Immigrant boat arrives in Tenerife

Europa Press reported that today at 6.00am a cayuco boat was spotted 9 miles south of Punta Rasca in Tenerife carrying 41 immigrants on board. The boat was discovered by the Foreign Surveilance system.

The Guardia Civil patrol boat “Pico Teide” was despatched to rendezvous with the cayuco and the two boats met 4 miles off the coast. Two of the immigrants were transferred to a medical centre at El Mojon and the boat was towed to Los Cristianos Harbour where it arrived this morning. All of the other immigrants were found to be in good health.

The immigrants were taken to a reception centre so that their condition could be assessed. More information about their origin will be made available later.

Traffic Jams in Tenerife at Las Teresitas Beach

Teresitas Beach

Last Sunday, the Santa Cruz Department of Public Safety and Transport noted a total of 16429 vehicles went to Las Teresitas beach. The result of course was massive traffic congestion. This beach only has 1165 designated parking spaces so it must have been very difficult to park.

On Sunday morning repeated warnings were given out on local radio stations advising people to use public transport. Ironically, the buses were also stuck in the traffic.

Las Teresitas beach is possibly one of the best beaches on the Island and it is just a 7kM drive from Santa Cruz, the highly populated capital city of Tenerife. The beach is obviously very popular with the locals but an increasing number of visitors are now being attracted from all over the Island.

It is a beautiful tropical designer beach with palm trees, a mountain backdrop and soft light sand imported from the Sahara Desert. Facilities are very good and it is very safe for bathing because it has man made protective sea barrier. Many say Las Teresitas beach is the best on the Island, it is a stunning location and a must place to visit.

If you are a tourist it is better to go on a weekday. Sundays are always the busiest day on Tenerife beaches.

Tenerife Timeshare Arrests

This piece of hot news was just published by Typically Spanish.

“The Interior Ministry says more than 50 people were affected and up to 1.5 million Euro defrauded.

Seven people have been arrested in a timeshare fraud on Tenerife, in a case which the Interior Ministry said would have affected more than 50 people and brought the fraudsters up to €1.5 million.

The fraud in the southern part of the island consisted in the suspects contacting the victims saying they had a purchaser interested in buying their rights to the property. Those who chose to go ahead were charged around €30,000 in taxes and the cost of transferring ownership. They heard nothing further from either their supposed buyer or the intermediary after the money had changed hands.

Officers found in a property search which took place as part of the five-month investigation banking documents, property deeds and receipts for money transfers to Senegal. The seven in custody are the holders of bank accounts where the money defrauded was paid, and are all residents of Tenerife. The Ministry has not released details of their nationalities”.

Tenerife Banana Exports

Tenerife Banana exports to the Spanish Peninsula have been cut to prevent further price reductions.

A decision was made to hold back banana exports this month in a late attempt to prevent price falls. The market had become oversaturated.

Apparently, 300,000 kilos of bananas have been donated to the World Food Bank to avoid the need to place them in storage. It would seem that Canarian farmers would rather give away the bananas than sell them cheap. Hopefully the World Food Bank will be able to make good use of the bananas.

 

Tenerife Homeless on the Waterfront in Los Cristianos

See what is being said about this on the Tenerife Forum

Last Sunday in Los Cristianos, there was an extraordinarily low tide which revealed large areas of the harbour shore which are normally submerged. A carpet of organic growth was evident  on the volcanic bedrock and numerous rock pools, some abundant with marine life stranded by the low tidal recession.

On a busy area of the harbour front there are several old buildings built close to the waterfront, some are perched on stable rock but there is one building which has started subsiding into the harbour. One would not normally see the Los Cristianos harbour side of this building because it is fenced off on both sides but the recent low tide revealed a building with a secret.

Part of a Derelict Building

The foundations of this building have been compromised by wave erosion and large parts of the structure have fallen into the sea. Parts of the floor remain hanging precariously metres above the waves. It is probably fair to say this building should have been condemned for structural instability, yet most of it remains in suspension over the sea.

A closer inspection of this building revealed some concealed inhabitants who would be at great risk should a collapse of the building occur. There was a man from Mauretania standing in the remaining half of a kitchen, the floor has lost all support and defies gravity for the time being. There was a room behind this, presumably where he lives.

Derelict but Occupied

A third room was occupied by a man from Venezuela. The corner of this room had fallen into the sea leaving a wonderful sea view. The man says he has lived in this room for a year or so, he is unable to find sustained work and cannot afford the air fare home.

Another Occupied Room

There was also another room which it appears may once have been shop, an inhabitant may have been out at the time, there was a makeshift bed and evidence of habitation.

Unnocupied Room

Another room had long since been deserted and was full of old furniture and foul smelling refuse.

The Deserted Room

The building itself appears to be quite old and it is probably illegal like many seafront buildings in Spain. It is probably not registered and therefore does not have a responsible owner.

Sadly, the fate of this building is probably already sealed. At the moment the building could probably still be salvaged with some under pinning and rebuilding and it is in a great location for commercial use. It would make a great museum which would probably pay for itself whilst preserving the cultural heritage of the area. If it is lost it will surely be lost for all time. Overall, the building is quite large and most of it appears to be stable except the parts which we photographed.

Whatever happens, the current inhabitants will need to find alternative housing, it must be hoped they will be able to do so before this Tenerife property finally collapses into the sea.

The irony is that this secret building is located only metres from the main Los Cristianos tourist drag. It is also sad that people who would otherwise be homeless have to take refuge in such a dangerous structure. How many other Tenerife Homeless people are there tucked away from Tenerife Tourism?

Tenerife is Monarch Airlines top tourist Destination

A recent top destination chart published by Monarch Airlines puts Tenerife as the top winter destination. Monarch Airlines said that the Canary Islands are proving to be a popular choice for holiday makers looking to escape the weather in the UK. Lanzarote and Gran Canaria were also in the top five list.

Tenerife was also in the top five on the Monarch Airlines list for top summer destinations. It is official, tourism in Tenerife is as strong as ever which must be very comforting for the Island Community. The Island Government have invested heavily in Tenerife tourism and they will no doubt be very pleased with the latest good news. There have been fears amongst the Community that decreasing tourist numbers, especially in the current economic climate, would have disastrous consequences and this will be seen as a great moral booster.

Commenting on the booking trends, managing director of Monarch Flights and Holidays Liz Savage said, “Despite early indications that holidaymakers were looking to head east for their holidays this year, the picture to date is somewhat different. The Canary Islands which benefit from year-round sunshine and are only a four hour flight time from the UK, are the surprise destination leaders for both holiday and flight-only bookings this winter.

Monarch Airlines operate Tenerife flights from Manchester, Birmingham and London Gatwick and Luton Airports.

New Canary Island Astronomy Study

It has been reported by the Belfast Telegraph that a team of astronomers are studying space weather to understand how this affects the earth’s climate. Using a powerful telescope somewhere in the Canary Islands they are observing solar flares through the clear Atlantic skies.

The leader of the Irish Astonomy study group said that observation from the high mountains of the Canary Islands makes an enormous difference to what they can observe compared to Belfast. Another member of the group explained that the ideal atmospheric conditions in the Canaries enable them to accurately measure the solar flares and try to understand why the flares are so bright and how much energy is released. They intend to study these solar explosions to try and understand how they affect the environment on planet earth. Let’s hope the perfect Tenerife climate will not be affected!