One of the most spectacular settings of the year will greet competitors for the dual-ranking Abama Open de Canarias, which takes place at the new Abama Golf Club on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands from October 6-9.

The Abama Open de Canarias will be the fourth dual ranking event between The European Tour and the European Challenge Tour and offers a prize fund of €450,000, the third highest prize on the Challenge Tour.

The tournament’s position on the schedule towards the end of the season will add further significance for the event as players on The European Tour jostle for places in the end of season Volvo Masters and fight for their place in the top 115 on The European Tour Order of Merit while Challenge Tour players look to climb into the all important top 20 in the Rankings.

For those outside the top 60 on the Order of Merit and therefore ineligible for the Volvo Masters, the Abama Open de Canarias will be the penultimate event of the season, as it is for the Challenge Tour coming two weeks before the Challenge Tour Grand Final.

Located in the unique setting close to Playa San Juan in Guía de Isora, Abama resides on a spectacular estate atop a smooth hillside of the Teide, the highest mountain on Spanish soil. With stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and surrounded by hundred year old palms, Abama, part of the Tropical Hotels Group, includes a luxury 5 star hotel, a conference and congress centre, tennis club, restaurants and bars, beach club, exclusive Wellness and Spa centre and a par 72 Championship golf course.

Designed by renowned golf course architect Dave Thomas, whose other works include The De Vere Belfry and De Vere Slaley Hall, and Melvin Villaroel, the architect of the Abama complex, the course has many holes which overlook the Atlantic Ocean and island of Gomera.

The European Tour has been a regular visitor to the Canary Islands since the first event in 1988 and the Abama Open de Canarias will be the 20th European Tour event in the Canary Islands.

Francisco Fernandez, Marketing Director of Abama, said: “It gives us enormous pleasure to welcome The European Tour and Challenge Tour players and we are sure they will enjoy our magnificent facilities and our golf course, a prime venue designed by Dave Thomas.”

Paco Sanchiz, Director of the promoters Travel-Sponsoring, said: “We are pleased to organize an event that counts towards both The European Tour and the Challenge Tour, and hosting the renowned professionals.

“We are grateful to the Government of Canary Islands, Abama and The European Tour for the confidence that they have in us. We believe that an event of this stature is a unique occasion which will contribute to the current wide offer of golf in the Canary Islands.”

Alain de Soultrait, Director, European Challenge Tour, said: “The Abama Open de Canarias is a great addition to the schedule with a significant date towards the end of the season which is sure to add to the excitement during the week. The Abama complex is unique and I know all competitors will enjoy all the superb facilities on offer.”

As the cranes and bulding site workmen and the seemingly hundreds of cars they travel to work in every morning are still very much in evidence at the site at the time of writing, lets hope the facilities will indeed be as superb as predicted before October!

There was an almost British punctuality to the proceedings, when at 13,00 hours yesterday on the dot - as advertised! the mayor of Arona, accompanied by various dignitaries among them Manuel Barrios, councilor in charge of Public Works, lined themselves up in front of the 700 meters worth of highway that is the much maligned and delayed new access road to the town of Los Cristianos As well as the official party there were many ordinary citizens and a great number of police present.

Day 2 of being open and the morning rush hour traffic queues on the new Los Christians access dual carriageway

After the speeches a queue of traffic surged onto the virgin tarmac of the dual carriage way, which has a central reservation adorned with lawns and palm trees and in the centre of the lower roundabout (not the one that connects with the TF1) there is to be a metallic sculpture and fountains - a themed reminder that " Whilst Los Cristianos is very much a tourist town it should not loose its identity as a working fishing port"

The mayor of Arona said yesterday to the Diario de Avisos newspaper that citizens "must try to forget the bitter pill they have had to swallow during the construction of the highway and to view the new dual carriage way as the worthy project that it actually is. It was my greatest problem and now it is my greatest achievement", concluded Juan Francisco Reverón.

The Association of Businessmen and Retailers of Arona has now called off their proposed demonstration which was planned to bring the TF1 motorway to a standstill on the 28 of May had the dual carriageway not finally opened yesterday.

Dignitaries declare new road officially open

During the press conference, he started to feel bad and asked reporters that he be allowed to leave but just as he was leaving the room at the Heliodoro Rodriguez stadium, he fell to the ground. His job was to manage the stadium, but he had not even completed a month in the job when he died. Alvarez was a professor of geography at the University of Laguna.

One person is dead and another severely injured after after an explosion which was caused whilst they were handling fireworks for a display intended to simulate an eruption of the Chinyero volcano.

Every year there are "Romeria de Cristo" celebrations in Valle de Arriba (just above Santiago del Teide town) to commemorate the last eruption of the volcano at Chinyero in 1909, but no one could have imaged that this year they would end in tragedy with the death of 37 year old José Juan Oliva pyrotechnic technician and his 31 year old co-worker loosing both his legs because of the severity of his injuries.

The disaster occurred at 10.30 yesterday (Sunday 22 May), the traditional religious procession had not even begun, when the two victims, apparently employees of the Canary Pyrotechnic company, were assembling the framework for the fireworks, which were to give a later display simulating the volcanic eruption. Both workers who came from Icod de los Vinos were either unloading the explosives or mounting them on the framework at the time of the explosion, it is unclear which, say sources from the Local Police department. What is certain is that the explosion could be heard for some kilometers and it was this noise that alerted the local population who called the emergency services.

The actual Chinyero volcanic eruption of 1909 (right)

The accident took place in steep and inaccessible terrain so the victims were airlifted by helicopter to the Santiago del Teide Fire Station where an ambulance and another helicopter were waiting. One person was dead on arrival, the surviving worker was transferred to Santa Cruz Docks by helicopter and from there by ambulance to the University Hospital Candeleria.

The local council has declared two days of official mourning and has officially made a vote of thanks to the Volunteer Fire Service of Santiago del Teide, the Local Red Cross, the Civil Protection groups and the Guardia Civil for their "Extra ordinary efforts" during the incident.

Municipal workers later took the decision to destroy the remaining explosives in a controlled explosion to avoid any further accidents.

The surviving technician remains in a critical state today after having lost both legs in the accident as well as being severely wounded by shrapnel.

This is the second serious accident of it's kind in Spain to cause loss of life. Last new year's day, 57 year old Enrique R.D died as a result of injuries to the abdomen, whilst he was working with fireworks in the Galician town of Vigo

In fact firework displays at the Romeria de Cristo in the Valle de Arriba had been stopped for a number of years because of a similar incident on the 25 May1986, in which several people were seriously injured all though on that occasion there was no loss of life.

The clients and staff at the Bamboo in Los Gigantes really entered into the spirit of of the 60th anniversary celebrations to mark VE (Victory in Europe) day last Sunday 8th May. There was an all star line up of local entertainers including Kevin Allen, Campbell James, Peter Jay, Joanne Love, John Cummins, Dodie, Tom Heeny and of course Helen Dixon Pride as compere.

Landlord Jamie White doesn't quite get his Winston Churchill Impression right!	The Bunting was up in Los Gigantes	" Now will I need a ration card to get some of those sweeties?"

Chrissy still trying to find her mum!	Julia on Maneuvers	Entertainment from (top to bottom and left to right) Tom Heeny, Helen Dickson Pride, Peter Jay, Dodie, Kevin Allen, Joanne Love, and John Cummins and (Right) Billy Bradford who obviously spent the duration stationed in Hawaii!

Hotel Occupation in Santiago del Teide county in April was a only a disappointing 52%. This was made up of 62% in Los Gigantes, 58% for Puerto de Santiago and 36% for Playa de la Arena. Maria Ramona González Perez, local councilor responsible for Tourism, Agriculture and Fishing said that "This is a 4 % drop on last April and obviously we are not happy with these results, but it is necessary to say that this trend is not something specific to our municipality, hotel occupancy figures are lower throughout the Island. This data is far from encouraging, but all we can do is to continue working hard so that we may reverse the trend in the coming months".

Statistics from the The Tourist Office in Playa de la Arena (pictured left) were released at the same time. They registered around 1,000 visitors during April, who picked up literature about local facilities or had specific enquiries dealt with.

Local Police from Guia de Isora force seized 11 grams of cocaine, and more than 200 grams of hashish in a routine traffic control checkpoint at El Varadero last Friday (22 April) between 21:00 and 23:00 hours.

It was local officers who stopped the two young offenders in a routine spot check, but they were later handed over to the custody of the Civil Guard to be formally charged. According to Guia de Isora local councilor Yanes Falcón, this is the largest amount of illegal substances that has ever been confiscated in the county.

Officers man the Check Point in Playa San Juan (left) and (inset) the haul of confiscated illegal substances

The arrests were due to a lucky break when the local Police Officers stopped a green Opel Corsa containing two people described as "young occupants" (although they are stated as being over 18) The officers asked the driver, identified as D.R.V.S, for the documentation of the vehicle, and both occupants for their personal identification papers.

The" nervous and uncooperative" attitude of the passenger, C.D.M.Q, made the officers suspicious, and on performing a personal search of the two, found that the driver was concealing a piece of hashish and five half gram bags of cocaine about his person. The passenger was in possession of four pieces of hashish, a cigarette containing marijuana and 17 half gram bags of cocaine. Both were advised of their rights and taken to the local Police Station for processing.

Another traffic control checkpoint at Playa San Juan which was in place between 17:25 and 18:45 hours on the same evening also netted two offenders for not wearing seat belts and confiscated a moped without legal paperwork . Officers at a third checkpoint set up in Alcala between 19:00 and 20:50 hours gave out 7 citations in total, two for vehicles without insurance; one for a vehicle which had actually been written off, another for a vehicle with no ITV, another for driving without a driving licence, and two more for not using a seat belt.

The Santiago del Teide Rommel Fernandez Municipal School of Soccer's under 7's side has come top of their league making them eligible for the Island Championship playoffs in El Sauzal next Monday 2 of May where they will be up against teams fielded by Valle Guerra and El Peñón.

Local League winners Rommel Fernandez under 7s with their trainer Ramón Brito (Left)

Santiago del Teide local council have received 225 applications from people wishing to fill one of the 5 available vacancies for Local Police Officers the closing date for receipt of applications was the 11th April. There have also been two internal promotions to senior positions in the local force. Juan Yorgeni Socas Martín councilor responsible for Citizen Security and Traffic said in an interview yesterday that "Our Municipality has seen a considerable population increase in recent years and it has become necessary to extend the number of police officers in the county to keep pace with this growth and also in order to create a more secure environment in all parts of the region including outlying areas"

From the 9 until the 14 of May candidates will undergo medical examinations, and subject to fitness will then go on to take various physical and theoretical tests at a later date Government regulations then require successful job applicants to take an intensive course lasting several months at the Canary Academy of Police.

San Francisco International Tennis Tournament (Men’s Doubles) was played yesterday Sunday 10th April and concluded with a Bar-b-q and prize giving in the evening at Agustine’s restaurant at the Sports Centre, Urbanisation San Francisconear Los Gigantes. 16 competitors took part and the results were: The sexiest player: Neil Gray.The best player: Heinz.

Tournament runners up: Fred Holzer and Heinz

Tournament winners: Alan House and Neil Gray. (Picture right)

HOME