Playa Americas

This is one of the agreements the Council of Tenerife’s cabinet reached, according to what is informed in a press release. The construction works of the Arico’s development will be divided in two stages. The first one will consist on slopes’ protection, superficial drainages, road signs, parking redesigning, store construction, and street lighting. Afterwards, the entrance routes to the spill paths number 2 and 3 will be paved, together with electricity and telephone installation using the line connection of the Industrial Park of the Tenerife’s Environmental Complex.

Among the matters discussed with the Tourism department, the Council Government temporarily awarded to the advertising agency ‘Mucan Publicidad Exterior’ the advertising material posting on billboards located on the main avenues of Adeje. This initiative, included in the ‘Plan de Dinamización del Producto Turístico Tenerife Acoje (Tenerife Welcome – Tourist Product Boosting Plan), counts with a 34,855 euros budget for its development. These advertising spaces, which will be contracted in other municipalities as well, are intended to provide visitors information about the different events and activities in the island.

On the other hand, the regulations for subsides award used for the creation and start-up of innovative entrepreneurships were approved, having a found of 152,171 euros. The Council subsides, which have to be requested before the Economy and Competitiveness Area of the Council, cover from the initial promotion and feasibility plan to the strategic business plan for seed projects.

The Council’s Youth, Education and Equality area approved a collaboration agreement with the Red Cross for the execution of professional practices in the framework of the Ceres Project, a strategy aimed to improve the employment of certain groups in the society who have difficulties to get employed. These groups include young people who didn’t finished high school, women victims of genre violence, immigrants, and unemployed above 45 years old.

Finally, the regulations for rural subsidies were approved, which are intended to provide funds for collective rural infrastructure works, having a found of 400,000 euros.

Last Friday, tourists who were walking about Troyas’ bridge were surprised by the preparations of a curios festival. Theme was easy to guess. Bananas plantations were the basis of Canarias’ economy until tourist industry development, and they still provide a characteristic look to the island like in the Guía de Isora coastline or in the eastern area of Arona. This culture is going through difficult moments due to the European Union politics about reducing the import duties of the American banana importations. This is a fruit introduced by the British traders at the beginning of the twentieth century, becoming an important part of Canarias’ history because it’s economic incidence in the archipelago economy which was dedicated to this fruit exportation to Spain and other European countries.

The banana has now a less competitive price, but is necessary to protect its cultivation. For that reason, is that festivals like this one are organized to promote this fruit which has a delicious taste and different characteristics form the American one. Tourists from Spain and other regions of Europe stopped yesterday to take a look at the First Banana Festival, tasting the fruit and observing original sculptures intended to promote its cultivation in the island as part of the landscape and as a way to earn a living.

This initiative promoted by the “Centro de Iniciativas y Turismo del Sur de Tenerife” (Southern Tenerife Initiatives and Tourism Center) deserves to be applauded, because it is a perfect way to promote the banana in the regions where it is cultivated. Tourists left the festival with a good image of this fruit because all the products in the food tasting were delicious.

These kinds of street activities are an additional attraction for the tourists that visit the island, and it is necessary to promote them. Events such as the winter Folklore Festival in Los Cristianos, the food venue that is hold every year in this island, and the Banana Festival, are initiatives that provide life to the streets at the same time that promote the products and traditions of Canarias.

The sculptures of this festival that were situated in front of the Troya Hotel were really original. Some of the creations of the artists who participated of this festival included a six-meter-long alligator made of bananas, a representation of the travels made in a native canoe called “cayuco”, and a display in favour of this fruit.

This information was issued on a press release, which also indicates that the Special Plan of Protection for the Costa de Acentejo was partially approved as well. This plan includes the Tenerife’s municipalities of Tacoronte, El Sauzal, La Matanza de Acentejo, La Victoria de Acentejo, Santa Úrsula, and the Orotava.

The authority responsible for the designation of protected areas, COTMAC, regarding the agreements made with Gran Canaria Island, also approved in a definitive way the Special Plan of Protection for Las Cumbres Area that includes the regions of Artenara, Gáldar, Santa María de Guía, Moya, Vallesco, Tejeda, San Mateo, and Valsequillo.

In March, low-cost airlines transported the 52.2% of the passengers that travelled to Spain, registering an increase of 8.5% while the conventional airlines transported 47.8% of the passengers, 1.94 million tourists, being 1.9% more than last year.

The occupancy rate of the low-cost airlines in March reached 81.8%, 10% more than  conventional airlines.

Ryanair, EasyJet, and Air Berlin maintained their position as the main low-cost airlines in Spain transporting last month 62.1% of the passengers who travelled in low-cost airlines. The United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy were the principal origin countries of the passengers who chose low-cost airlines.

The airports which receive the higher number of low-cost airlines where the Palma de Mallorca with 288,255 passengers (+5.3%); Barcelona-El Prat with 272,239 passengers (+9%); the Madrid-Barajas airport with 268,763 passengers (+29.1%); the Malaga’s airport with 234,813 passengers (+2.1%), and the Alicante’s airport with 231,425 passengers (+10.7%).

The Gerona’s airport was the one that suffered the biggest loss, 7.5% less (144,568 passengers). On the other hand, the Valencia’s airport had an increase of 18.7% (69,380 passengers).

The United Kingdom was the main issuer of low-cost passengers in March, 35.1% of the total (745,092 passengers). It is followed by Germany with 490,479 passengers and Italy with 245,334 passengers (+21%).

The Spanish airports that registered more low-cost airlines flights up to March where the Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid that received 705,800 passengers, having a grow of 27.2%; it is followed by Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Barcelona, which registered an increase of 6.2%  (689,731 passengers), and the Palma Airport in the Canarias Islands that received 601,069 passengers (0.6%).

They were followed by the airport of Malaga with 556,495 passengers, the airport of Alicante with 553,529 passengers (+6.3%), and the Tenerife South airport with 477,778 passengers (+6.9%).

The Girona airport had the higher lost receiving 368,837 passengers, 11.2% less than last year, while the Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Valencia airports registered an increase of 10%, 11.5%, and 15.6% respectively.

The main low-cost passengers issuer was the United Kingdom, which concentrated the 34.7% of the arrivals, 1.82 million visitors, which represents a loss of 3.5%. Following is Germany that registered an increase of 1.7%, issuing 22.2% of the tourists (1.16 million passengers), and Italy, which reached an increase of 13.1% with 616,373 passengers.

The biggest lost was the arrival of Irish tourists, 16.7% less, against the increase of passengers from Norway (+11.8%), Austria (+44.9%) and Portugal (+11.8%).

According to the report presented this Friday by the Promotion Minister, José  Blanco, the Spanish airports have operated 606 special flights to attend the passengers affected by the ash cloud that keep European airports closed last week.

Between Monday and Thursday, special flights have departed from the airports of Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Menorca, Alicante, Fuerteventura, Tenerife Sur, Lanzarote, La Palma, Jerez, Bilbao, Gran Canaria and Murcia.

Besides, together with these flights the Spanish Government has provided other means of transport for the return of the European passengers grounded in other continents.

The report outlines the steps taken before the British authorities, which showed their interest in facilitating the return of their citizens, using the Santander’s port to transport to Great Britain more than 200,000 British soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.

During last week, the ash cloud that the Iceland’s volcano emitted caused the closure of almost the entire European airspace, affecting thousands of passengers and causing substantial economic loss to the airlines.

The flying restrictions were suspended in all European airports this week except form two Iceland’s airports, the international airport of Reykavik and the Keflavik airport, which have been affected by the ash cloud for the first time this Friday.

Elena Fumero, responsible for the parks and green areas department of Adeje’s municipality, said that “this park is a public space the inhabitants of Adeje were asking for”, and that “it is an original infrastructure”.

The construction works started last year, and it is expected to have the first stage finished in June, according to the information provided by the councilwoman Elena Fumero, who is in charge of the rural areas, parks, and green areas development department of the Adeje’s Council. In this stage, pedestrian paths around and across the area will be included apart form a cycleway. The pedestrian path is also a sports circuit provided with stretching areas, climbing walls, and specific areas for yoga and tai-chi practice. The councilwoman added that there will be specific areas for children, divided in areas for children from three to six years old, and areas for children form six to twelve years old.

This new park called “The Galleon” will also have a cafeteria, a games room with table tennis among others, as well as a free wi-fi zone.

The second stage includes a cactus theme park and a water theme park using the existing bridges in the area. This new park will have an exhibitions area as well, intended for traditional venues and related events, concluded the councilwoman.

The executive commission of the Convenio de Regeneración del Espacio Turístico (Tourist Space Improvement Agreement) has agreed with the Demarcación Provincial de Costas (Municipality Coastlines Demarcation) a plan for the improvement of the island’s beaches. In their last meeting held last Tuesday, the commission approved an investment of 60 million euros for the execution of improvement projects in the tourist areas of Tenerife in 2010.

The first vice-president of the Council, and Insular Counsellor of Tourism, José Manuel Bermúdez, said that “the request made before the coastlines demarcation administration is intended to elaborate a plan that improves the coastline, specially the tourist areas, to provide a quality sun and beach offer for the almost five million tourists that visit us every year, as well as for the local population”.

The request made before the coastline administration is focused on the elaboration of a diagnosis over the entire beach coastline with the goal of organizing, improving and regenerating the tourist importance of these areas.

At the meeting held by these two organizations it was also agreed to assign about 60 million euros in 2010 for the improvement of the tourist areas of the island. From this amount, 50 million will be addressed to the “2010-2014 strategy for the improvement of the tourist public areas of Canarias”, which is a commission formed by the Canarias’ Government, Tenerife’s Council, and the Arona, Adeje, Puerto de la Cruz, and Santiago del Teide municipalities.

Another nine million euros will be used for the execution of projects in the scope of the Canarias Government Plan. This plan consists on public works in the four tourist municipalities of the island, among them, the ones to be made in the pedestrian roads crossing Ernesto Sarti street, and España Avenue in Adeje; the central park (Phase I) or the Jesús Domínguez street in Arona; the Familia Bentancourt y Molina street or the Martiánez’s sidewalk in Puerto de la Cruz; and the remodelling of the Buganvilla square in Santiago del Teide.

Six more projects developed by the Tourist Space Improvement Agreement have to be added to the ones above. These projects will be financed with their own founds, and will be added to the one hundred projects this organization has executed in the period between 2007 and 2009 for a total of 42 million euros.

The Improvement Agreement is an initiative developed by “Turismo de Tenerife” with the support of the Tenerife’s Council and the regional Councils of Arona, Adeje, Santiago del Teide, and Puerto de la Cruz, together with the hotels’ association Ashotel, for the period 2007 to 2013.

Public works already executed

The executive commission of the Tourist Space Improvement Agreement had already approved a budget for the execution of remodelling works in the tourist areas of the island, which will be carried out by the different public administrations for a total of 10 million euros in 2010. This agreement has already promoted projects for 42 million euros in the period between 2007 and 2009.

This significant amount is intended to continue the public works that have been carried out during these years in the island since it came into effect the Improvement Agreement, which are causing a substantial improvement in the beaches as well as in promenades, green areas, and main tourist roads among other spaces. The Improvement Agreement, an initiative sponsored by “Turismo de Tenerife”, has already approved a series of measures to be executed this year.

In the first stage, which include the projects for 2010, it outstands the improvement of the Lourdes street, and the cycleway between Ernesto Sarti street and Rafael Puig street in Adeje; the Central Park (phase II), and the cycleway between “de las Américas” avenue and Refael Puig street in Arona; the remodelling of the Mequínez street, and the north seaside promenade in Puerto de la Cruz, apart form the projects that are about to be defined in the Santiago del Teide municipality.

These public works have to be added to the 98 ones that the Tourist Space Improvement Agreement made for a total amount of 42 million euros between 2007 and 2009. Form them, 23 are completed, 34 are in execution or near to be completed, 23 are projects already drawn up, and 18 are projects in the draw up stage.

The ceremony will be held at the Cesar Manrique’s Square from noon to night, and there will be present immigrant associations from Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia and Mauritania, apart from the local neighbours’ communities from Adeje.

The president and the secretary of the Sierra Leona Association in Canarias, Abdulai Bangura and Bakie Hinoolo respectively, have invited the people of this municipality to participate in the celebration. There will be food tasting of traditional dishes from Sierra Leona, plays, music, and traditional dance.

The participants “will have the chance to support the aid program for the children of Sierra Leona as well”, said the town Councillor of Culture.

Sixty companies participate in these 10,000-square-meters-area biennial exhibitions intended for professionals, which are organized by the Tenerife’s Council together with the hotels and gastronomic associations, Ashotel and Facca, with the support of the regional Agricultural Ministry of Canarias, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Several areas such as food & beverage, hostels equipment, furnishing, security systems, and landscaping participate in these exhibitions. The exhibitions count with simultaneous events, being the “Sexto Campeonato Regional Absoluto de Cocineros de Canarias” (Sixth Canarias’ Chefs Regional Absolute Championship) one of the most popular.

There will be cooking exhibitions held by renowned chefs, apart from food tasting, bars and coffee-shops innovation workshops, a cooking workshop to prepare dishes using “gofio” (toasted corn flour), jam slicing, and the opening of an art gallery meant to promote hotel’s furnishing with art pieces made by Canarias’ artists.

The celebration of the first regional meeting of Canarias’ local business is also included in the scheduled activities, as well as an architects’ debate on buildings renovation and tourist spaces.

It is also planned a one day talk about innovation, design, and art focused on tourism, as well as financial aids for innovative projects and the presentation of the Hotel’s Architecture and Design prize. Apart from the ham slicing demonstrations, the exhibitions will include a basic course on bartending as well as flair bartending exhibition.

Ricardo Melchior, president of the Tenerife’s Council, said at the opening ceremony of these exhibitions that to be competitive it is necessary to “keep a permanent innovation”, and that “innovation is crucial in bad times”. Pilar Merino, advisor of the regional Agriculture Ministry of Canarias said that it is necessary to introduce Canarias’ food in the tourist offer even more, because of its quality and the great demand it has among tourists.