No matter how comfortable and enjoyable your resort is, you will always feel the pull of the beach. Tenerife and Lanzarote both have a fine selection to choose from, and another clutch of European Union blue flags has just been awarded for cleanliness and quality on many of your favourite bathing places.

In Lanzarote, Playa Blanca has been rewarded, very handy for guests at Las Brasas and Las Casitas resorts. In Tenerife, there is also good news, with Las Vistas beach in Los Cristianos adding to its annual collection of blue flags, very tempting to those staying at Los Claveles. Playa la Arena on the west coast is another beach that is no stranger to these awards, and is just a short stroll from Las Rosas and El Marques.

In total, the Canary Islands have been awarded 38 blue flags this year, a fitting reward for the efforts put in by the local councils. Of course if sea and sand don’t appeal to you, all of our resorts have excellent swimming pools with full services close to hand.

We have now released new rental prices for all of our resorts in Tenerife, Lanzarote and Spain for 2009/2010, including new discounts for owners.  Contact Wimpen Management for more information.

Book your Rental for 2009/2010

One of the qualities that draws people back to the Canary Islands, again and again, is the passion and warmth of the people. There is also a great pride in the culture and heritage of the islands, a pride they love to share with those who choose to live among them. Saturday May 30 is the Day of the Canaries, the big national holiday, and we are all invited to join in the celebrations.

From the capitals to the tourism centres and in the small villages, there will be wild displays of colour and music around the main plazas. Tenerife as the biggest island has a particularly busy programme, in the capital Santa Cruz, the new second tram line from La Cuesta to Tincer will be inaugurated. In the evening, down south in Playa de las Americas, there is a musical storm at the football ground, with 14 acts from 8.30pm till well past midnight. The Tiembla Tenerife is one of the few events where you will have to pay, tickets are 30 euros, but it will be some night.

Smaller more intimate events may be more your style, like the gathering of 3 municipal bands at the Cabo Blanco civic centre from 7pm. Traditional Canarian costumes, music and good, especially sardines, will be the fare at street level. Make a point of getting out and enjoying some traditional colour, and remind yourself just why the Canary Islands are your place of choice.

You may have heard of this thing called the recession? Times are tough all around the World, but recent surveys have shown that holidays are still high on people’s priorities. Tenerife’s core attractions of a year round temperate climate, great beaches, stunning views, and a relaxed way of life, will always be there, maybe that’s why one of the biggest travel groups in Germany has forsaken other destinations, to choose Tenerife for their 2009 annual conference.

Lufthansa City Centers have the options of going to Turkey, Monaco, Gran Canaria or Dubai for their November meeting but plumped for Tenerife. The company has 300 offices and will be sending 500 travel agents to see first hand why Tenerife is still a leading player on the tourism market.

Tenerife tourism minister, Jose Manuel Bermudez, put the lure of Tenerife in this case, down to a network of excellent hotels and impressive conference facilities.

Your involvement and feedback is very important to us at Wimpen Leisure Management, so we look forward to seeing you at the AGM meetings for our resorts.  Below are the all important dates for this year, it will be good to see you, it’s a good chance for us all to put faces to familiar names.

• Club Bena Vista -  9th May – PM
• Los Claveles  – 10th May – Time to be confirmed
• Las Rosas – 28th June  -Time to be confirmed
• Sueno Azul – 5th December –  AM
• El Marques – 5th December – PM
• Las Casitas – 6th December – AM
• Las Brisas – 6th December – PM

If you want to read the minutes of the previous AGM, just go to our recently improved main website, where you can download them to read at your leisure.

Here at Wimpen Leisure Management we like to keep all our members and customers in touch with what’s happening around the islands. This blog and our main website are just 2 ways to keep you up to date. We also send out regular news letters to give you a taste of life at our resorts and their surroundings. Here are a few stories you might like to know more about.

The biggest aviary in the world is set for Loro Parque in the north of Tenerife. It’s already one of the most popular visitor attractions but there will soon be even more reason to flock to the animal park.

Santa Cruz Carnaval is officially the best daytime street carnaval in the world. The capital has once again been turned into a blaze of noise and colour.

Teide National Park has become a World Heritage Site. Anyone who has seen the splendour and natural beauty of the park will agree it’s a well deserved honour.

Don’t forget we are always there for you, and often have good news on prices and availability.

Dear Owner,

Towards the end of January, the Spanish police raided the offices of Global Vacations Limited, a marketing company selling Club Class Concierge holiday club membership, arresting sixteen people on suspicion of fraud.

Victims of this alleged fraud will have been approached by resale company ETOO telling them that a buyer had been found for their points or week. They would have been told that the transaction would have to be concluded in person in Malaga. Once there the owners were met by Global Vacations Limited representatives who try to sell them Club Class Concierge membership. This may well have been alongside a cash-back offer through CashBack Europe Plc.

To assist the authorities in Spain with their investigations, evidence is now required from timeshare owners and the purpose of this email is to call on OTE members to inform their staff, post messages on their websites or their newsletters to encourage as many victims as possible come forward. A case can only be built up if sufficient evidence is provided!

In this instance, rather than forwarding complaints to OTE’s enforcement team in Spain, we have been informed that evidence should be sent to the complainant’s local European Consumer Centre, details of which can be found on the ECC website http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/redress_cons/docs/ecc_network_centers.pdf

Photocopies of all documents, a brief statement providing details about their case and photocopies of proof of payments made should be provided.

UK based consumers should send their complaints to:

European Consumer Centre

1 Sylvan Court, Sylvan Way

Southfields Business Park

Basildon

Essex SS15 6TH

Tel: 08456 04 05 03, Fax: 08456 08 96 00, email: ecc@tsi.org.uk

Book Now – Great Accommodation Offers – Reduced Flight Prices

Carnival Dates

Santa Cruz de Tenerife : 15th Fen – 21st Feb 2009

Los Cristianos : 7th March – 16th March 2009

Los Gigantes : 23rd Feb – 1st March 2009

A great experience is to attend one of the Carnival dates held throughout the island of Tenerife.
It is almost certain that the population of Tenerife began celebrating carnival shortly after the conquest when the Portuguese & Spaniards arrived on the island.
Since then it has been held almost every year except during the Civil War and the first years of Franco’s dictatorship put a stop to it. However, the ban was relaxed and in 1961 carnival took over the streets of Tenerife once again.
The spectacular carnival queens are the most famous symbol of the carnival. Every Year different candidates compete in a great show called the “Gala de Eleccion de la Reina” (Election of the Queen). Every district holds a carnival chooses its own Queen, but it is the competition to be Queen of the Santa Cruz that attracts the most attention. There are many spectacular design, costumes and fantasies.
The tourist resort of Los Gigantes, in the southern district of Santiago del Teide holds its own four-day carnival. As in other towns on the island, it takes place the weekend after the Santa Cruz carnival finishes. They hold the election of the carnival queen and competitions in the central square La Bouganvilla, there are carnival groups, dances, processions and the usual burial of the sardine, which marks the end of the festival on the Monday.

Taken a break – Come and join us !!!!!!!

A number of new features that you can join in on – Add your own holiday snaps to our Group on Flickr or sign on for regular news letter up dates via our Facebook Fan Page.

If you have any questions email Ian Crane administracion@WimPen.com

If you had unlimited money and could go anywhere in the world for a holiday, where would you go? Thats easy – Tenerife of course, if you don’t believe me, ask Manchester City football team.

The richest football club in the world are in Tenerife this week for a training break in La Caleta, one of the jewels of Costa Adeje. Residing in the Sheraton Hotel, they have been working out at the new sports centre, Tenerife Top Training or T3 as it is known.  

Sadly their 32 million pound Brazilian star bailed out after just 2 days to pop back to Brazil, but not before he had posed on the diving board at one of the 2 new outdoor pools at the centre. Maybe if Man Citys 100 million euro transfer target, Kaka, had experienced the delights of Tenerife, he would have put pen to paper pretty smartish.

You don’t have to be rich to afford to stay, rent or buy in Tenerife, but you do need good guidance, that’s where Wimpen Leisure Management come in, check out there new look website to see what they can do for you.