Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife.
Missing the Point
The Canarian Government has announced that the EU has authorised the public sector in the Canary Islands to favour employing or contracting only with Canarian residents. Javier González Ortiz, the Canarian Government’s Minister for Economy, Taxes and Security said this was a positive move that would help improve the prospects of Canarian residents whom he felt were victims of not only a lack of jobs but of foreign workers taking up positions in the islands.
Apart from the fact that it goes completely against EU directives, the idea of favouring job hunters and contractors because of their place of birth is ridiculous and discriminatory.
People don’t take jobs, they earn them because they have the suitable qualities, qualifications and experience for the job.
If someone doesn’t have the qualifications or the necessary qualities, here’s the not-so-secret formula ““ they need to work harder and get them. To think otherwise is to miss the point. The Canarian Government should concentrate on tackling issues such as better education and training instead of flaunting this red herring. Interestingly the authorisation (if it can be called that) is related to ‘Canarian residents” not ‘Canarios”, a point that seems to have eluded some newspapers as well as some Canarian politicians.
Possibly this official statement might help remind them what it means to be part of the EU – ‘Free movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Community law. It is perhaps the most important right under Community law for individuals, and an essential element of European citizenship.‘
Thankfully opposition politicians seem to have a better understanding of EU legislation and have ridiculed what they say is a deliberate twisting of what was a communication between Brussels and the Canary Island Government.
Carnaval Poster for 2013
Although the sound of those carnival drums is a long seven months away, the biggest fiesta in Tenerife is never far from people’s minds. This week saw the unveiling of the carnival poster design for 2013 by artist Waldemar Lemanczyk from GüÃmar. The poster, titled Rhythm and Colour, was chosen from a field of 27 entries. There’s no mistaking the Bollywood theme for next year’s carnival with the fish adding that essential Chicharrero (the nickname for people from Santa Cruz) element. That alluring Indian look will no doubt give some people an idea for a carnival costume… especially the men.
Honey Shortage
Apparently one of the things affected by the drought on Tenerife is the production of honey. The spring/summer honey haul is only 50% of what it should be and bee-keepers fear that as much as 90% of average annual honey production will be lost by the end of the year, particularly honeys made with tajinaste and retama de Teide. Apart from being disastrous for bee-keepers it means that honey prices are likely to soar.
The Music Scene on Tenerife is Different
Whereas Sting struggled to sell 6,000 tickets on Tenerife, Latino singer Juan Luis Guerra pulled in 10,000 fans in Los Cristianos on Friday night. If you’re a fan of Latino and Spanish music, you’ll regularly get to see the biggest names from those music scenes on Tenerife. However, if it’s top British and American musicians you want to see in Tenerife a ‘sound-alike’ in Playa de las Américas is probably the closest you’ll get.
And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to”¦ Coalición Canaria
Following last week’s TIT of the week award to Arona’s Mayor who was disqualified from holding public office for four and a half years, this week’s award goes to his political party, Coalición Canaria (CC). Despite the judicial ruling, the CC have backed the Mayor to stay on in his position. The party stated that whilst they respected judicial decisions, this particular one just wasn’t logical. Maybe they only respect the judicial decisions they like.
What sort of an example is that to set? The message seems to be ‘If you think any aspect of the law is illogical, simply ignore it and do your own thing’ under the ‘if it’s good enough for the goose, it’s good enough for the gander’ philosophy. Or is it more a case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’?
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