The Fiesta of the Animals and other Friday fun

This weekend, Güímar also celebrates the fiestas of San Antonio Abad to bless the animals, starting Friday night with a dance. On Saturday, January 24th, from 4.30 pm in the Barranco de Guaza there's  traditional horse racing and, on Sunday, January 25th, from early morning, you can visit an exhibition of livestock, pets and animals in general around the streets of the centre of the town, while in the Plaza de San Pedro there will be a crafts fair and farmers market.

With just 7 days before the start of the Santa Cruz Carnaval 2009 (at least the start of the contests), the presentation of the candidates for Carnaval Queens in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2009, will take place at the Círculo de Bellas Artes theatre on Friday, January 30th. Of 51 aspiring candidates in all, 18 will participate in the Gala for the Selection of the adult Carnaval Queen, 27 are chasing the junior crown and just 6 compete for the "Queen of the Third Age" as they politely call the glamorous granny end of the proceedings.

For those interested, here's a full list of all the candate's names, ages, titles of their costumes, designers and who they represent (i.e. who's paying).

Free dancing lessons every Thursday night from 10.30 p.m. in the disco, A Saudade, Calle Fernando Arozena Quintero, nº 3, Barrio Buenos Aires, 38009 Santa Cruz de Tenerife - 922 237 830‎. Each week a different style including; Cuban Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Tango, Funky, HipHop, BreakDance, Samba, Danza Oriental, Sevillanas, Merengue, Bachata ... Entrance FREE.

Canary Islands cut a New promotional Deal with Thomas Cook

The Canary Islands government outlines a new promotional agreement with Thomas Cook, principal British tour operator in the archipelago, says the headline. In the same speech last Tuesday, counsellor Rita Martín was also supposedly outlining the similar agreement with TUI (the two companies account for 50 percent of tour packages from the British Isles).

But, if counsellor Martín filled in any details, they didn't make it to the report in the press and, a clue can, I think, be picked up from the mention in the article of "oscillations with the devaluation of the pound." As a consequence, it seems, all parties are being non-committal on the marketing plan for the time being.

The main aims of their meetings, Los Gigantes.com inform us, "are to discuss the demands from tour operators pressurising hotels to lower their prices and the “what ifs” of a repercussion of a charter airline collapse."

Meanwhile, Arona's new internet portal for tourism (currently points to the old one) is to be available in 5 languages (Spanish, English, German, Swedish and Finnish) and will be presented at the travel trade show, FITUR, in Madrid.

Unemployment and a lack of doctors

The Canary Islands is the region of Spain where unemployment grew most in the last year, by 98%. 79,500 jobs were destroyed during 2008, closing the last quarter of 2008 with 223,600 unemployed, making the percentage of unemployed on the islands, 21.8%.

However, the Canary Islands also suffer from a lack of doctors, with these vacancies the most difficult to fill in the archipelago, according to public employment officials. All islands require general practitioners, while in La Gomera they are also looking for pediatricians and in Lanzaorote; pharmacists and specialists in radiodiagnosis, pediatricians, oncology, haematology, endocrinology and anaesthetists.

(If you're a canine hairdresser (dog groomer), however, the population of the Asturias region in northern Spain is just begging for your services.)

BBC newsreader Huw Edwards, appears, like most tourists, not to explore very far outside of the resort areas, but at least his impression of Tenerife is positive and he and his family are repeat visitors to the island, as you can discover in this article in The Telegraph Huw Edwards's heaven on earth, where he talks about the "guaranteed sunshine and rugged beauty of Costa Adeje, Tenerife."

The Independent urge you to find solace, sun and inspiring architecture in northern Tenerife.

Ben Magec-Ecologistas en Acción (Ecologists in Action in Tenerife) are bringing new complaints about irregularities surrounding the Granadilla Port project to the courts.

Nothing will ever be the same ...

Whilst not actually appearing to clarify whether he terms this good news or bad, the president of the Canary Islands Government, Paulino Rivero, assures us in a note to the press today that "nothing is going to be the same in the archipelago after the global economic crisis" and that it's vital to "progress in implementing structural measures to strengthen the new model" (whatever that means.) He also says the executive will be betting on "dynamization and diversification."

The number of pensions being paid in the Canary Islands in Jauary rose to 243,730, 2.6% more than in the previous year, while the average pension in the Canaries is 702.29 euros, 4.8% higher than in January 2008.

Finally, 84% of the taxis in La Laguna now have GPS positioning, but if that doesn't turn you on, you can always try another kind of electric tourism around the historic town, as these German cruise ship passengers did this (rather damp) afternoon, starting from the Plaza del Adelantado, on Segways.