In preparation for the abundance of shoppers expected to make their Christmas purchases in Puerto del Rosario Fuerteventura’s Chamber of Commerce has produced 20,000 special bags bearing the words “Felices Compras , sus compras en Puerto del Rosario . Capital Comercial” to add to that Christmas feeling. The bags, which are made from recycled materials and come in two different models, will be distributed not only to all the local shopkeepers in the next few days but also to the museums of the island. Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce underlined that this latest project forms part of an overall innitiative to promote commercial activity in the capital complementing the attractive sign posts erected last month , the Christmas window dressing competition and the campaign to encourage consumers not to buy toys which incite sexism or violent behaviour.

Following much debate over the organisational skills of one of Santa Cruz’s top politicians who has been announcing and un-announcing the Elton John concert for months a private concert and events company would appear to have negotiated a better deal with the artist who is known to charge around 300 million pesetas for his concerts and news that the tickets for the concert has already broken out.
Canarias Festival Sun Live SL, the company that is now in charge of the organisation of the event has confirmed that the concert will be taking place on the 24th January at 9pm in the Costa Adeje Golf Course installations in the South of Tenerife.
The price of the tickets, which can be purchased by those not living in Tenerife online using the Cajacanarias web site www.cajacanarias.es or at any Cepsa petrol station ranges from 120 euros in the Gold seated area to 90 euros in the Gold standing area and 35 euros in the general standing area.

A call centre has been set up to deal with enquiries on 902 056 492

More than 200 homes in Fuerteventura constructed along the coastline of the island will fall victim to the demolition machinery employed by the Spanish Coasts Division in the very near future if nothing is done to halt the process.
Picturesque villages like Majanicho, Ajuy, El Puertito de la Cruz ,Cofete, Los Molinos and Jacomar will be wiped off the map if the Coasts Department is allowed to go ahead with its plan to “clean up” the coastline of the island in accordance with the Ley de Costas which states that no construction will be allowed to occupy the coastline since the area nearest the sea is of free public dominium and must not be obstructed in any way.
To be able to knock down private houses with official paperwork and documents the Coasts Department must of course have a court order and since the process takes time, the owners will be able to appeal against the decision. However many of the dwellings are illegal constructions built by the less fortunate many years ago to attend to their families in difficult times. These constructions will be demolished without any further thought leaving the families with no roof over their heads and all because the government wishes to recover a 500m strip around the coast of the island for public use.
This, however, will apparently not be the case as far as the Hotels, which are constructed near the shoreline, are concerned. It would appear that not all of the hotels will be treated in the same way. Some have been designated to be knocked down while other like the Tres Islas Hotel that is actually constructed in the Corralejo Dunes Natural Park will be safe for the next thirty years because of an agreement made with the Coast Division in its day.

The warm weather and lack of winds in September and October made the potentially dangerous journey across the waters between Africa and the Canary Islands more attractive for a large number of young Africans and the continual arrival of “cayucos” all around the Archipielago has made the headlines in both the local and national newspapers almost every day over the last few weeks.
The arrival of these immigrants poses many problems for the Archipelago since the islands must cater for them while their origins are investigated. In addition, the arrival of increasing numbers of unaccompanied African teenagers has complicated matters even more as international law makes their immediate repatriation impossible. Refuge centres set up on each of the islands used to house them are at bursting point and in spite of having pledged its support, the Canarian government Madrid’s help in the matter is virtually none-existent.
Now, faced not only with having to deal with the problem alone, but also with the accusations of international human rights organisations concerning the supposed “inadequate” conditions of the centres, the Regional government decided to call upon the Cabildo of each island to analyse the situation in the centres. In addition, to provide further installations where necessary to help cope with a problem, which is not expected to get any smaller.
Government spokesperson Carolina Deniz explained that the situation has got out of hand. The original agreement with Madrid was that the islands would take in around three hundred of the teenagers and that any more would be shared out between other autonomous communities on the mainland. The fact that there are now over a thousand teenagers in the islands, highlighted Deniz, reflects the seriousness of the problem and the Canary Islands need urgent help from the mainland if the children are to receive the treatment they deserve.
Consuelo Rumi, Spanish secretary of State for Immigration, however has declared that the unaccompanied teenagers are not Spain’s problem explaining that the transfer of 497 youngsters to the mainland had already been organised and paid for by the central government. Also emphasizing that the Regional government of the Canary Islands had apparently rejected Madrid’s proposal to extend the redistribution plan various months ago.

An emergency call at around 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 17th November alerted the emergency services of an elderly lady who was experiencing pain in her chest in the Las Playitas area of Tuineje.
Quite a common occurrence if the unfortunate lady was in her home but on this occasion the sprightly eighty year old had set out on a hiking trip up the mountain behind the Bahia Grande in the borough of Tuineje and the island’s rescue helicopter had to be called out to come to her aid because of the rocky landscape!
The emergency services, hospital staff and members of the civil protection authority worked together to accompany the intrepid hiker to the hospital where she was treated for chest pain.

Rescue

A twenty seven year old man had to be rescued from near the capital Puerto del Rosario at the beginning of December after falling to the bottom of the La Herradura ravine in the area known as the Garganta del Diablo.
The man, who was on a climbing exercise had to be carried up the sides of the ravine by a team of firemen who received the alarm from the 112 emergency services. The would be climber was taken to Fuerteventura General Hospital where he was attended by doctors for a broken leg.

While the rest of the Archipelago is facing a notable drop in the number of tourists arriving at the main airports of Tenerife and Gran Canaria and tourism specialists are racking their brains to think up innovative strategies to bring back the tourists, Fuerteventura’s airport has actually registered quite a sizeable increase in the numbers of both international and peninsula visitors in the month of October alone.
According to AENA figures, there has been a 5.6% increase in the number of foreign visitors and a 27.4% increase in the number of people arriving from the Spanish mainland, which in real terms has meant 13,439 more tourists have chosen to spend their holiday break in Fuerteventura in October 2007 than in October 2006. The findings confirming the importance of the decision of low cost airline companies such as Easyjet and Ryanair to increase the number of low cost links between the island and major cities on the mainland such as Barcelona and Madrid as well as links with European destinations such as Shannon in Ireland.
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With the problem of a large increase in the number of immigrant children on the registers of the Archipelago’s schools the Regional Education department decided to hold a two day seminar to discuss the changing needs of the school age population and the importance of encouraging the children to tolerate and respect each other whatever their nationality or religious beliefs.
Although teaching professionals from all seven islands attended the seminar, held in the Hotel Playitas Grand Resort, Tuineje, all eyes were on Fuerteventura due to the dramatic increase in the island’s immigrant population in recent years.
“We want to discourage racist attitudes by encouraging the children to learn about other cultures and take part in multicultural activities in an attractive “fun” way”, explained the president of Fuerteventura Cabildo Mario Cabrera. The programme including games, songs, arts and crafts, sports, and theatre among others would be drawn up during the seminar for posterior use in the island’s schools.

Low cost airline Ryanair celebrated the launch of the Tenerife- Shannon and Fuerteventura - Shannon routes by offering real low cost flights from the remarkable price of 12.99 euros.
By operating this new route, which began to function on November 10th, Ryanair expects to bring over 250,000 passengers to the Canary Islands this year alone. Maribel Rodriguez, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing manager for Spain and Portugal, explained that since the company began to work with the Canary Island back in December 2006 it has transported over 40,000 passengers to and from Tenerife, and over 30,000 passengers to and from Fuerteventura adding that the new routes are expected to add at least an extra 10,000 passengers to each island a year.

Special wine box for planes will save the day!

Since the “liquid” laws restricting the carrying of bottles as hand luggage on airplanes came into force the wine producing sector of the islands has suffered.
Statistics produced by the Regional Department of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries show that around 1.200,000 bottles of wine have been left unsold. In other words, around 10% of the wine produced in the Archipelago is still on the shelves. However, the launch of a new container, which will be made from, reinforced cardboard and divided into sections, comes in three sizes to hold two, three, or six bottles and its designers claim that it can be dropped from a height of ten metres without its contents spilling out.
AENA is even contemplating allowing passengers to carry the containers extra to their normal 20kg weight allowance.

The classic problem of either having to find someone to explain what is wrong with you to the local doctor or having to resort to an expensive English speaking clinic for a simple medical complaint will soon be over thanks to the Canarian Health Service’s new “Tele translator” system.
The new “teletraduccion” service set up by the SCS Canarian Health Service in eight hospitals and thirty-one health centres around the Archipelago promises to make life easier for patients of forty nine different nationalities.
The system, which will operate in the centres most frequently used by foreign residents, will permit an immediate translation of twenty languages including Swahili, Punjabi, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic as well as English, French, German and Italian and a delayed translation (approximately four hours later) of other languages including Japanese, Letonian, Dutch or Norwegian.
The Health Service explained that the system will function twelve hours a day seven days a week and will provide a link between a medical professional, the patient, and the translator by means of a specially designed mobile telephone.
By introducing the new system, the SCS hopes to improve the quality of the service offered to foreign residents in the islands who have difficulties speaking Spanish.

From January 2008, the existing 50% subsidy on tickets prices applicable to all residents in the islands is to be increased. The extremely healthy overall budget allocation from the central government, which, now stands at 555 million euros, reflects an 11% increase on last year’s allowance, has made a larger discount for residents possible.
Although the subsidy for 2008 has not been confirmed, the eventual subsidy will be up to 70% of the total price by 2011. So a 55% - 60% reduction in prices is expected adding that the only requirement is that passengers must produce proof of residence when purchasing their tickets.

Minimum Wage to Rise

Wages in Spain are not renowned for being particularly generous with the average income being well below the European average. Workers in Madrid are the best paid receiving an average of 1,908 euros per month and it is not surprising to discover that those working in the Canary Islands are the worst paid receiving an average of between 1,200 and 1,300 euros.
However the large number of workers in the islands who are even worse off receiving no more than the minimum wage in return for a months hard graft will be pleased to hear that Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has plans to remedy the situation albeit slightly. As part of his list of electoral promises Spanish premier has agreed to raise the Salario Mnimo Iterprofesional (SMI) minimum wage to 800 euros a month if he is successful in the next general elections.
Zapatero explained that the idea of the PSOE socialist party is to raise the official minimum wage, which currently stands at 570 euros, to 600 euros before the elections adding that the amount received by those who are paid the SMI will be increased to 800 euros if the PSOE is voted back in at the 2008 General Elections.
Compared to the actual minimum wage paid in the UK which stands at £5.35 per hour the wage rise, based on a forty hour working week and two days off, will place Spanish workers in a higher wage bracket but compared to the French who are paid a minimum wage of over 1,200 euros workers in Spain are still poor.

Ring tone and divorce news for the King of Spain

After a difficult week for the Spanish royal family when King Juan Carlos was front page news in both Spain and Venezuela after asking the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez “Why don’t you just shut up?” in response to the constant interruptions of Chavez during the speech of Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the announcement that his eldest daughter the Infanta Elena and her husband Jaime de Marichalar had decided to go their separate ways explained the unusual anxiety of the Monarch.
The announcement did not take the Spanish press by surprise since they had been speculating over the relationship between Elena and her husband, who have two children nine year old Felipe Froilan and seven year old Victoria Federica ,for some time but the first possible divorce among the Royals has rocked the foundations of an apparently solid family.
Also since the outburst by the king, a ring tone produced and is now a hit across Spain. An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?” generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m).

The islands present a new image at the WTM World Travel Market in London.

Staged annually in London under one roof, World Travel Market is a must attend, business to business exhibition. WTM provides a unique opportunity for the whole global travel trade industry to meet, network, negotiate, conduct business and stay abreast with the latest developments in the travel industry. “Formas magicas de Canarias” was the name of the latest promotional campaign organised by the Regional Department of Tourism at the event presented for the first time at London’s WTM in November. A new modern image for the islands to encourage potential visitors to come to the islands and discover their “hidden treasures”. A whole mass of promotional material has been produced as part of the campaign to help the visitor “discover” the beauty of the islands as if the archipelago were a huge open air museum. The Tourism Minister explained that the Magical shapes project had been thought up to make the most of the huge contrast between each of the islands which make up the Canarian Archpielago but added that each island would still be responsible for promoting their own territory.

Manchester Airport flight suffers engine blowout

Two hundred holidaymakers suffered a terrifying experience on the 21st November when their Manchester Airport bound plane suffered an engine blowout. The holiday flight from Lanzarote to Manchester had to make an emergency landing in Fuerteventura after the drama on their Thomson Holidays Boeing 757-200 jet.
A passenger on the plane said: 'As we took off from Arrecife Airport there were four extremely loud bangs, and flames could be seen coming from the starboard engine. The whole plane shuddered, but the female pilot seemed to have the situation quickly under control and shut down the engine.'
'She circled the nearby island of Fuerteventura several times presumably to drop fuel before making an emergency landing on one engine. Fire engines surrounded the plane as it landed.'
'There was very little panic throughout the emergency and there was nothing but admiration for the skill of the pilot in bringing the plane down safely.'
The passengers were taken to an airport hotel until a replacement plane could be sent out by Thomson Holidays from Gatwick. The exhausted holidaymakers finally arrived back in Manchester at 03:10 after their 11-hour ordeal.

New hopes for illegal immigration problem

Spanish premier socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has revealed plans to form an immigration pact between Europe and Africa at the forthcoming EU- Africa Immigration Summit which is currently being held in Lisbon, Portugal. According to the Spanish Foreign Secretary Bernadino Leon, Zapatero will build his pact on three main pillars: the creation of more jobs for immigrants in their countries of origin , the promotion of legal immigration as opposed to reaching European shores by means of fragile “ cayucos” and the fight against the organised activity of helping illegal immigrants leave Africa. During the Summit which will bring together numerous heads of state including the president of France Nicolas Sarkosy, who will speak about Peace and Stability between the two continents,the German Chancellor Angela Merky,who will speak about Human Rights and the Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen who will address the problem of Global Warming Zapatero will speak on solving the immigration problem on behalf of Europe during the summit and the main african speaker will be the president of Senegal Aboulaye Wade. It is estimated that there will be representatives of 52 African countries and 27 from the EU including 34 heads of State (28 africans and 6 europeans)and 27 prime ministers (10 africans and 17 europeans), as well as 1,500 delegates and over 1,300 official journalists who will cover the event which it is hoped will provide a fresh start to relations between Europe and Africa in an attempt to cooperate in finding a solution to the problem of illegal immigration

Government Funding for Cancer Vaccine

The Canarian Government authorised the Ministry of Health to buy 34,277 doses of vaccine against cervical cancer, which will begin to apply to girls of 14 years beginning in January. The purchase of this first batch will involve an expenditure of 3.6 million euros. These vaccines can prevent 70 percent of cases of uterine cancer, the second most common among young women.
In addition, the regional government approved another item of 8.5 million euros to buy another 670,000 doses of vaccines against diseases included in the calendar of the Autonomous Region vaccine to be administered during the campaign of 2008.

One bag rule to be lifted in January

Security restrictions blamed for causing passenger misery at UK airports are to be relaxed in January. The rules restricting passengers to carrying one bag on board planes is to be withdrawn on January 7. However, current restrictions on carrying liquids through airport security will remain.
From 7 January, airports will be able to seek permission to let more than one item of hand luggage be taken on board flights by passengers. But restrictions limiting the size and amount of liquids and the size of cabin luggage will remain.
The UK is the only country to operate a one-bag rule for air passengers. In October, shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said Heathrow was 'rapidly becoming a national embarrassment' because of the rules. British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh said the rule was 'intensely irritating' and was 'damaging the UK's reputation around the world from a business perspective.'

Reviving the noble art of canarian wrestling

The objective of the various Canarian wrestling schools on the island of Fuerteventura over the last three years or so has been to re-establish one of the oldest Canarian sports as the sport “par excellence” by encouraging the island’s school children to practice the noble art of wrestling on sand without causing any physical harm to each other from an early age. The large number of enthusiasts who attended the Island’s first official encounter of the wrestling schools in Puerto del Rosario in the middle of November reflected the degree of interest generated in the sport among young and old.
This was the first fixture of the Children’s Canarian Wrestling Championships organized by the Island Cabildo to promote the sport, and the subsequent fixtures will be taking place once a fortnight until the end of the season in the wrestling rings of Morro Jable, La Lajita, Las Playitas, El Matorral, Tefia, Puerto del Rosario, Tetir, Villaverde and Lajares.
Each encounter will involve around a hundred girls and boys who will be divided into groups according to their age and weight.

Canarias Contra Cancer
The Fourth Marcha cicloturista “Dunas de Corralejo” took place at the beginning of December. The race, organized by Canarias contra cancer involved anyone over the age of eleven on the first day and only professional cyclists on the second day and aimed to raise funds for Cancer investigation. Over forty cyclists took part in this successful event.

Water Sports Course
The Sports Department of La Oliva town council has organized an introductory course to water sports especially aimed at the schoolchildren of the borough.
The course which includes instruction in sailing, canoeing, kayaking, and other marine activities goes under the name of “A la mar” and is aimed at 8-9 year olds and will be carried out over the next five months beginning in the CEIP Cotillo mid December.

Electronic darts team wins Majorca 07 cup

The Fuerteventura electronic darts team won the Majorca Cup 07 European Championship’s last month.
The council is so proud of the progress of their team that they are considering the possibility of hosting an official Open electronic Darts Competition next year establishing the island as one of the most important bases for the sport.
As well as being the overall winners the Fuerteventura electronic darts team members won a second and third prize in the individual tournament and a third prize in the pairs section.

Good luck to the team in the future!