James Blunt in Tenerife
And the stars just keep on coming. The latest international name to be performing on Tenerife is James Blunt who shot to fame with his first album Back to Bedlam in 2005. The singer, whose songs provoke a love-them or hate-them reaction, will be at the Auditorium in Santa Cruz at 9pm on the 28th July. Tickets are €40 and €50. Whether you happen to like James Blunt or not, having an artist of his calibre on Tenerife is good for the island….even if his audience are likely to feel depressed for a few days after the concert.
Tenerife’s 50 Metre Tsunami
Researchers have uncovered further evidence pointing to a massive landslide that created Las Cañadas del Teide and sent 50 metre high waves rushing across the Atlantic Ocean. Fossils of shells, coral and even fish have been discovered 30 metres above sea level in the Teno region of Tenerife and researchers from Madrid, Portugal and Tenerife say that they could only have been deposited there by a huge tsunami caused by the landslide. The good news is that this natural disaster occurred approximately 180,000 years ago. The bad news is that scientists say it could happen again. However, it”ll probably be at least 10,000 years before we have to worry about it.
The Carnaval Just Keeps on Rocking
Anyone suffering from post carnaval blues will love this video just posted by The Ministry of Sound on the blog on their website. Tenerife Magazine was there and it was a fantastic night and one of the highlights of this year’s carnaval. Pump up the sound on your speakers, hit play, sit back and relive moments from the best carnaval in Europe.
Clash of the Extras
Casting for extras for the forthcoming Clash of the Titans sequel, Wrath of the Titans caused havoc around Tenerife last week. Over 5,000 aspiring extras are said to have turned up in La Laguna and some dressed in Ancient Greek styled robes in order to improve their chances of being selected. Whilst in El Médano would-be Thespians queued overnight for a chance of being in the spotlight. Apparently there were a lot of mysterious illnesses affecting schools and businesses on casting days. The plot of Wrath of the Titans is about hell being unleashed on earth. Considering the quality of the first movie, let’s hope that’s not a reference to the sequel’s première.
And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…The Director General of Costas and ATAN (Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature).
Despite support from the Tenerife Cabildo, local council and Uncle Tom Cobley and all, the proposed Playa Las Vistas festival ‘tenerife Sur de Musicas” was given the big thumbs down by the Director General of Costas on the grounds that there was no unique reason why the festival had to be held on a beach. The ruling also referenced a letter from ATAN which said that a beach festival would have a detrimental effect on the environment.
On their website ATAN claim that the beach festival was a remake of the popular Son Latinos concert under a different name and the plans to hold it were an attempt to promote private interests to the detriment of the majority.
Who exactly are the majority that ATAN are referring to? They’re clearly not the tens of thousands of local people who attend and enjoy festivals like Son Latinos nor the tourists who are attracted to the island and put money into the economy because of events such as this.
It goes without saying that businessmen are trying to make a profit. ATAN are incredibly naïve and unrealistic if they believe otherwise. Is the local greengrocer who makes a profit out of selling fruits of the earth any different?
And here’s a little fact that is quite amusing. Playa Las Vistas isn’t even a natural beach, it’s man made.
We are completely supportive of any actions that protect the environment, but ATAN should be concentrating their efforts on some of the real environmental crimes taking place on Tenerife, not crowing about stopping a beach festival which can be cleaned up rapidly afterwards.
