The case of missing three year old Madeleine McCann who was supposedly kidnapped from the apartment in Playa de la Luz in the South of Portugal where she was sleeping alongside her twin brother and sister on May 3 rd this year has taken a U turn since police have discovered the remains of human blood in the bedroom of the apartment.

The original suspicions of the Portuguese police, who were reluctant to believe that the youngster had been kidnapped and looked to the family for explanations, would now seem to be more viable than the theory that the little girl was kidnapped by a stranger and taken away from the resort.

The police are now saying that it is very likely that little Madeleine died the same night she was reported missing and are investigating the car used by her parents during their stay in Portugal and those of the friends and family of the only suspect family friend Robert Murat.

Although the parents of Madeleine Gerry and Kate McCann are adamant that Madeleine was alive when she was taken from the apartment, there is something about their declarations that does not convince the Portuguese police.

Furthermore, the international press has commented on the change in attitude of the parents since the discovery of the blood, adopting an evasive attitude avoiding any interviews compared to their eagerness to talk to the press before the discovery was made.

The Portuguese police have commented that they believe there are three explanations for the presence of the blood in the McCann's apartment. Firstly, the blood could be Madeleine's if she was injured during the kidnap, secondly the blood could belong to the kidnapper if the little girl resisted the kidnap and scratched or hit him or her, and thirdly the blood could belong to someone who occupied the same apartment before the McCannss arrived in Portugal .

Whatever the explanation the fact is that the plot has thickened. Doubt has been cast on the McCann's story but there is still no sign of Madeleine.

The Regional Government of the Canary Islands has announced that for the time being no special precautions will be taken in the Archipelago to protect Canarian livestock from the outbreak of foot and mouth disease that has broken out in two farms in Surrey in the South of England.

The Canarian department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries has declared that the islands are not at risk at present due to the ban on importing meat and dairy produce from the UK imposed by the European Union.

It must be commented that the last outbreak of foot and mouth which took place in 2001 cost the UK around 12,000 euros and it became a common place for British tourists entering foreign territory to have to pass through disinfecting foot washes to avoid spreading the disease.

The main season for cruises which will begin on October 1 st running until the end of April 2008 promises to be a prosperous one for the island of Fuerteventura .

In fact, no less than four luxury cruise liners have decided to make Puerto del Rosario one of their stop off points according to the Island 's Department of Tourism.

The luxury American liner Silver Shadow, which has capacity for three hundred passengers, the Aida Diva which will substitute the Aida Blu will visit the port on Wednesdays. The British liners Spirit of Adventure and Hebredian Spirit, the Bremen, the Mona Lisa, the Maxim Gorky and the World will all be bringing tourists to the capital of the island eager to discover the attractions of Fuerteventura and purchase souvenirs to remind them of their visit.

The island councillor for Tourism Agueda Montelongo expressed her satisfaction with the progress that has been made in the sector in recent years adding that the Cabildo is prepared to carry out all the reforms necessary to accommodate the arrival of these luxury tourists adding that the increase in the number of cruise companies showing an interest in the island as a stop off point is a reflection of the hard work put in by the tourist department at the ferias and conventions that specialize in luxury cruises all around the world.

Furthermore the nature of the liners, in particular the Silver Shadow, a floating version of a five star hotel which brings American tourists to Fuerteventura, means that not only the capital but also the whole island will benefit economically from their regular visits since a wide range of activities and excursions will complement the typical shopping trips popular with this kind of tourist.

More than 10,000 people followed the “First light” ceremony of the Gran Telescopio de Canarias live via the www.telefonica.es web site at around midnight on July 13 th . The Spanish telecommunications giant had set up a complicated network of signals to ensure that no one missed the historic moment when the 10.4-metre wide telescope received its first light high in the mountains of the island of La Palma at 2,400m above sea level.

A group of important political figures including the president of the Canarian Government Paulino Rivero and the Minister for Education and Science Mercedes Cabrera accompanied Crown prince Felipe who had travelled to the island to take part in the ceremony. Among those in La Palma for the opening was Brian May , lead guitarist of pop group Queen , who studied part of his doctorate in astrophysics at the Canary Island institute.

The prince, who has a special interest in astronomy, was the first to use the telescope, which is, consists of thirty-six of reflective, hexagonal plaques, and has involved the work of hundreds of scientists and expert astronomers from all over the world during its planning and construction.

From the very beginning of the project, the GTC has been a Spanish initiative led by the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics but has been supported by the Mexican Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Florida .

The cost has been more than 130 million euros provided mainly by the Grantecan Company although ten percent of the funding has come from international investors.

Although not yet complete, enough of the mirror is assembled to allow telescope operators to make initial test runs. the heir to the Spanish throne, trained the telescope on Polaris, the North Star, for a First Light ceremonial observation.

Although only twelve of the hexagonal plaques were available for the first light ceremony the twelve images merged into one to give unbelievable precision and the experts are now impatient to observe the precision of the images given when all thirty-six plaques are operational at the official inauguration ceremony, which is planned for the summer of 2008.

The GTC will be used to investigate the formation of the galaxies and investigate celestial bodies, which until now have been too far away to decipher.

Almost a year after fourteen-year-old Sara Morales disappeared between her home in Gran Canaria and the La Ballena Commercial Centre news that another teenager had gone missing, this time in the South of Tenerife, brought back that uneasy feeling.

Fifteen year old Chilean Fernanda Fabiola Urzua, who had spent the afternoon of July 26 th with some friends in the village of El Fraile near Las Galletas in the South of Tenerife, took a short cut to Costa del Silencio where she lived with her parents at around 9.30pm but never reached her destination.

The Camino Virigilio, a dirt track between the two areas should have saved her at least half an hour but instead it cost her life.

The parents of Fernanda raised the alarm when their daughter did not return worried about what could have happened to her but never dreaming that the situation could be so serious.

By Friday morning the Guardia civil was working hard searching the area assisted by 97 soldiers and a couple of helicopters, which searched from the air looking for anything suspicious. Roads in the area were closed and cars were stopped in search of the youngster or clues to her whereabouts.

Despite the efforts however the only things that were found were a belt, an earring and a shoe which the parents identified as belonging to Fernanda.

Almost a week after the disappearance police arrested a Columbian, resident in the Ten Bel area of La Galletas, a neighbour of Fernanda's parents explaining that evidence discovered in the Camino Virgilio confirmed his presence at the time of the teenager's disappearance.

Only hours after the arrest, the Columbian identified two further men as having participated in the “kidnap” of Fernanda and led police to the spot where her body had been buried, in an area known as El Palmar only a kilometre away from where she was last seen alive.

A tragic end to such a short life. The quick sun set characteristic of Tenerife , a short cut and the fact that Fernanda was unlucky enough to come across these three individuals in the twilight give much to contemplate.

Kidnaps of this kind are happening all over the world. Madeleine,Yeremi and Sara have still not been found . The Canary Islands are relatively safe but we can never be too careful with our precious children.

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Puerto del Rosario town council has appealed to all those involved in the tourist activity of the borough to come together in a joint campaign to promote the borough as an attractive modern resort.

Local Mayor Marcial Morales explained that the aim of the project is to create a uniform image for Puerto del Rosario sending the message that all the hoteliers and businessmen in the borough are working together to provide an excellent service for those who visit.

The model to be followed, explained Morales, is that drawn up by the Spanish Government's department of tourism known as the MACT Model for Quality Tourism through which the tourist establishments of a resort come together to give an overall global vision of that resort instead of working on an individual basis, using different strategies and pulling in different directions.

In order to guarantee the success of the project, explained Morales, every single establishment connected with the tourist sector of the borough must cooperate.

The initiative forms part of the Plan de Dinamizacion Turistica de Puerto del Rosario and will be jointly financed by the central and regional governments and the local town council to the sum of 44,000 euros.

The establishments which will be taking part will include travel agencies, bars, restaurants & cafeterias, the local police, taxi drivers, bus service, craftsmen, commercial traders , apartments and hotels, tourist info rmation offices, museums, beaches and car hire companies.

Even though the annual meeting between the regional tourism authorities and the tour operators working with the islands has yet to be held it is already obvious that the tourism figures for this year are looking good. The number of tourists visiting the islands has gone up rather than down and the prospects for the winter season are hopeful.

As far as Fuerteventura is concerned it has been the visitors from the mainland that have kept the figures up over the month of July, an aspect which is positive for the island since the mainland Spanish tend to spend more money in the local bars, restaurants and shops than the foreign visitors. In fact the number of peninsular visitors has increased by 22.96% compared with last year's figures due mainly to the increase in the number of flights available between the island and the mainland. There are in fact sixteen such direct flights operating every week at present.

July and August have always brought Germans, British, and Italians to Fuerteventura in search of the peaceful beaches and golden sands but it would appear that from now on the peninsula tourist will be playing an important role in the development of the tourist sector of the island.

Due to the success of the promotional campaign carried out by the Cabildo on the mainland, Fuerteventura has created a positive image. It has become established as a solid, quality resort and according to the latest official figures has received the highest number of visitors so far this year.

Cabildo president Mario Cabrera, island councillor for the Environment Natalia Evora and the Mayor of Puerto del Rosario Marcial Morales made a special trip to the Playa Blanca area of the capital in July to observe the work being carried out the control of the golden sands in the area.

The movement of the sands blown towards the nearby housing by the winds which characterize the area has been a problem for many years and the consequent reduction in the size of the sand dunes no less of a headache.

The creation of the road running alongside the beach thirty years ago in the 1970's led to the accumulation of sand in the form of dunes reducing drastically the size of the beach. Also the demolition of the wall which acted as a sort of barrier stopping the sands from being blown away from the beach which reduced the size of the beach considerably, has meant that the local houses are now inundated with sand and the dunes have been reduced in size.

To solve the problem Cabildo technicians came up with a new more intelligent way of capturing the sand.

The project ,which will have both ecological and social benefits will cost around 305,000 euros to carry out and will involve planting “balancones”, a plant which used to be proliferant in the dunes to act as a natural anchor for the sands. This of course will take time and the Cabildo has decided to cordon off the zone until the plants have had time to take a firm root.

Secondly, the Cabildo plans to install cane fencing to try to trap the sand in a more favourable position. The fencing will be installed in lines parallel with the beach twelve metres apart in order to make the most of the predominant winds and will help maintain the sand in position giving the plants time to establish themselves . It is also hoped that by building up the dunes other plants like the “rabano del mar” will be able to take root.

Marcial Morales explained that although it would appear that the local council is “destroying” the beach by removing the kiosks and installing the canes the result will have been worth the wait since the beach will be twice the size, much cleaner and more environmentally friendly.

The “moruno” squirrels, which are not native to the island of Fuerteventura and have reached the island from Africa “helped” by mankind, are not only destroying the crops of the island but area also having a devastating effect on the local plants and flowers.

According to a study carried out by Marta Lopez, a biologist from the National Park of Doñana on the Spanish mainland, the rodents are not only eating the flowers and plants of the island but are also consuming the seeds, interrupting the reproduction cycle and causing the extinction of many species.

The scientist explained that there are at present around a million squirrels on the island. The colony is widespread and is present in all the towns and villages to a greater or lesser degree. They are even beginning to venture into the bigger towns like Puerto del Rosario attracted by the presence of foodstuffs offered by the residents and tourists who consider the animals to be “sweet”. As a result, the animals are no longer afraid of man. They are often found sitting on towels eating from the hand of a tourist, commented Lopez.

However attractive they may seem concluded Lopez, the squirrels are a real environmental threat to Fuerteventura , and something must be done not to eradicate them completely but rather to control their numbers.

The Committee in charge of the organisation of the XXXII Youth Week that is to be held in Gran Tarajal from 20 th August to 2 nd September has announced that tickets for the David Bisbal concert, which will be the main attraction of the week are now on sale.

The tickets, which will cost 20 euros each if bought before 21 st August which is the day of the concert, can be obtained from any of the Padilla supermarkets in Fuerteventura , the Gran Tarajal Cultural centre or online via the Caixa banks web site, www.servicaixa.com .

This will be the first time Bisbal has visited Fuerteventura and as such, the concert, which forms part of the “Premonicion” tour, promises to be unforgettable.

David, who quickly rose to fame after coming second in Spanish television's “Operacion Triunfo”, is a showman and gives his all at every single performance irrespective of whether the venue is Maddison Square Garden or the auditorium of Gran Tarajal and a good time will be had by all who attend the concert.

Following hot in the footsteps of “Corazon Latino” (2002) and “Buleria” (2004) David's latest disc “Premonicion” includes “Silencio” and “Quien me lo iba a decir” which have already been highly successful in Spain's Top Forty plus a long list of songs which promise to keep the audience in Gran Tarajal well entertained.

Not far away in Tenerife the city council of Santa Cruz has decided to organize concerts featuring British artists to consolidate the image of the island as a quality resort on both a European and International level.

Deputy mayor Angel Llanos explained that although nothing was definite the plans of the city council were to arrange concerts for Elton John, Dire Straits and Sting to be held in the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez stadium or the Recinto Ferial De Santa Cruz not far from the city centre.

Llanos explained that by offering the concerts the council hoped to arouse the curiosity of British tourists who would be encouraged to visit the islands at the times when the concerts are to be held even if this is out of season with the consequent economic benefits for the island in general and the city centre in particular which aims to increase its appeal to foreign visitors.

The concerts will of course also be attractive to the ex pats living in the Archipelago. More details of dates and venues will be provided as soon as possible.

Fuerteventura Champions of La Liga

The president of the Fuerteventura Cabildo, Mario Cabrero, and the first vice-president of the Corporation, Ana Padilla, held a celebration ceremony in the local council chambers for the Rosario fighting Club (Puerto del Rosario), who have recentlywon the championship competition run by the Government of the Canary Islands. The president of the Club, Manuel Saavedra, and the captain of the team, Sergio Sardinia, received a commemorative plaque from the island president, also present was Manuel Miranda and Juan Jiménez, spokesmen for the group.

The Puerto del Rosario team, as well as the managers, trainers and fighters of the female section of the club, were given a copy of the book `Cerco de Arena', by Enrique Nacer, and an interactive sports CD.

Mario Cabrero, congratulated the team and said they had spread the name of Fuerteventura and its capital to all the corners of the archipelago.

The first of the matches was for the Junior Championship of the Canary Islands which took place in Tetir, Later in the evening the Castro Delgado Machado de Tenerife and the Rosario Fight Clubcompeted in El Rosario ,with the home team winning the game and the championship with a 12-9 scoreboard

Kayak Tour of Fuerteventura

The ninth edition of the return to Fuerteventura in Kayak between the 25 of August and the 1 of September, under the organization of the Council of Deportes of the Town hall of Fuerteventura and the Delegation of Piragüismo de Fuerteventura, with the collaboration of the majoreros city councils, Hiperdino, Powerboat Gil, Harbor Authority, the Red Cross and Civil Protección. The course covers 330 Kilometers and tours the entire island during the week. It also forms part of the preparations of the Canarian kayak team that will participate in the Spanish kayak championships that will be held in Pontevedra later this year.

The 40 participants will cover the following stages during the week:

1 25th of August Port of the Rosary-Jablito-Island of Wolves

2 26 th of August Island of Wolf Cotillo-Los Mills

3 27 th of August Black Mill-Ajuy-Beach

4 28 th of August Beaches Black Puertito

5 29 th of August Puertito-Nose Jable-Risco of Step

6 30 th of Risco August of Step Playitas

7 31 st of August Black Playitas-Well

8 1st of September Black-Creek Well of Fuste-Port of Rosario

The Vuelta en Kayak (return of the Kayak) has become a consolidated part of the summer sports program on Fuerteventura and gives the opportunity to develop this branch of water sports in which Fuerteventura stands at the top within the Canaries explained the President of the Cabildo Mario Cabera in a press conference. Fuerteventura is also among one of the most important kayak schools for the whole of Spain . Apart from that, the Vuelta en Kayak is a different way of showing the beauty of the island to the rest of the world. For that reason, the kayak tour is also present on various tourist fairs.

Travelling with 10,000€ or more

A new European Union (EU) law on travellers declaring cash is now in force. It was introduced to help combat money laundering. People who are either entering the UK from a non EU country, or are travelling from the UK to a non EU country and are carrying 10,000 Euros or more (or the equivalent in other currencies) will be required to declare the cash to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) at the place of their departure from, or arrival in, the UK .

Forms on which to make the declaration will be available at ports or airports and will also be downloadable from the HMRC internet site. Travellers could face a penalty of up to £5000 if they fail to comply with the obligation to declare or provide incorrect or incomplete info rmation.
Dave Humphries Head of Criminal and Enforcement Policy (HMRC) said: "The declaration system is one means of providing info rmation to assist HMRC in targeting movements of criminal cash more effectively."

Because in many areas of Spain the strong demand for property, as in the Canary Islands , then don't be surprised if a developer is only able to offer you property in Phases that are not yet complete and period of time to finish every phase it uses to be from 18 to 24 months.

In fact, you will usually be offered property in Phases that have not yet commenced. You will be expected to put down a deposit based purely upon the architect's plans of the property and the development and even a small minority of buyers purchase off-plan without even inspecting the development. This is not recommended.

You should at least take the opportunity to visit the development. It is unusual for a developer not to make a show property available for you to inspect.

The danger of buying based purely on the plan is that although the property and the development itself may be wonderful, you will have no idea what the immediate locality is like, and this can lead to considerable disappointment if it doesn't meet your expectations.