Arona Ayuntamiento is offering a new cultural event as a promotion of tourism and boost to the local economy. It’s the Ruta de Cóctel de Arona, which started yesterday and lasts until 20 September. Alcoholic cocktails will cost €4, and alcohol free ones €3. To round the Ruta off there will be a cocktails competition on 21 September outside the Cultural Centre in Los Cristianos from 7pm. Both the Ruta itself and the competition to round the programme off are organized by the ABE (Asociación de Barmans Españoles).

If you wanted to see a typical, traditional and authentic Canarian fiesta then you could do worse than head towards Tejina de Isora this weekend for the village’s fiesta in honour of the Virgen de la Milagrosa. Tejina (the southern Tejina) is on the Adeje-Guía de Isora road: when you hit Tejina you need to take one of the right hand turns (heading from Adeje – or left hand turns heading from Guía itself) because the church and main area for the fiesta is on the road parallel to and above the main road running through the village. The main event from a sheer entertainment viewpoint is on Saturday night, when  there will be a procession from 10pm followed by fireworks and a dance “until you drop”.

This coming Saturday, 1 September, will see the first Carrera de Montaña San Miguel de Abona Vida Trail. This mountain race will cover two of the most emblematic routes in the San Miguel area, those of Las Lajas and Fuente de Tamaide-La Hoya, of 10 and 21 km respectively.

The presentation of the event, in San Miguel town hall, was made by San Miguel mayor Valentín González, municipal tourism councillor Candelaria Flores, and sports councillor Julián Martín. Mayor González said that the new race was hoped to unify health and sport promotion, as well as to promote some of the area’s unique corners – through, added Sra Flores and Sr Martín, routes that have been used since the middle of the 19th century.   ... Read more...

Update 30 August:  Los Cristianos’ Virgen del Carmen fiesta starts its public events this evening with the election of the Young Gala Queen from 9pm in the fairground. Tomorrow, Friday 31 August, there will be an information session from Acción del Sol on pet adoption and animal maltreatment from 5pm in the Plaza de La Pescadora outside the Cultural Centre. This will be followed by various events in that Plaza as well as, from 9pm in the fairground, the selection of the Children’s Gala Queen, followed by a dance with music from Sensación Gomera.   ... Read more...

If you haven’t picked up a bargain in the sales so far, there’s another chance in La Laguna at the beginning of September when shops in the central commercial area will be holding a Fuera de Stock (Out of Stock) sales campaign in which they will be selling goods at cost price. The campaign lasts from 1 to 8 September and apart from normal shop hours, the stores will stay open on both Saturday afternoons and on the morning of Sunday 2nd.   ... Read more...

I’ve made a few posts before now about the increasing social problems here following on from the economic crisis, including Tourism tempers fray as crisis bites hard, Social crisis in Tenerife as crimewaves soar, and Now we really do have to be on guard, and now the press is reporting a developing crisis on the outskirts of Santa Cruz: not a cardboard city, but a real shanty town underneath the Pancho Camurria sports pavilion where 18 people now live in 15 shacks.   ... Read more...

Update 27 August: After six heatwaves since January, five of them recently, and without a drop of rain in sight, Tenerife’s reservoirs are now at less than 10% capacity – almost empty, therefore – and the situation is now wreaking havoc for agriculturalists. The Cabildo said that it is pumping some 40,000 cubic metres of water directly into the reservoir network every day, but that even so, it is not enough. Without rain, growers risk losing everything, particularly in the areas most affected, namelyTejina, Valle Guerra and La Perdoma, all three in the general La Laguna-La Orotava area. This is not a situation that is improving, clearly, but the Cabildo insisted that urban supplies are guaranteed.   ... Read more...

Update 25 August: Another new measure is the requirement for those at the end of their paro to demonstrate that they had actively sought work for at least 30 days after their benefit stopped, had been registered as seeking work for at least the 12 of the previous 18 months, that they have dependants, and are not in receipt of any other assistance, this last to be proven by certificate from regional Government or Ayuntamiento. The full measures have been published today in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE); they will come into force tomorrow with retroactive effect to 16 August. The entry in the BOE is HERE.   ... Read more...

Update 24 August: It’s over … until the next one, of course! Tenerife’s heatwave alert has now been lifted, though the eastern islands remain on yellow alert through the weekend. We actually had rain high above the west coast yesterday evening. Rain! In August! It only lasted 10 minutes but it was a proper shower and everything felt really fresh afterwards. Since then we’ve had lovely cool breezes and today is 28º and cloudy. Just about perfect to start to cool down.

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The Government is introducing legislation to make it easier to evict tenants who are behind with their rents. According to new draft proposals to be approved tomorrow by the Consejo de Ministros, landlords will be able to apply for eviction in just ten days if a tenant is in arrears. Tenants will have the right to make their own  declaration to the Court, and if they do not, then an eviction order will be granted. The measures are part of the Ley de Medidas para la Flexibilización y Fomento del Mercado de Alquiler.   ... Read more...