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FRIDAY 15th JANUARY TO THURSDAY 28th JANUARY 2016
Puerto boost as Sol Costa Atlantis unveiled T
HE long-awaited resurgence of Puerto de la Cruz as an international holiday destination has been backed by one of the world’s biggest groups.
Meliá Hotels International says it is continuing to put its faith in the Canary Islands and has reaffirmed its “strong commitment” to the leisure segment in the archipelago. The chain has 16 hotels in the Canaries and the latest comes with the official opening of the Sol Costa Atlantis, located on the beach of Puerto. It is the company’s ninth hotel in Tenerife where it already manages more than 2,600 rooms. The new hotel has 289 rooms as well as six meeting rooms to accommodate more than 500 people in the context of the growing influx of conventions and events in the Canary Islands. Sol Costa Atlantis also has an outdoor pool with terrace and spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean, which is complemented by an indoor swimming pool and the Sea Spa, a spacious Spa & Wellness which is one of the main attractions of the hotel. It is dedicated to excellent cuisine and with its prime location, is being hailed as another magnificent example of the recentlyrenovated Sol brand. The company says it regards the Canaries as one of the most successful destinations in the world.
EDITION 542 SUSPENSION CHALLENGED
WAVE OF SUPPORT FOR SIAM PARK GRAN CANARIA
A
wave of support is once again being shown for Loro Parque’s 60 million euro plan to create a new Siam Park on Gran Canaria.
The court of administration in Las Palmas has recently ordered the temporary suspension of the permission granted by the island’s water authority which would have allowed the project to go ahead on 121,000 square metres of public land in the barranco of El Veril. The Kiessling family have spent many years working on the idea which is widely supported by various administrations, including the Government of the Canary Islands. In a statement, Loro Parque says it shows respect for any court decision in any legal proceedings, including this judgement. Nevertheless, it intends to lodge an appeal because it does not consider the challenge from another company as legitimate or justified. Although described as a “precautionary suspension”, Loro Parque says it effectively stops the Siam Park Gran Canaria project on the land it purchased four years ago and which would bring a considerable number of jobs, more tourists and an international leisure offering. Supporters of the project hope the challenge will be settled as soon as possible as they want to see the project go ahead for the good of Gran Canaria. Cabildo president Antonio Morales said everyone had done their homework before the plan was approved and it was very much in the public interest that it went ahead to generate the economy.
“BE AWARE” ALERT RENEWED AS BRITISH MAN DROWNS A Couple rescued A
British man has died in the ocean off the coast of Callao Salvaje just a day after renewed concern was expressed about Spain’s drowning statistics. This latest tragedy happened at 2.45pm on January 10th and although the identity of the victim has not yet been revealed, is is known he was 61 years of age. Several people saw the man was in distress and went to his aid. He was pulled out of the water and rescuers started resuscitation whilst the 112 emergency services were called out. Medics continued but he was in cardiac arrest with symptoms of drowning and could not be revived. Police and the Civil Guard also attended. Both Spain and the Canary Islands’ authorities have always stressed that the number of drownings should not cause panic because the
sea is safe provided every care is taken and the strength of the waves is not under-estimated. However, experts are still calling for a detailed study on what they describe as hidden currents which swirl under the ocean and can and do take many people by surprise. Just before this tragedy, the Royal Spanish Lifesaving Federation had issued its latest drowning report which showed the Canaries was the second region for the most recorded deaths. If the figures are worked out on average, it means that one person drowned every six days in the Canaries during 2015. That is more than the number of people who die from a heart attack (average one every seven days) so
makes drowning one of the major causes of death. The most drownings happened in Andalusia was the territor y where more drownings occurred with 68 deaths, representing 16.4 per cent of the total, followed by Canarias (62 and 15 per cent), Catalonia (57 and 13.8 per cent ) and Galicia (42 and 10.1 per cent). Anaylists say it is natural that the Canaries feature highly on the list because of the extent of its coastline and the huge amount of people who come here. Most of the drownings happen in Spain during the summer months. Generally, the advice to swimmers is to take very special care, don’t jump into freezing cold water, don’t take any risks, take heed of warning signs, don’t ignore the red flag, don’t swim if you have been drinking alcohol or late at night and be aware of the tides.
couple who got lost whilst walking in the Pico Viejo area of Tenerife’s National Park were fortunately rescued before nightfall.
They were found at 10pm and were already very cold. They had become disorientated after straying from the foopath. The couple were found by Mountain Rescue and airlifted to safety. Hikers are being reminded to take extra special care, especially as the temperature can plummet in the higher areas of the island.
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