Vineyards on Tenerife, Lunch, Wine and Sex at Bodega Monje

The most famous is Bodega Monje. Just about every visiting travel writer gets taken to Bodega Monje, subsequently it’s the Tenerife vineyard which gets most mentions in travel articles, especially as they also throw Wine & Sex nights (more of that later).

Vineyards on Tenerife, Lunch, Wine and Sex at Bodega Monje

Image: Bodegas Monje. El Sauzal © Aarón S. Ramos

Stephen Hawking, Brian May - full Starmus Festival III program revealed!

One of Tenerife’s most long-awaited festivals, Starmus Festival III, has just unveiled its events program, including the presence of leading personalities including Prof. Stephen Hawking, Dr. Brian May and many Nobel Prize winners; the launch of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication; and a ‘Sonic Universe’ concert by English artist Sarah Brightman and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra.

The Starmus Festival III will take place between 27th June and 2nd July 2016 at the Mare Nostrum Resort complex in Playa de las Américas.

Stephen Hawking, Brian May - full Starmus Festival III program revealed!

Roger Penrose, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Brian Eno, Brian May, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Anathema, Sarah Brightman, Hans Zimmer, May-Britt Moser, Kip Thorne, Carol Greider, Col. Chris Hadfield, Brian Greene, Professor Brian Cox and many others at ‪#‎Starmus2016‬ to pay tribute to Stephen Hawking. Discover the full program here:

Weather Forecast for Tenerife from 16 to 22 May

At last the pattern of the weather on Tenerife changes to an outlook which is mainly warm and sunny everywhere on the island with only some light cloud and a slight chance of the odd shower.

Weather Forecast for Tenerife from 16 to 22 May

Many Milestones Of History In Santa Cruz and other stories

Streets of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Many Milestones Of History In Santa Cruz
The great and the good have all popped into Tenerife over the years, I knew of some like Agatha Christie who is honoured with a bust at La Paz in Puerto de la Cruz to recognize her stay when writing a short story. Leslie Charteris is another famous crime writer who called in, he penned a tale about Simon Templar chasing jewel smugglers through the Canary Islands, maybe with the upcoming TV revival of The Saint that yarn may yet be filmed. There were many surprises among the 24 Brits and 3 Irish figures from history immortalized in stone just a ferry hooter away from the shopping heart of Santa Cruz, each features a small biography in Spanish and English including the dates they passed through Tenerife.

Time out in Tenerife
Sequins, feathers and music fill the streets for three weeks with official parades, competitions and events but everyone can and does join in this fabulously non-commercial community fiesta.

Purple haze as 500-euro goes
THE 500-euro purple note, rarely seen in anyone’s pocket, will no longer be printed after this year, following fears that it is being used for financing by terrorists and criminals.

Population still dwindling as Spaniards go overseas
THE population of Spain continues to shrink, and there is a perfectly good reason: increasing numbers of natives are moving abroad, and there are fewer foreign residents.


Image By Mstyslav Chernov [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Weather Forecast for Tenerife 9 to 15 May

Damp Street in La Laguna

The pattern of sun, cloud and rain continues over the coming week with all coasts experiencing cloudy days at some point, although which days those are may vary between different parts of the island. Rain looks certain at some point as well, but it could be at night or early morning.

Weather Forecast for Tenerife 9 to 15 May

Something for the weekend: Expomotor in San Isidro and much more

Expomotor in San Isidro 7th May

On Saturday, 7th May 2016, from 10am to 8pm in the area of Cho Portada (parallel to the TF-1 highway), San Isidro is holding Expomotor 2016.

During the event, held as part of the Fiestas de San Isidro, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Ford, Renault and Dacia will present their latest sports, hybrid and electric models, offering attendees special offers throughout the day. The exhibition of new vehicles will be accompanied by that of used cars, classic cars and tuned vehicles, also present will be prestige cars such as the Ferrari Testarrosa, among others.

Feria Expomotor 2016

Elsewhere, the Fiestas de Mayo 2016 de Los Realejos are still ongoing, including equestrian events from 9am on Saturday morning in La Cabezada (Icod el Alto); a Crafts Fair in the Avda. de Los Remedios from 10am on both Saturday, 7th May and Sunday, 8th May and a Canarian Folk Music Fiesta in the Plaza Viera y Clavijo from 1pm on Sunday, 8th May. 


Meanwhile, from 1pm on Saturday, 7th May through to 1am the following morning, at the industrial estate of Güímar, there is the Feria Salud y Nutrición  (Health and Nutrition Fair), with live music throughout. Around 30 stands will be offering orthopedics, orthodontics, physiotherapy, podiatry, acupuncture, aquatherapy, herbalists and natural and organic food, among others.

While the popular fiestas and romería in the district of El Calvario, in El Sauzal, in honour of the Virgen de La Piedad, offers a complete programme of recreational and religious activities. From 10pm this evening, Friday, 6th May, there's Karaoke; Saturday, 7th May from 7pm there's a Gran Paella in front of the church followed by dancing to the Malibú Band from 10pm and, on Sunday, 8th May, there are kid's activities with bouncy castles from 11am and the mass, procession and fireworks from 8pm. 

Programa de las Fiestas y Romería en El Calvario, El Sauzal, 2016




However, this weekend, it may all be a bit "weather permitting": 

Unsettled spell could bring wind and rain from tomorrow

Met Office Aemet is forecasting some unsettled weather from this weekend. They’re not expecting a storm, but a depresssion approaching the Canaries from the west should bring some high winds and some rain, heavy at times, to the western islands from tomorrow.

Tenerife’s Fiestas de la Cruz and other stories

EU referendum: Foreign Office urges British residents in Spain to register to vote

Fireworks in Los Realejos, The Fiesta of the Crosses and Fuegos de Mayo
To you and me it might be the light show of the year in the Tenerife sky, but the Fuegos de Mayo firework display which lights up the sky above the Orotava Valley on the night of  the 3rd of May is a class war.

Tenerife’s Fiestas de la Cruz – the May fertility rites
The origins of the fiesta are usually related to Christian theology, most notably through the symbolism of the crosses which are decked with flowers. But the real roots are far older, and go back to pre-Christian, pagan, times when Maytime was the season of Spring becoming Summer, of fertility and growth, and when trees were decorated with greenery, flowers and coloured ribbons to represent the blooming of new life wherever one looked.

EU referendum: Foreign Office urges British residents in Spain to register to vote
The Foreign Office says that over a thousand British residents in Spain are registering every day to vote in the EU referendum on 23 June (for some background info see HERE). Anyone who hasn’t yet registered can do so by clicking on www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Starmus tributes pile up for Prof Hawkins
THE third Starmus Festival is just around the corner and more details are being released. We already know this year’s event will honour Professor Stephen Hawking, and it has now been revealed that there will be a musical tribute.

A Family Affair, Review of Hotel Tigaiga in Puerto de la Cruz
The Hotel Tigaiga is a very Puerto de la Cruz type of hotel. By that I mean it’s as much part of the town as the harbour and Plaza del Charco. It was built by Enrique Talg in 1959 but the story goes back a bit further than that. It’s a family run affair with ties which stretch back to the halcyon days of tourism when there was still the spirit of adventure about visiting islands off the coast of Africa.

Tenerife Vital – charity health and nutrition day 7 May
Mental Health Charity Fundacion En Pie are holding a “Health & Nutrition Fair” in the Poligono de Guimar, exit 20 TF1 on Saturday 7 May. It starts at 1pm until the following 1am, and will have 28 stands representing health and nutrition including orthopedics, orthodontics, physiotherapy, acupuncture, water therapies, herbalism, organic wines and beers, yoga, and very much more! There will be a simultaneous live music festival with between 14 and 16 groups performing throughout the event.

Adeje unveils life-improving programme for residents, including a stop for the cancer bus to take patients to treatment in the north
Adeje Ayuntamiento says that it will be implementing a series of initiatives it’s been working on for some time that will improve the quality of life of people living in the municipality. They include workshops, therapies and a series of conferences in relation to food, relaxation techniques, and investigation and research into breast cancer and help for sufferers.

Weather Forecast for Tenerife from to 2 to 8 May

Los Realejos Fireworks (Image: Los Realejos Town Hall)

It’s no real surprise that the outlook continues to be similar with sunshine forecast for nearly every day on all coasts, but with cloudy spells and the chance of showers as well from Tuesday afternoon. It looks that most places will see some of the wets stuff at some point over the weekend. The forecast for the big 3rd of May firework display in Los Realejos on Tuesday is for an 80% chance of rain. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out to be a damp squib.

Weather Forecast for Tenerife from to 2 to 8 May

Tenerife Fiestas in May 2016

Cruces de mayo by Jose Mesa

Sunday, May 1st is Mother's Day this year and is Día del Trabajo (Labour Day), for which there is a national public holiday (in lieu) on Monday, 2nd May. May 3rd is a public holiday in Los Realejos, Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz, at municipal level.

Tuesday, 3rd May is Día de la Cruz (Day of the Cross), which is celebrated in Santa Cruz (in honour of the city’s founding), Puerto de la Cruz, La Laguna, Los Realejos (which, each year sees the annual firework battle: Europe's biggest firework display) and in Güímar with these floral crosses.

Video: Cruces-Fuegos 3 de Mayo 2015 - Los Realejos fireworks 2015 May 03

Fiestas de Mayo 2016 de Los Realejos




Monday, 30th May is a public holiday throughout the Canary Islands for Día de Canarias (Canary Islands Day), which remembers the anniversary of the first session of the autonomous Canary Islands Parliament, which took place on May 30th, 1983.