The Supplement #27

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” Oscar Wilde

ISSUE 27

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Saturday 3 March 2012

DERANGED KILLER ‘UNLIKELY TO FACE JAIL’ Bulgarian beheader diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia ◗A Bulgarian who beheaded an English grandmother in Tenerife is unlikely to go to jail for the horrific killing, which made world headlines last year. Dejan Deyanov stalked Jennifer Mills Westley before attacking her with a machete in a Los Cristianos gift shop

on 13 May and has spent the last few months in a secure unit in Seville being examined by psychiatrists. The DIARIO DE AVISOS learned this week that he has been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which doctors say prevented him from fully

understanding his actions at the time. Deyanov’s lawyer says he will use the findings to ask a Tenerife court to rule that he cannot be held liable for the killing due to his mental condition. If the plea is accepted, he is likely to be committed to a mental home for life.

TOURISM

1 billion spent on holidays in Canaries in January ◗Foreign tourists spent over one billion euros on holidays in the Canaries during the month of January. Statistics released by the Spanish government show that spending rose by 14.5% compared to January 2011, further confirming the upturn recorded by the holiday sector in recent months.

The biggest increases were recorded among Germans, Britons and Scandinavians.

Spending per day averages just under 100 euros, up 11% on a year ago.

TRANSPORT

Careless woman driver hurt in tram collision ◗A woman driver sustained minor injuries in a collision with a city tram on Wednesday. The incident occurred on a roundabout during rushhour traffic in the La Cuesta area. The 49-year-old ignored the Give Way sign on the roundabout and crossed the tracks just as the tram was passing.

Trams were halted for nearly 20 minutes while the car was removed and the woman taken to hospital for treatment.

The brutal killing of the English grandmother in Los Cristianos shocked the entire world last May. / DA

ECONOMY

OBITUARY

TOP TENERIFE ARCHITECT PASSES AWAY

50% of jobless unemployed for year or more ◗Half of people currently without a job in the Canaries have been out of work for at least a year, a new employment survey shows. The study, by job agency organisation Agett, reveals that the number of long-term unemployed has increased seven-fold since 2007.

Rodríguez-Pastrana and his team won many international awards. / DA www.diariodeavisos.com/thesupplement

◗The architect behind some of Tenerife’s best-known buildings died earlier this week. José María Rodríguez-Pastrana, whose AMP studio designed the Magma

Centre in Adeje and the regional government’s Presidency building near the flea-market in Santa Cruz, won numerous awards during his long career.

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Saturday 3 March 2012

FEARS FOR AGRICULTURE AS RAIN CONTINUES TO STAY AWAY

85% of Los Cristianos concert-goers are foreign

Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

DA Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The news that this winter has been the driest in Tenerife and the Canaries generally for nearly 70 years has sent the alarm bells ringing among the farming community. With no sign of rainfall of any substance for the foreseeable future according to the AEMET (the Spanish Met Office), and reservoirs in danger of falling to record low levels, farmers fear their crops will not thrive and they could lose the bulk of what has been sowed until now.

Of the islands, only La Palma has enjoyed anywhere near reasonable rainfall since September.

Elsewhere, the figure is around 25% of the normal amount received during the four-month period that ended this week. In the latest monthly analysis by Global Drought Monitor, around half the Canaries is classified as experiencing ‘severe drought’, with Gran Canaria and a large part of Fuerteventura now upgraded to ‘exceptional drought’ status.

Local potato farmer Rafael Hernández said on national radio this week that he had not experienced anything like the current dry spell in half a century and he had been forced to leave much of his land unplanted due to the lack of water to irrigate the potato seeds. With the picture similar for other fruits and vegetables, there is real concern that prices will spiral after the sum-

mer due to a shortage of fresh produce in local markets and supermarkets.

The situation does not just affect crops. Livestock farmers admit they are being forced to buy consideraby more forage and feed for their animals due to the lack of natural grazing possibilities. The extra costs will inevitably lead to increased meat pri-

ces before too long, say sector sources. ‘We have had the worst of all worlds’, said a spokesperson for one of the main farming unions: ‘no prolonged rain of note for months, but many parts in February have suffered very cold nights with frost, which has had a crusting effect and made the ground so hard that any water that has fallen in the last

few weeks is lost to runoff’. Farmers are pinning their hopes on an improvement in March but AEMET says that low-pressure belts expected to make their way into western Spain soon are unlikely to extend this far south.

Producer organisations want aid packages to be approved urgently if the current gloomy fears materialise.

The popularity of classical music events among foreign residents in Tenerife has been further confirmed with the news that 85% of audiences at the Los Cristianos Auditorum are foreign.

The Infanta Leonor Auditorium celebrates its first birthday on 12 March and the local authorities have used the occasion to produce statistics on users during its first twelve months in operation. Arona culture councillor Miguel Angel Méndez said the discovery was no surrprise.

‘By far the majority of the audiences for music concerts are foreigners, including many who live here all winter. They find out about the schedules well in advance and book tickets because they are used to paying and indeed expect to pay for such events, unlike many locals’ he explained.

The picture is similar at the Santa Cruz Auditorium, where concerts at the Canary Islands’ Music Festival, which ended recently, attracted large numbers of foreigners.

Police rave-party raid results disappoint

The lack of rain has seen water reserves dwindle and pastureland dry up. / DA

DA Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Bird-scare passengers full of praise for Iberia crew

Accolade news travels very slowly for TEA Art Museum

Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Airline Iberia received some more positive media coverage down this way this week in the midst of the repercussions of yet another pilots’ strike. Passengers on a flight to Tenerife have been unanimous in praising the crew of a plane that developed engine trouble when it was hit by birds seconds after take-off.

Flight IB 958 had just left the ground at Barajas airport on Monday evening when it collided with a flock of birds, some of which were drawn into the left engine of the Airbus. The impact of the collision startled the 148 passengers on board and, according to media reports, panic then set in among several when fla-

mes began to spew from the damaged engine.

The plane’s captain opted to return to Madrid but first had to make sure the emergency services were ready and waiting to deal with potential problems and that as much fuel as possible was burned off before attempting the landing.

The passengers, who flew out to Tenerife on another flight a short time later, said the incident would have been much more scary were it not for the exemplary conduct of the cabin crew.

‘They were brilliant and calmed us down throughout the half hour we were up there’ said one passenger, who admitted he had broken the rules by turning on his mobile to text his family ‘just in case’.

Local coverage of a new accolade for Santa Cruz’s TEA Art Museum (Tenerife Espacio de las Artes) has caused a little embarrassment to some. The ultra-modern building featured in the news here this week after a press release issued by the Cesar Manrique Foundation in Lanzarote.

The Foundation announced that both it and the TEA had been listed by top-selling UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, among Spain’s eight best small museums. The Tenerife complex received praise from the respected broadsheet in the following terms: ‘Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, this dyna-

mic centre in Tenerife’s capital city has a permanent collection focused on Oscar Domínguez, who was a contemporary of Dalí and Picasso and is regarded as one of Spain's leading Surrealist artists. There are five temporary exhibitions running this summer, as well as film screenings and other cultural events. The café is pretty stylish too’.

The early reference to summer was picked up by eagleeyed readers, who did some background digging and discovered that the Telegraph had, in fact, published its list way back in August. The discovery was too late to prevent congratulatory messages from being aired by several public figures, including Santa Cruz mayor José Manuel Bermúdez on Twitter.

A police raid on an all-night party on disused military land in Abades would have netted more participants and drugs had news of the visit not spread like wildfire on mobiles phones.

The party, for which generators had been installed to power the music systems, was expected to attract a big crowd last Saturday night. Officers arrived early and quizzed around twenty young people at the scene, including several minors who were later handed over to their parents. Among those detained were two Romanians said by police to be the organisers of the event.

The ex-army site has staged several rave-type parties but no action has been taken until now. The raid prompted a comment in a local paper saying the authorities ‘would get much juicier hauls’ if they raided parties staged in a wellknown tourist attraction in Playa de Las Américas.

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The Supplement

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SPORT ATHLETICS

Razak geared up for league debut Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Tenerife must have set some kind of unwanted record with the sending off of two goalkeepers in consecutive games. Sergio Aragoneses was dismissed for abuse hurled at the referee in the dying seconds of last Sunday’s disastrous defeat at bottom side Montañeros and his red card hands reserve goalie Razak Brimah his first league start this week-end.

However, things could have been so different if the Ghanaian had received a stiffer suspension from the league’s disciplinary committee following his own sending off the previous week during the incident-packed win against Getafe B. Razak was shown the red card for kicking a ball onto the pitch from his place in the dug-out. He could have been suspended for up to three games but was let off lightly with a 1-game ban.

The 24-year-old is looking forward to his debut but admits he would have preferred it to be under different circumstances. ‘I am not nervous at all even though the game is against leaders Castilla. In fact it motivates me to play against them in front of our home crowd’ he told the

García gets world championship call-up for Spain ◗La Palma athlete Samuel García is heading for Turkey this week as part of the Spain squad for the World Indoor Championships. García, who runs for the CajaCanarias Club here, says he was stunned to be asked after the recent national championships, where he picked up a bronze in the 400m, whether he had a valid passport. He has been included in the 4x400 relay team.

DIARIO DE AVISOS in an interview ahead of the game. Asked if his role as permanent understudy to Aragoneses is the ideal situation to be in, the African said it was ‘something he accepted’ although he acknowledged that there are days when it is harder to bear. ‘As long as the team is winning it is easier for me. My team-mates have given me full encouragement and assured me my time would come, so I have had to ensure I am ready at all times for when that happens, as this week’ explained Razak, who became a father for the first time recently.

BASKETBALL

Kloos makes La Palma switch after Martínez recall

Razak would have missed his debut if he had received a longer ban after the dug-out farce Razak gets his chance after Aragoneses was sent off last week. / DA

Sunday’s match comes as the fall-out from Andrés García Tébar’s attack on his players before the Montañeros game continued to dominate preparations. Tébar criticised some players for shirking their responsibilities in trai-

ning during Carnival week and as good as accused them of being prima donnas when he said that plumbers, electricians and other tradesmen who spend their day squatting and crouching have an excuse to feel sore but not footba-

llers who play for him, especially if they have been partying. He later issued a formal apology but several players rebuked him afterwards, saying the words had strained the excellent spirit in the dressing room.

BASKETBALL

Canarias old boy rues current predicament at Granada Diario de Avisos Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Rarely a week goes by without Iberostar Canarias having to face a former player in a basketball league game. The latest ex-Canarias man to return to Tenerife for a fleeting visit, José Manuel Coego, has fond memories of his time at the La Laguna club, not to say more than a touch of jealousy at how their respective fortunes have changed since he parted company with them.

The forward was here last night with his new club, Granada, who have plunged to the depths of despair after relegation from the ACB in the summer. Financial problems continue to plague the second-bottom Andalusians, who have seen a string of players leave due to non-

Coego was a popular figure prior to his departure in 2009. / DA

payment of wages and have only five professionals left on their books, forcing them to complete the squad with juniors most weeks.

‘This has never happened to me

before in my long career’ said the 33-year-old, who added that he and his colleagues at Granada had received ‘a small payment’ recently to tide them over. ‘People

think professional players live very well but I can assure them this is not my situation at present.

I am far from home and am not getting paid for my work’ complained Coego in an interview ahead of the game.

Things could not be more different at Iberostar Canarias, who are top of the league, having won the Cup already also, and have acquired a reputation in the basketball world as one of the bestrun clubs in the country, never defaulting on players’ wages. The Burgos-born player found himself in the bizarre situation of having to travel to Tenerife for the game even though he is currently sidelined with injury.

‘We need to have the required minimum squad for every game and, even if I have no chance of playing, I have to be there on the bench. But at least I will get the opportunity to say hello to familiar faces’ explained Coego, who played for Canarias for several seasons until his departure in the summer of 2009.

◗Dutchman Edward Kloos is the latest to abandon La Palma, albeit temporarily and due to orders from higher up.

On loan from ACB side Gran Canaria, Kloos was recalled by Pedro Martínez to train with the seniors this week, leaving La Palma without one of their key players at the worst possible time, following two successive defeats, which have seen them slip to third.

CD TENERIFE

Sicilia contract renewal ‘not urgent for the moment’ ◗Tenerife’s director of football Pedro Cordero says that contract discussions with Pablo Sicilia are ‘not the most important thing’ at present but when the time comes he will be happy to sit down and work out a new deal. Sicilia’s impressive return after a lay-off due to ligament injury has prompted fans’ calls for the central defender to have his contract renewed as soon as possible.

FOOTBALL

Canarian pair make Spain training squad ◗Two girl footballers from the Canaries will be spending the early part of the coming week in Madrid with the Spain Under 17 squad. Andrea Sánchez and Sandra Hernández, from Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, travel to the Spanish FA training headquarters in Las Rozas for the get-together between 5-7 March.

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Saturday 3 March 2012