Janet Anscombe

I was a university lecturer before moving to Tenerife in 2004 after finding the climate perfect for my rheumatoid arthritis. Mainly to avoid getting bored at first, I became closely involved with the Canarian property market, initially as an estate agent, and then as an independent property consultant, providing impartial advice and in-depth knowledge for investors and individual purchasers, guiding them ethically through Spanish bureaucracy and legalities. Now, I offer advice and assistance in any area to anyone moving to Tenerife to help them fulfill their dream without it turning into a nightmare, something that is unfortunately all too familiar a story here.

I hope that this blog will be helpful to anyone looking for up-to-date and relevant information about what is happening in Tenerife, as well as a straightforward guide to the procedures involved in buying and owning property here. Below on this page are the five latest of regularly-updated current news stories; for earlier news, just click on the main news link in the right hand column. Please feel free to express opinions or ask questions by clicking on individual headlines and submitting comments. There is also a Tenerife Sur current weather box in the right hand column which links to Weather Underground for more detailed forecasts.

For other more specific  property-related information, simply browse the links at the top of this page, or to find properties for sale click HERE. I am happy to answer any questions about Tenerife, whether the island and current affairs, or events and general information, as well as specific property queries. Forewarned is forearmed! If one person can be saved a small fortune by avoiding falling into the wrong hands here, then I will be happy. Either contact me by webmail or you are welcome to phone for free advice: please note that although the 922 number in the box below right is a landline, the 678 one is a mobile.

The Director of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional en Canarias, María José Blanco, has said that Tenerife has reached a phase of “seismic equilibrium” after the intense activity measured in 2004. The Canarian National Geographic Institute has an extremely good ability to localize any seismic movements, assured Sra Blanco, who added that in fact out of 83 minor quakes last year, only 4 were strong enough to be felt.

Sra Blanco explained that seismic activity in the Canaries had a range of origins, some being tectonic, associated with the movement of faults, particularly a northeast-southwest fault which, in 1989, produced the largest earthquake registered here, of grade 5.2 on the Richter scale, and which is unlikely to be exceeded according to all indications from the geodynamic expertise available today.

Other causes of seismic activity were of volcanic origin, and Sra Blanco made reference to the Professor of Geomorphology at the University of La Laguna, Carmen Romero, a specialist in the volcanic history of the Canaries. Prof Romero says that such quakes had an extremely deep volcanic origin, around 50 kms, and that the maximum number recorded was in 2004, since when seismic movement has decreased to what is now considered to be a new level of equilibrium.

For the moment, then, El Teide thankfully seems to be safe and quiet. C24H

Update 7 March: The concert will be in the dársena Los Llanos in Santa Cruz harbour. The date is confirmed for Sunday 6 June, 9pm. Tickets are now on sale from General Tickets/CajaCanarias HERE at €35 and €60. They are also available from El Corte Inglés. TinerGuía

Original post 28 February: Alicia Keys is to give a concert in Tenerife on 6 June this year. The concert will be the last of her European tour. It is still to be decided where exactly in Tenerife she will perform, but the concert promotor, Rolo Producciones, has indicated that it will either be in Santa Cruz or Arona.  El Dia

A 43-year-old man died today after suffering a heart attack in a water trip boat off Los Gigantes. The tragedy was reported just before 3pm, when emergency services were called about a man who had collapsed on a boat and couldn’t be brought round. Attempts at resuscitation both by a nurse who happened to be on board and by ambulance personnel when the craft put into harbour were, however, all to no avail and sadly, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. C24H

The Cabildo has announced that the TF21 (Vilaflor to La Orotava) is now fully open again. This means that the crater is once again accessible by traffic. There has been intensive work involved in clearing the road from rockfalls and debris caused by the various storms throughout February. The Cabildo still needs to clear the road from the pines that were blown down by explosive cyclone Xynthia, and so the La Orotava side (kms 19-22) will be closed between 8am and 3pm.  C24H

Update 4 March: Santa Cruz Policía Local is charging the driver of the vehicle with careless driving and two counts of reckless homicide. The 24-year-old survivor has already been interviewed today and is expected to be processed in Court within hours. According to the driver, he lost control of the vehicle while swerving to avoid another car going in the same direction and collided with a tree. As a result of that impact, the car rolled over several times before coming to rest upside down on the other side of the carriageway. The male passenger died at the scene, while the young woman died while being attended at the nearby Hospitén Rambla. Police sources say that all indications point to an excess of speed as the primary cause of the accident. Six witnesses have also given evidence to the Policía Local this morning.  El Dia

Original post 3 March: Two people died this evening when the car they were travelling overturned in La Rambla de Santa Cruz after colliding with a tree. The accident occurred around 9pm, and the young couple are said to be a man and a woman of 20 and just 17 years of age. The third person in the car with them was the 24-year-old driver. He was slightly injured and was taken to Hospiten Rambla, before being transferred to Candelaria Hospital in La Laguna.  El Dia, C24H, C24H