Canary Islands After the Storm

El Dedo de Dios in Gran Canaria after the storm broke off it's top portion

Tropical storm, winter storm, hurricane ... the distinctions do not seem all that important when what one sees looks like a hurricane whipped through. Mudslides, missing roofs and trees, often hundreds of years old, have been uprooted all over the islands. Among many others, eight of the large trees on Santa Cruz', Avenida de Anaga, alongside the the capital's port have been uprooted and in the Plaza Weyler, the gardens have been totally destroyed. A sculpture by famous artist, the late Cesar Manrique, has been reduced to scrap metal in Lanzarote. 

In Gran Canaria, God lost his finger. "The famous Dedo de Dios (God's Finger), at Puerto de Las Nieves on Gran Canaria collapsed due to strong winds." The famous landmark stood for millions of years and was the symbol of the area.

Whilst it is sad that such things have been destroyed in one frenzied night and day, TV reports show carnage, but victims mostly dismissive of their material damages and grateful they had no lost lives to lament. Indeed, only one man died, on the Canary Islands themselves, as a direct result of the storm. The 63 year old was blown off his ladder while attempting to repair his roof in Fuerteventura.

Over 200,000 people in Santa Cruz and La Laguna in Tenerife spent a second night last night without power after pylons alongside Tenerife's main north-south highway were blown down. Local authorities are having equipment flown in from the mainland and expect to reconnect 40% of those without power today, 90% by tomorrow, Thursday and to have 100% power restored by Friday.

Over 40% of the mobile telephone network was affected, as well as thousands of fixed phone lines cut off. We were without internet connection and one of our TV stations was missing, probably due to a downed antenna. Hardly life-threatening.

The most lasting damage from the storm will be to the agricultural sector, which has suffered wholesale destruction of many crops throughout the archipelago.

Here in the north west of Tenerife, locally, at least, we were protected from the winds - which reached 200 kmph (124 mph) at Izaña, close to Mount Teide - by the Los Gigantes cliffs. Local damage is minor and restricted to small items that have been displaced. However, the roof of a new industrial building near the town of Buenavista del Norte was ripped off and in neighbouring Los Silos, the wall of a banana plantation fell on a vehicle belonging to the Local Police.

In Icod de los Vinos a row of houses had their roofs blown off, but the storm merely dampened the day's traditional festivities for San Andres.

Experts are unable to offer conclusive proof, but locals are convinced that global warming is responsible for the abnormal weather phenomenon. Those I've spoken to hope, but do not believe, that it will be an isolated incident.

The islands have now been taken off alert and schools and work are back to normal in almost all but the most affected areas of Santa Cruz and La Laguna.

BBC | Tropical storm batters Canaries

Storm Delta nears Canary Islands

The regional government declared a state of alert in the Canary Islands as Tropical Storm Delta (the 25th of the season) headed towards the archipelago. The fishing fleet was ordered to remain on dry land and citizens were advised to avoid travelling, especially on roads close to the coasts and, to take extra precaution on mountain and narrow roads where there is a heightened risk of falling trees or rocks.

Schools were closed Monday throughout the Canary Islands and several inter-island flights were cancelled, with others suffering delays as the first winds of Atlantic tropical storm Delta hit the archipelago. Keen to allay fears among the population who might be concerned about the risk of damage on a par with that caused by Wilma or Katrina, simply because this is a named storm, local TV presenters interviewed meteorologists on air via telephone link.

Presenter: "What is the difference between this and previous storms we've seen in the archipelago?"

Meteorologist: "The Hurricane Center in Miami gave it a name."

Not entirely sure how exactly that helps mind you. Meteorologists predicted wind speeds of between 75 and 100 kmph in the uplands of Tenerife and La Palma, possibly reaching 150 kmph or more on the summit of Mount Teide. Winds have continued to buffet Secret Tenerife's "headquarters" throughout Monday, but, so far, with less force than we have seen on previous occasions. Electricity supplies have been interrupted more than once, but we have decided to follow official advice to the letter and "avoid unnecessary trips". Lock up, wrap up and sit it out, is usually the best way to deal with these short lived weather fronts.

Situación de alerta ante los fuertes vientos y lluvias, preludio de la tormenta 'Delta' NASA image from Goddard Space Flight Center, Public domain

Buenavista del Norte Tuning Car Meeting

First Buenavista del Norte Tuning Car Meeting

Well, this was something very different in our little rural backwater; Buenavista's first "Concentration" of Tuning Cars, which was held on Saturday in the main street and the square - usually the scenes of more pedestrian pursuits, such as traditional fiestas and romerias, horses or herds of goats at the annual fiesta of San Antonio each January. But even rural backwaters have to move with the times, and a goodly number of curious spectators had turned out by early afternoon to contemplate the couple of dozen vehicles on display, listen to engines being revved or buy tickets for the raffle.

So, here, in a Secret Tenerife "exclusive" are photos from yesterday's gathering.

Tuning, was defined by La Frikipedia (now defunct) not very kindly, but probably quite accurately, as the "Contemporary art consisting in acquiring any type of motor vehicle and converting it into a species of totally afuncional and ridiculous intergalactic spaceship." And, no, I don't know why they couldn't find a Spanish word to describe it. (Although, a growing trend, the use of "ingañol" is not as common here as it is in North America.) Still, it's probably less embarrassing to "blame" it on the British or Americans with an English one!

La Frikipedia also listed some of the "artistic practices" that a tuning car is submitted to, amongst them, namely: "Painting the vehicle in florescent colours that the human eye is not prepared for." Hummm ... I think the sober green and blue number (pictured above) is pretty close to qualifying for that prize. As well as making the doors open up instead of swinging the normal way, this vehicle rose up off the road surface - not a bad idea, since there is not one single flat one on the entire island - and dropped back down again when parked. Both novelties being the reason it drew quite a crowd of easily delighted onlookers.

Exibit B

"Include a sound system superior to the value of a similar car in the showroom." This yellow, white and blue example, despite the Chinese/Japanese calligraphy and other assorted emblems, is in the colours of the Canarian flag.

Actually, it's a shame (or a good job, according to your taste) that I cannot include sound with this report, because never mid the vehicles, the road surface and most of the buildings in the street, were pulsating with the sounds of reggaeton.

Coincidentally, I ran across the following quote, "At the forefront of the reggaeton movement is Tego Calderon, who was at a loss to describe why the mix of salsa and hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and reggae is so popular." He may have been at a loss, however, tuning and reggaeton seem to be made for each other. Both equal in terms of subtlety and the latter is ideal for showing off the full capabilities of those expensive sound systems. (If the bodywork can take it.)

What else do we need for an authentic tuning car?

• Change the tyres for enormous rubber rollers.
• To include all type of ailerons and fins, each one with its corresponding illumination.
• Change the exhaust for a fatter one, preferably from a tractor.

(Ah, now we see why this has caught on here in the countryside.)

And, naturally, one has to drill holes in the exhaust manifold.

Surprised cat sticker on a car bonnet

"To fill any free space with stickers." If you can't quite run to the whole customization job at the moment, you can always begin with something like this rather surprised looking cat on the bonnet of an otherwise normal(ish) saloon car.

We probably should mention that La Frikipedia (also not very kindly, but in reasonable truth) pointed out that the "art" of tuning is generally performed by a specific group of young persons known as canis. You'll most likely not require a translation to recognize this species as being a close relation to that champion of good taste, his British cousin, the chav.

It's simply all part of the current youth culture - every generation has one - which allows them to express their individuality with rigorous conformity. :)

Extracting our tongue from our cheek finally, the positive aspect to this is that there is enough yoof in the local area to support such an event. For many years, they'd been leaving to seek work in other parts of the island, so the area became rather top-heavy in old-age-pensioners. We like that there's some life back.

Dorada the beer of Tenerife since 1939

Compania Cervecera de Canarias (CCC) has posted a healthy rise in operating profit. The Spanish brewer said yesterday (25 October) that operating profit for its fiscal year to 31 March leapt by 22% year-on-year to €17.7m (US$21.4m). (Via: Just-Drinks.com) The Canarian beer company was founded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1939 and began brewing the Dorada brand. In 1994, they merged with Sociedad Industrial Canaria (SICAL) of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, which was formerly the La Tropical brewery. Some years ago, they also acquired the independent brewer of the Mas brand beer.

These beers are uniquely found in the Canary Islands, with Dorada continuing to be typical in Tenerife and Tropical the favourite in Gran Canaria.

Try these lager beers instead of imported ones. I find them to be smoother and less gassy than more familiar names, apart from which you will find their relative prices amusingly cheap and, your purchase helps the local community.

Image: Beemwej [CC BY-SA 3.0]

Columbus in The Canary Islands

Christopher Columbus illustration from Grand voyages (1596) by Theodor de Bry (1528-1598)

Christopher Columbus may have been born, in 1451, in the Italian port city of Genoa (also where many of Tenerife's early settlers hailed from), but his real origins remain a mystery. What is known is that on August 3, 1492, Columbus left from Palos, Spain and first sailed to the Canary Islands, where he re-provisioned and made repairs (in Gran Canaria). He would also have seen Mount Teide on Tenerife erupt in 1492 on his way past the, at that time, as yet, unconquered island. On September 6, 1492 he started the five week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean - from the island of La Gomera, where the date is a fiesta.

Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the Western Hemisphere on October 12, 1492, although he continued to believe he had reached Asia until his death in 1506. He also believed the peaks of Cuba to be the Himalayas, which gives one a sense of just how lost he was. He never reached the United States where "Columbus Day" is celebrated. The holiday has also been celebrated in Spain since 1958, as Día de la Hispanidad.

Controversy and Concubines

Columbus' later lover and mother of his second son Ferdinand, Beatriz Enriquez, should not be confused with the infamous Beatriz de Bobadilla - the widow of Hernán Peraza, Governor of La Gomera - who later married Alonso Fernández de Lugo, the conqueror of Tenerife, although popular legend, speculation and contemporary report suggest that Columbus may have been in love (well, lust anyway) with this Beatriz too. "Although La Gomera's most famous association is with Christopher Columbus, its most infamous is with the aristocratic Beatriz de Bobadilla, by reputation a vicious medieval nymphomaniac, and by all accounts - including a portrait in the Parador Nacional - a great beauty. Rumours of a liaison grew and on subsequent trips Columbus would add to the circumstantial evidence, interrupting both his 1493 and 1498 journeys on the island. In 1498 he was disappointed to find that Beatriz had married Alonso Fernández de Lugo, the conqueror of Tenerife, so that on his final 1502 voyage Columbus didn't even bother to weigh anchor in San Sebastián."

References:

1. Christopher Columbus From Wikipedia
2. Columbus Day Historical Perspectives
3. Christopher Columbus NNDB
4. Beatriz de Bobadilla on Destination Guides - La Gomera
5. The story of love between Columbus and Beatriz de Bobadilla
6. Columbus’ Rendezvous in La Gomera
7. Columbus Links Page

Image via rawpixel.com

Simón Bolivar's Noble Tenerife Links

Statue of Simón Bolívar in the Plaza de la Libertad, Garachico

Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), the South American liberator, has tenuous links with the town of Garachico in Tenerife. His statue stands in the Plaza de la Libertad, Liberty Place (naturally). But exactly what that link is, like so many things, seems to get lost among myths and tales. Having been told and read various accounts that his mother (sometimes the story involves both parents) was born in Garachico, I later came across an account that suggested his grandmother emigrated from Garachico after the 1706 eruption that devastated the town. Whilst the eruption was certainly a reality, neither of those tales, repeated by tour guides daily, regarding Bolívar's immediate family are true.

Referring to a documented genealogical study of the Caracas, Venezuela, branch of the Blanco family, we discover that it was much earlier ancestors (4x great-grandparents), Pedro Blanco Gerardts who married Beatriz Ponte Rebolledo in Garachico (Tenerife) on May 6, 1589 and who left Garachico, first for the island of Margarita and, then establishing themselves in Caracas, in 1603. Clearly this was 100 years earlier than the previous account and, around 200 years before the Liberator himself was making a serious mark on world geography.

Interesting point is that Cristóbal de Ponte (a Jewish banker from Genoa) founded the town and port of Garachico (then the most important town and main port of the island) in 1496, after being granted land by the conqueror of Tenerife, Alonso Fernández de Lugo (in return because de Ponte had bankrolled de Lugo's military campaign). Cristóbal de Ponte was the great-grandfather of Beatriz Ponte Rebolledo. His son, Cristóbal de Ponte y Llarena, had been made the first Marquis de la Quinta Roja in the 17th century.  

The Marquis' 16th Century Manor-Palace has now been converted into Hotel La Quinta Roja, whilst the town's other historical Hotel San Roque was constructed by one of Cristóbal de Ponte's descendants in the 17th Century. 

The statue of Simón Bolivar that stands in Garachico's square, to the side of the Hotel La Quinta Roja, was given to the town by the Garachico "colony" in Venezuela, in 1970. It is the work of local Garachico sculptor, Juan Jaén and was inaugurated on the Anniversary of Bolivar's birth, July 24.

So, whilst it wasn't his parents or grandparents that various legends would have us believe, Simón Jose Antonio Bolívar y Palacios Blanco "El Libertador", had even more important, influential ancestors, who were from Garachico's, founding, noble families. Speaking of nobles ... Apparently, according to Garachico historian, Carlos Acosta, Garachico used to have a whole street made of Carrara marble (lost under the flows of lava from Teide's 1706 eruption), which only the nobles were allowed to walk on - except Fridays - when they let the poor people walk across it to beg for alms. Big-hearted of them!

Dog symbol of the Canary Islands Disappears

In recent times there has been a controversy over the representation of the dog (Presa Canario) in the shield. The Government of Canary Islands has removed the two dogs from the official forms and public buildings, although they have been kept in the Coat of arms of Canary Islands.

The dog, or "can", the historical symbol of the Canary Islands from which they take their name, has begun to disappear from official use. The elimination of both dogs from the shield of the Canary Islands, on official forms and public buildings, has generated some controversy, not just because of the cost, but because the Canarian people have been very attached to "man's best friend" for centuries.

The Canarian executive is justifying the decision to change the "corporation mark", so that it is more modern and easier for citizens to identify with, which has both detractors and those in favour. The Government plans to put an end to a symbol that has been tradition in the island since 1722, the year in which 18th Century historian, José de Viera y Clavijo, wrote about the shield with a dog on each side for the first time.

The first mention of the dog in relation to the Canary Islands goes back to the Mauritanian King Juba II, who, between 30 and 25 BC, had sent a marine expedition that came across the islands. The discovery was described extensively by Pliny, who wrote that the Canaries received this name "for their dogs, two of which were sent to Juba". The Canary Dog is one of the oldest symbols of the history of the Canary Islands and has existed since the time of the aboriginals.

Even at that time, they formed part of their myths, according to Fray Juan Abreu de Galindo in his "History of the Conquest", who wrote that the inhabitants of Gran Canaria and La Palma shared the belief that demons appeared to them "like great fleecy dogs".

Archaeological excavations in several burial caves in Tenerife have shown that the dog was buried with his master, so it could "guide the soul to the region of the dead", writes historian, Manuel Curtó, author of the book, "El perro de presa canario, su verdadero origen". (The true origin of the Presa Canario.)

Nevertheless, in spite of these facts, there are other explanations for the name of the archipelago:

Historian, José Juan Jiménez, of the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (Museum of Nature and Man) in Tenerife, says the Canaries, in reality, owe their name to the "cannis marinus", a species of large monk seal that populated the coasts until the 15th Century.

Via the extinction of this species, brought about by the colonisers, attracted by their skins and, a translation error by Pliny, left out their existence entirely and turned history towards the dogs.

Contrary to what happened with the seals, the mixing of breeds between local and foreign dogs, did not bring an end to those native to the islands, because the Bardino has survived to the present day.

The relevance of dogs in the Canaries since the aboriginal era, has given their inhabitants an identity of their own and, has served them well for three centuries. Their image has been one of the most representative of the islands, becoming characteristic of them.

The positioning of the dogs, on guard, horizontal, on the shield and the flag of the Canary Islands, which at the moment are unmovable, because to change it would require a change in the Statute, is not an aesthetic one, but one that represents the force of the animal.

The English dogs that decorate the plaza of Santa Ana, in Vegueta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which arrived in the island in 1895 are another example of the tradition of the dog in the Canaries.

Currently, preparations are underway for a project, "Gran Can", organized by the Town Hall in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in which 60 large sculptures of dogs, in fiberglass, will be placed in the streets of the city from October to December.

A clear sign that, even if they change the corporate image of the Government of the Canaries, the dog will, for the moment, maintain it's position in Canarian tradition.

El can, símbolo de Canarias, comienza a 'desaparecer'