Janet Anscombe

Update 30 April: I’ve uploaded April’s newsletter: please just click HERE.

Original post 22 June 2011: The Foreign Office issues a monthly Pensions, benefits, healthcare newsletter for British nationals living in Spain. Past copies are available in links on the right of THIS page, and we are now getting advance copies. I have the June edition as a pdf file and so if anyone would like a copy, just contact me and I’ll email one to you. THIS is May’s edition, to give an idea of what the newsletters are like.

A new website, www.teleferico-teide.com, is now available for the Teide cable car. It will, however, provide much more, including allowing visitors to make reservations and buy tickets online, as well as arranging permits to climb to the summit, including an overnight stay at the Altavista Refuge. In addition, it has heaps of information about all aspects of the national park  to make a visit as informed as it can be, with walking route guides, climate and botanical information, advice, webcams, an image gallery, etc. A super resource.

The body of a woman between 50 and 60 was found yesterday by Granadilla Policía Local in her home in Paseo del Atlántico in El Médano. Although initial investigations did not indicate any violence to her body, the Guardia Civil has not ruled out the possibility of foul play since the property was found in significant disorder, as if someone had been searching for something. The family of the dead woman, who was known as Teresa, a well-liked local seamstress, had alerted the authorities that she had not been seen for a few days. Police are investigating the poor woman’s death.

The Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil, together with the UK Border Agency, have broken up a people-smuggling ring dedicated to getting Iranians into the UK via the Canaries. Twenty two individuals have been arrested, thirteen in Tenerife, six in Madrid, and three in Fuerteventura.

Making the announcement, the Ministerio de Interior said that the group moved entire families at a cost of €20,000 per person, less for children. In policies similar to airlines, children under two travelled free. The families were hidden in buses or lorries to cross the Turkey-Greece border, or were provided with airline tickets based on false documents. The Canaries was an integral part of the route, and the immigrants, whom the traffickers called “animals, sheep or the herd”, were tutored in how to behave at the British border in order to acquire legal residence, most notably in how to allege fear of torture and persecution in Iran.

The Interior Ministry said that among those detained was the ringleader of the group; it confirmed that the operation began in February after an Iranian citizen was stopped in Tenerife trying to get on a flight to the UK with a fake French passport. Tenerife, indeed, was the headquarters of the group, which had members also in Irán, Greece, Germany and Sweden. All used a range of false identities, making the operation extremely complex, and the police’s success all the more notable.

Update 24 April 2012: It’s only been 15 years in the planning, so it’s still early days for Los Cristianos’ Tarajales beach. The latest is that the mayor, José Alberto González Reverón together with Cabildo VP Carlos Alonso, Turismo councillor Francisco José Niño, and PP representative Águeda Fumero, met Environment Dept representatives in Madrid yesterday, and the agreement reached was that despite public funds supposedly being allocated over two years ago, a private finance initiative is to be sought to help make the plan a reality.

It has been presented as a successful outcome, of course, but the reality is that the promised public funding has not materialised and private funds will be needed – in the worst crisis in recent history. Arona Ayuntamiento will start immediately to seek finance in the private sector, perhaps starting with the hotels which would most benefit from the beach, namely the Moreque and Princesa Dácil. All is not lost, however, because it seems that if partial private funding can be achieved, national and regional Governments together with the Cabildo and Aronas Ayuntamiento itself, will stump up the remainder.

Original post 21 September 2009: The Environment Department has announced an investment of €26,487,084 for the restoration of Los Tarajales beach and its promenade in Los Cristianos. The finished promenade will be 850 metres long, and the renovated beach will involve two semi-submerged dikes in natural stone which will be merged into the surroundings. In a press release, the department has confirmed that the project is currently in its public evaluation stage, whereby those affected can study the detail and make any comments they consider appropriate.

For the works to proceed now, the compulsory purchase orders announced a year ago will need to be made and environmental approvals gained. Fourteen buildings are likely to be affected, though one of these is Cristianmar, which incorporates 60 apartments and several commercial locales. Canarias24Horas, (original announcement: El Dia)

I can’t remotely pretend that I’ve ever heard of Pitbull, apart from in the context of a dangerous dog, but apparently he’s an internationally famous American rap star of Cuban origin… and he is giving a concert in Golf Costa Adeje on Saturday, 23 June as part of his Planet Pit World Tour, which will also see him perform in Gran Canaria on the 22nd.

The event is being produced by Airbag Events, who originally planned it to take place in the Estadio Olímpico de Arona, but who moved it to Golf Costa Adeje after a high level of interest. Some 1,500 tickets have already been sold, but at least 13,000 have been released, and Golf Costa Adeje has a capacity for an audience of 20,000. Tickets are available HERE  (the site also details other outlets where they can be bought) and cost between €25 and €40. The venue will open at 6pm, and the concert will start at 11pm.

The property in total comprises 5 kitchens, 6 bathrooms, 8 reception rooms, and 10 double bedrooms with huge built in wardrobes. There are also many large built in cupboards. Villa bathrooms have sunken baths and the apartment bathrooms have spacious showers: all bathrooms have bidets. The accommodation, with overall finish in wood and marble,  is arranged as a large house on the upper level with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and 4 apartments on the ground level. Of these, two are 2 bedroomed, and two 1 bedroomed, and they come equipped with satellite TV, hairdryers, videos and games. Windows all have tinted glass and all bedroom windows upstairs have shutters. The whole property is in pristine condition and sits on a plot of 2,538 square metres with constructed area of 539.60 square metres.

Externally: viewing gallery to lower terrace, office, utility room, laundry room, 2 upper terraces, large lower terrace with terrace furniture and illuminated, balustraded garden and separate BBQ area, large and mature easily maintained gardens including mangoes, oranges, lemons, coconuts, date palms, vines, guavas, pomegranates, tangerines, frangipanis, etc. There are ‘green’ water taps all around the grounds for watering. The swimming pool is 11 x 5 metres with night-time underwater lighting and surrounding terraces equipped with sun loungers: there is a sunken low noise machine filter room, efficient solar heating and outside shower.  There are also a garage and workshop, 3 kennels, large aljibe (underground fresh water storage). Two entrances and large parking areas for at least 12 cars. The whole property and gardens are illuminated at night by over 30 lights.

The house, which was built on commercial land in 1981, is being sold fully furnished and has spectacular views. It is in a central location with golf courses, large shops and supermarkets nearby. It has telephone and ADSL, intercom entry system, three-phase electricity and new PVC water pipes installed in 2007. It would be appropriate for any number of business ventures, including medical clinic, day care centre, offices, school, health and beauty centre, or indeed, a magnificent family home, or wedding venue – the house recently hosted its first wedding which was a huge success, with ample terrace area for a congregation of guests. There are advance holiday bookings but any deposits will be refunded if a purchaser does not wish to continue commercial letting.

PRICE – €1,500,000

Please contact me for further details and pictures.

Update 23 April 2012: It’s the time of year for the annual Adeje Arts and Crafts Fair, and 2012′s will take place on the 19th and 20th May between 10am and 8pm in the Plaza de España between the Ayuntamiento and the church at the top of Calle Grande.

Original post 3 May 2011:  It’s an annual event now, and a big and popular one too … the Adeje Crafts Fair will be held again in Calle Grande on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May, between 10am and 8pm. There will be loads of local arts and crafts, and foods, on display and for purchase, and there’ll be workshops too. These are always great fun, so definitely one not to be missed. More HERE

A 36-year-old French woman is seriously ill in hospital with head injuries after falling six metres from a hotel in San Eugenio just before 9pm last evening.  Emergency services were called out with reports that she had fallen, and after stabilizing her at the scene, the paramedics transferred her to hospital.