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The Canary Islands’ biggest fortnightly English newspaper read by thousands of tourists & residents Edition # 669 / 18th May - 31th May 2012 StuDY FuN >
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HEATWAVE KILLS BRITISH TOURIST Soaring temperatures in the Canaries had tragic consequences for one British tourist.
Over several days, the high temperatures meant that the Islands were on orange alert. People were advised to stay indoors wherever possible and to drink lots of water. Despite the official warnings, a group of elderly British tourists holidaying in Gran Canaria with HF Holidays, went on a hike in Mogán, accompanied it is reported, by one of the holiday company’s guides. Wendy Richardson, 78, collapsed and died soon after arriving at the departure point and two of her walking companions had to be transferred by helicopter for emergency treatment due to their “critical condition”. As we go to press, one of them is still in hospital. All the group were over 60 and temperatures at
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hiking deaths
the time were in the high 30s on the hottest day of the year so far. The Gran Canaria tourist board announced their sadness at the consequences of what they called a “dramatic error” in continuing with the planned walk and local authorities have confirmed that the company’s operating licences are under investigation. In a recent statement released exclusively to Island Connections, Hertfordshire based HF Holidays said “We shall, of course, be cooperating fully with the Spanish authorities to ascertain exactly what happened. We prefer to have firm facts to hand rather than to speculate. Once we have more information and
facts to hand, we will, with the consent of all those concerned make further details available. Meanwhile, our sympathies are of course with those involved and their families and friends.” During the heatwave Tenerife South airport recorded its highest May temperature for half a century, schools throughout the Canaries had to contact scores of parents due to the heat problems suffered by children in stifling classrooms, whilst those who headed for Las Canteras beach for a dip to cool off were forestalled by yet another plague of jellyfish. The searing heat and warm breeze also caused several forest fires, luckily without severe consequences. In a further tragic incident another British hiker died after falling into the Azuaje ravine in Moya.
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port ahoy! garaChiCo
I
n a holiday mood, thousands turned out to welcome the first ships to sail into a Garachico port for over 300 years.
Originally blessed with one of the safest natural ports on the island, this tiny nor th Tenerife town was once the main port of the island and a busy commercial zone, which explains the wealth of lovely old buildings in the area. A landslide, followed a few decades later by the lava flow from the eruption of the Trevejo volcano in 1706, buried the major part of the port area. At that time, the technology didn’t exist to recover their important port so trade went elsewhere, leaving the town as a quaint, but quiet, backwater. Symbolically, the first vessel to enter the port was a sailing ship, the Istambul, skippered by Francisco Salamanca. That
was closely followed by a flotilla of local ships, that celebrated the occasion with blaring music, fireworks and a few glasses of the local red wine. It’s hoped that some life, and new jobs, will be injected back into the area with the opening of Tenerife’s newest and undoubtedly prettiest port. The President of the Isla Baja Consortium, and ex mayor of the town, Lorenzo Dorta, who has fought for
this project tooth and nail, called it the, “best present and achievement of my political career”. Island President, Ricardo Melchior, stated that the first part of the battle had been won, the second part was to make the port work to generate work and wealth. The rights to operate the new marina area are currently out to tender and 170 applications for berths have already been received.
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