Tenerife Magazine’s round up of some of the most interesting news stories of the week in Tenerife.
Carmen Mota’s New Show ‘Aire’ Premieres on Tenerife
After Alma and Airam comes Aire, the new dance and music extravaganza from maestro choreographer Carmen Mota. The show premières tonight at the Pirámide de Arona in Playa de las Américas. Aire is split into two sections; the first focussing on classical ballet whilst the second unlocks the vibrant world of Andalusian flamenco. Alma, Airam and now Aire – do you think Carmen Mota has an obsession with the letter A?
Mount Teide in the Shadow of the Moon
These things often disappoint, but scientists from the Canaries Astrophysics Institute say that the lunar eclipse this Wednesday will align perfectly with Teide’s shadow somewhere around sunset ““ between 8 and 9.15…ish. This is quite a rare occurrence, the next is forecast for 2014.
We’re not exactly sure what the perfect alignment actually means visually from sea level as Teide’s shadow is only available from way up high. But we’ll be outside on Wednesday evening, shielding our eyes from the glare (if there is any) saying ‘has it happened yet” just like we do every time there’s some sort of nocturnal phenomena.
Another Rockfall on Tenerife
At least two houses and a car were seriously damaged and more than 20 houses affected by the latest rockfall on Tenerife. This time the tiny hamlet of Santa Lucia on Tenerife’s east coast was the victim. Santa Lucia is different from other coastal towns in that at least a dozen of its houses are located inside a huge cavern in the rock face; a precarious looking location at the best of times. Thankfully, like other recent rockfalls, no one was injured.
80% of Tourists to Tenerife Research Online
It’s no real surprise to us but the Canary Islands might just be waking up to the power of the internet. Recent studies revealed that 80% of visitors carried out research about Tenerife online and 40% actually booked their holiday via travel websites. Despite these figures a significant number of tourist related businesses still don’t have websites and many council run websites are about as easy to navigate as a maze. However, the signs are there that Tenerife’s authorities are beginning to realise that there has been an internet revolution and they are being left behind. Cámara (the Chamber of Commerce) have organised Forum 2.0 to discuss how to utilise the internet to boost customer loyalty, strengthen brand and increase sales using social media networks and blogs etc.
At Tenerife Magazine we harp on about the authorities on Tenerife not understanding social media and therefore not utilising it effectively for a reason. CÃ mara, organisers of Forum 2.0 which takes place today, are following a grand total of 25 people on Twitter. Not really setting a prime example of how to keep your finger on the social media pulse.
And finally the TIT (This Is Tenerife) of the week award goes to…Whoever authorised the police intervention against the 15M protesters in Santa Cruz
Josè Manuel Bermùdez’ tenure as the new mayor of Santa Cruz began in less than auspicious circumstances. On the day that newly elected politicians were patting themselves on the back, the ‘indignant” political protesters of the 15M movement camped out in the centre of Santa Cruz found themselves on the end of a rough-handed police intervention. According to reports, the police action resulted in some of the protesters requiring medical treatment. It was a replay, in smaller scale, of events that have already taken place in other cities around Spain. What was particularly worrying were reports that the Tenerife police involved were not wearing uniforms identifying which particular police force they were from. Considering Spain’s history, you’d think that Spain and Tenerife’s politicians would want to avoid raising the spectre of secret police and the intimidation of those practising their right to freedom of speech.
