Guardia Civil sirens. Cars and vans were rushing along the coastal road to Punta Blanca.

Early morning walkers had discovered a body in a wet suit on the rocks. The circumstances and identity of the body are not known yet.

The Teide volcanic peak on the island of Tenerife acted as a mock-up of the Moon landscape last week, with eight European student teams tuning, testing and driving their lunar rovers in preparation for a robotics competition that took place during the dark nights of last weekend.

Roving on the Moon is not easy. Lunar robotic explorers have to travel in a vacuum, over rough and steep terrain covered by crust and dust. The Sun heats the rovers up to 110*C and, when driving into a shadow, the temperature can drop to -100*C, or almost -200*C in the polar regions. The rovers have to be remote-controlled or able to steer themselves autonomously, making manoeuvres and scientific research very difficult.

ESA’s Lunar Robotics Challenge for university students makes roving a little bit easier, as the conditions on Teide at an altitude of 2000 metres are much more comfortable for the drivers and rovers alike. The terrain is still difficult - comparable to that found at the lunar poles - and operating the robotic vehicle in the dark, freezing cold of night with only the aid of radio links, cameras and sensors is challenging.

The student teams were pushed to the limits by the weather - of a type that is definitely not found on the Moon, such as clouds and rain - but also by technical issues. Finally, only one of the eight teams, from the University of Bremen, managed to accomplish the mission and two other teams were near to mission success. Read Full Story » »

So, if you think you can spell, why not prove it! Join us for our second annual event.

FUN SCRABBLE
(Knockout Competition)

Monday, 10th November, 2008
The Chicken Shack
Puerto de Santiago

Commencing 6.45pm Prompt

Entry per person – including Buffet 25.00€

Buffet only 12.50€

All drinks purchased separately

Prizes for
Winner, Runner Up & Person with the Highest Individual Score for one word

For further information contact John Broadhurst on 922 850087. Or, due to the fact we are limited to 32 Players, why not purchase your entry ticket here and now at

The Chicken Shack

We will also be holding a Raffle for various prizes.

All proceeds will be used for the benefit of stray and abandoned animals within the Municipality of Santiago del Teide

Santiago del Teide Council has announced the dates of the third local Discount Fair.

It’s well worth raiding the piggy bank for this one, there’ll be bargains galore when craftsmen and retailers get together
on Sunday 9th November at the Plaza Puerto de Santiago.

The fair opens at 9.30 am and continues through the day until 6pm.

There will be around 40 stalls selling shoes, clothes, pastries, sportswear, and much more.

There’s fun for the kids too with face painting and a bouncy castle.

So get there early it’s a great opportunity to get in some early Christmas shopping.

We recently met with local Councillor Steve and the Councillor for Tourism German (pronounced Herman) with regard to a future project. During the course of the meeting we discussed the general state of the area, and discussed some of the comments posted by users of losgigantes.com forum. We were astounded by the answer, as are the Councillors themselves.

The state of the some of the local gardens is poor. The Council are aware of this, but they do have a limited budget, and every time they plant new flowers in Los Gigantes, particularly in the area of the central plaza by the church they are stolen!!!! This has happened a number of times, I have to say I almost could not believe my ears; this is crazy the Council are trying to make the village more beautiful and some Muppets are stealing the plants.

As a follow on to this we will run the story of the new Christmas planting of the gardens along with the budgets involved, Los Gigantes.com will also photograph the newly planted gardens.

If you have any information as to where the plants have gone please let us or the council know.

Remember to alter your clocks this weekend.  The hour goes back at 2am tomorrow morning 26th October.

Clayton Mark Niennaber, South Africa national coach in France, Brasil and USA championships, give surf lessons for 20 surfers.

There was a surf session organised by Billabong and Siam Park on October 20th. Surfers who wanted to test the Clayton surf boards at Siam Beach received two 40 minute surf sessions of both left and right waves and surf lessons from Clayton Mark Niennaber, the 34 year old who helped 20 surfers from Tenerife develop their surf skills.

His innovative technique has influenced teaching methods, showing both basic and intermediate levels. Surfers took full advantage of every shape and form of the waves especially for the surf session.

The most up-to-date teaching techniques were used and the participants communicated constantly with the instructor by using a helmet equipped with speakers. This way the information given to the surfer by Clayton was immediate whilst the surfer is surfing, so they could correct positions and improve on the spot. Clayton believes in doing the basics well; show students how to read the wave and how the board works. He encourages correct body movement at the proper parts of the wave.

Siam Park produces 42 different types of waves, among them the highest man made wave in the world and available 365 days a year. The Wave Palace is also available for private hire by prior arrangement.

He said “I´ve surfed in a wave pool before in SA but this one was bigger and better. They are definitely getting it right. It was overhead and you could seriously smash the lip. As a training tool it is definitely invaluable, When can I go again?”

This cat has gone missing from the Urbanization San Francisco area near Los Gigantes. She has a clipped left ear indicating that she has been neutered.

If you see the cat or have any information would you please call Jill on 678 398 327

Chaos is expected this week in Los Gigantes while the Ayuntamiento resurface the road. There will be no parking between Calle Tabaiba and Calle Tamara while the work is being carried out. Work is expected to be completed by Friday 24th Oct.

The photo images taken from CCTV cameras in last week’s bank robbery of Banca March in Playa Arena has led to the arrest of the culprit, who walked off with €5400 in cash after threatening the staff with a large knife.

The man aged 53 and identified only by his initials, M.G.R., was arrested in a bar in Los Cristianos and is due to appear in court today.

Police have recovered €2000 of the stolen money and are praising the media for quickly distributing the photos.

Guardia Civil Officers at Reina Sofia airport arrested two people yesterday and charged them with smuggling cocaine into Tenerife.

The suspicious looking couple, a 26-year-old Colombian man with initials F.S.G.M., and a 19-year-old woman from Ecuador, were stopped by the officers. Nothing illegal was found in their luggage but they were found to be carrying 700g of capsules of cocaine in their stomachs.

Hundreds poured into the Los Gigantes Plaza for an Animal Awareness Day combined with a fête and nearly new sale run by the Santiago del Teide branch of Asociación San Francisco de los Animales.

For the full story and more pictures of the event go to  http://sanfranciscoanimales.losgigantes.com/index.htm - then click on News and Events.

Keep an eye out for the Song of the Whale as it carries out research on the beaked whales who live around the Canary Islands.

The boat is the research vessel for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
There are at least 20 species of beaked whales but they are so difficult to observe that only a few have been studied in detail and some species have never been seen alive. Eleven species have been discovered since 1908, the latest being Perrin’s beaked whale in 2002 and it is highly possible that there are species of beaked whales yet to be discovered. Read Full Story » »

The Guardia Civil are appealing to the public to help them identify this man.

His actions were caught on the Bank’s security cameras as he unsheathed the knife, threatened the staff and calmly walked off with €5300. Police believe the man is in his 50’s with a pale complexion and possibly 6 foot tall. Although he spoke Spanish well it is suspected he is foreign.

If you can identify this man call the Guardia Civil on 062. Calls will be treated anonymously.

Spain gave investors a huge boost this week by doubling the guaranteed minimum of 50,000 Euros per deposit, as required by the European Union.

It will come as a relief to everyone with savings here in Tenerife - and the whole of Spain - in view of the “credit crunch” horrors of the past few weeks.

Alongside this good news, the Central Government announced a 30,000-billion-euro fund from the Treasury to “support the funding of the credit system”, describing it as a “great temporary loan” to uphold the trust of citizens.

Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced last week that the minimum guarantee on deposits would rise from the current 20,000 Euros to 100,000 Euros per head. Read Full Story » »

From the 3rd November new charges will apply for delivery of passports in Spain and Portugal.
All passport applications received on or after the 3rd November will be subject to the new charges, although it will still be possible to pick up your passport in person from the Consulate-General in Madrid without delivery costs. The new passport courier service will mean a greatly improved service for customers. It will be provided by DHL Express, a reputable multinational company with a strong track record of secure, on time delivery. DHL Express will:

Provide 2 employees permanently based at the British Consulate-General Madrid to ensure an efficient, dedicated and tailor-made service for our customer;

Call every customer in advance in English to ensure that they’ll be at home at the time of delivery;

Ensure an integrated end-to-end delivery process straight from our passport printers to your door. DHL Express has comprehensive coverage of the Iberian peninsula through its network of 7000 staff, 99 offices, 5000 vehicles and 25 planes;

Run an online tracking system so you can see the progress of your passport delivery in real time;

Provide uniformed, identifiable staff and provide a secure service.

British Consular Services Iberia has negotiated a very competitive and comprehensive deal for passport customers with DHL Express. This compares very favourably to prices charged by other companies for secure delivery of important documents, particularly as it includes a number of additional features such as advance customer contact in English.

The costs for the new service are as follows:

Mainland Spain, Balearics, Ceuta, Melilla and Portugal: 16 Euros*

Canary Islands, Portuguese Islands and Andorra: 21 Euros*

(*These prices are exclusive to customers of British Consular Services Iberia)

Further information on this service, including delivery times, prices and tracking, will be published on the British Embassy website from 3rd November. You may also consult DHL’s website for further information on their services.
Source: British Embassy

At 6.30 am on Thursday morning, 2nd Oct, the peaceful neighbourhood of Puerto Santiago was woken by sirens from police cars and fire engines.

Residents of the 50 apartments in the  Santiago Beach Apartment complex, opposite the harbour and beach in Puerto Santiago,  suddenly found themselves being evacuated from the building.

During the evacuation the police noticed a man with blood on his hands and he was taken to one side to be questioned.

The 32yr old man, with the initials, F.J.P.H, admitted setting fire to his second floor apartment because he was paraniod he would be attacked and stabbed while he slept by his enemies. There had been several recent arguments which had resulted in the police being called.

He was arrested, handcuffed and transported to the Guardia Civil station in Playa San Juan, via the medical centre in Alcalá for treatment to his injuries.

The Department of Tourism of Santiago del Teide, together with the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife and the Department of Culture organized a series of events over the weekend to celebrate Dia del Tourista - Tourists Day, which were enjoyed by both tourists and residents.

The activities began with a show of Canarian products. Then later in the day Canarian folklore groups “Tayme” and “Breezes of Arguayo” entertained guests of hotels and apartments as they toured the streets from Playa Arena to Los Gigantes.

The main event was held last Saturday evening in the Plaza, Los Gigantes. The night started with a show of local products, and then the audience was entertained with performances from several Canarian folklore groups.

The evening ended with many lively songs from “Dogs Old New Tricks” who very quickly had the majority of the audience on their feet dancing.