So have I been living in a bubble lately or is this an April Fool’s Day joke that is running a bit behind schedule?
Much as I would love to see Tenerife become the centre of the Google galaxy, I find the news of Google Inc decamping to Granadilla de Abona as announced in a press release by Ars-Novum in Puerto de La Cruz just a little hard to swallow (okay, a LOT hard to swallow!).
Reasons given for the major move include changes to media law by the Obama administration which will increase restrictions on the Youtube and Google video search channels and the imminent bankruptcy of the state of California.
The installation of the Network Access Point West Africa – Canary Islands is seen as one positive factor behind the move as is the possibility of harnessing green energy to run the internet giant’s service centre and the region’s low labour costs (you can say that again) and tax breaks.
While I find the story unlikely there can really only be three explanations for it, can’t there?
1. It is a badly timed April Fool’s Day joke.
2. It is a crafty PR exercise dreamt up by Ars-Novum to create some buzz about their company.
3. It is true!
Given the astronomical rise in unemployment in Tenerife since December 2009, I can’t think of better news for Tenerife than the investment in infrastructure and technology that a move like this would necessitate. It would also shift the economic reliance of the island and open it up to more sources of revenue than tourism and bananas 
Much as I would LOVE this news to be true, I am not holding my breath. Are you?
Alejandro Sanz’ Paradise Tour is said by the promoters to be the most important of his career. Certainly his Looking for Paradise release with Alicia Keys is a cracker. Here are the two of them giving it laldie (Scottish for singing their hearts out) on tour last year.
Both artists are playing in Tenerife this summer. The lovely Alicia Keys will playing Quayside in Santa Cruz in June with tickets going for €35 or €60 while Alejandro Sanz is playing Tenerife on August 28 in the Adeje Soccer Stadium. Tickets for Sanz concert are €25 for the masses while the chosen few may opt for ‘Paraiso LG’ seats for €50 which allow them to enjoy ‘toda la fuerza’ of the experience plus have their own special entrance so they can avoid rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi.
Tickets for both events are available from generaltickets.com
Andy Montgomery has written an excellent post on getting the most out of your holidays in Tenerife. With the island’s glorious sunshine, the sun, sea and sand type break is very tempting but as Andy says (though much more politely), if you burst out of your bubble and try something different you will have so much more to talk about and remember.
I know that is true. Of two weeks I had in Cairns, Australia many years ago, it is the bungee jump and the horse trekking through the tropical rainforest of North Queensland I remember.
While the rest of that holiday has faded into dim and distant memory those two days remain crystal clear. I can still feel my knees knocking together before I leapt off the bungee tower and the thrill of plummeting to earth only to be snapped back on what seemed to be a remarkably slender rubber band.
Like all first-timers I had nervously asked the steward how many times the bands were used. ‘Awh, ’bout a hundred’, he said. ‘Yer number nointy-noine.’
There used to be bungee jumping in Tenerife at Sky Park but that sadly closed. Still, the Tower of Power at Siam Park is just as thrilling and you can go camel riding as well as horse riding in Tenerife.
To add a few more ideas to those given by Andy you can also go sightseeing by helicopter, channel your inner James Bond by going Bob Diving and I believe you can even go spelunking.
(I have never come across a half decent link to spelunking in Tenerife so if you run a tour company that organises spelunking tours or this is something you have done in Tenerife and you would like to provide some info about this activity please get in touch).
So while you are making your mind up where to stay in Tenerife this summer, you might also want research which activities to book to fill your days with memories to take home again.
Everywhere you look in Tenerife you will see banana plantations – or you won’t see them - but they are there, hidden behind that tatty looking grey net that festoons the island.
Now, for the very first time, Tenerife is hosting a banana festival complete with all sorts of wacky competitions and events – banana sculpting for example.
There will be prizes for the best banana inspired dish and plenty of banana booze as well as non-alcoholic banana drinks for the kids. It sounds like a lot of fun and I am promised more bananas than I can carry if I go along with the weans so I guess I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one checking out the banana rum…
Festival Del Platano
April 24 & 25th 2010
Troya, Playa de las Americas.
Even before the economic crisis Tenerife’s animal shelters struggled to feed the animals they had in their charge. Now though, in the current economic climate things are even worse and the need for funds to care for the animals that have been abandoned or have strayed is desperate.
The shelters are already full to bursting and yet they are somehow supposed to struggle on with more animals in their care and no funding. The shelters have no more room and no more money. They need help – and they get next to none of that from the government here in Tenerife.
The shelters raise money through charity events, car boot sales and by donations. If you can help in any way, please call K9 on 608 121 081 (Eng) or 670 845 243 (Esp).
Tenerife’s abandoned dogs have their own blog which publishes news on current events, forthcoming fundraisers, etc. If you want more information on the various shelters, vets, trainers, dog kennels, Tenerife Dogs is the place to go.
Judging by the roving bands of little demons and witchlets that were terrorising the neighbourhood last night, nobody paid much attention to the bishops’ warnings of the pagan nature of Halloween. I thought my own little devils looked great although Sami was a bit miffed with his make-up. He thought it was ugly but eventually got into the spirit after he was forced to agree that there was no such thing as a pretty pirate.
Leaving the kids with Gaga we went off into the night for a bit of trick or treating of own own. We stopped by at The Penalty and then made our way to Scottish bar. The owners, Pauline and Bobby cook up a fab fish and chips and great breakfasts but Bobby’s Saturday curry is so good it sells out early so get there before nine if you want to be sure you get some.
As it happens if you missed out on Bobby’s curry you could have stuffed your face with the free chilli con carne that was on tap at Our Place but as Chef Igor doesn’t do mild, you did need to like it hot. Not that that would have been a problem last night because the only people in the place were the evil and the undead.
Everyone was there from Cruella de Ville to a victim of the Whitechapel murders. There were enough skeletons to open a boneyard and more witches than you could shake a broom at.
Modern Halloween, as in kids getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating, is not a traditional Spanish festival. In fact, the Spanish Bishops are getting a bit hot under the collar about the whole thing and are urging parents not to dress up their kids in costumes in celebration of this pagan event.
That doesn’t seem to bother my neighbour, Lola, much. She has been fussing and fretting over her kids’ costumes since the beginning of the month and seems quite bewildered at my lukewarm attitude. To be honest, I am just delighted that Gaga and her sidekick, Linda, are going to be throwing a party for the local kids which gives me the excuse to go out for a bit of kid-free gallivanting of my own. Let’s face it, Sami is a wee diablo for much of the year anyway, while Hania, well let’s just say she can be a little bruja when she feels like it.
Regardless of what the Bishops have to say, you can guarantee that unless you are smart and offl0ad the kids and shoot off out for the night or sit in pitch blackness with the telly off, your front door is going to ring off its hinges on Saturday night. So, just to help you out, I have prepared a little list so that you may have the right response handy.
Just fill in the blanks…
¡Caramba! ¡Qué un esqueleto espantoso! (Yikes! What a scary skeleton!)
- monster = monstruo
- witch = bruja
- fantasma = ghost
- vampiro = vampire
- werewolf = hombre lobo
- zombi = zombie
If you are having a party of your own, then there is nothing that screams Halloween more than pumpkin soup for which Andy Montgomery has provided a devilish recipe in the new online Tenerife Magazine.
And finally, I’d like to leave you with a little Halloween riddle that has bothered me for some time. Why do witches never have babies? Because warlocks have hollow weenies. Bwahahahah
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