July brings two major events at different ends of the musical spectrum. On 20 July Simply Red perform outdoors at Golf Costa Adeje as part of their farewell tour. The course has already staged concerts from Rod Stewart and Elton John in previous years and proved to be a superb setting.

Then on 23 July the Moscow Ballet bring Swan Lake to Playa de las Americas. That takes place at the Magma Arts and Congress building next to the main bus station. The modern centre, normally used for conferences and corporate gatherings is adding more cultural events to its programme and will bring some of the top orchestras down south from the capital.

Talking of Santa Cruz, it may be early to think of christmas but bookings are now being taken for the festive seasons big musical offering at the auditorium on the sea front. This year it is the Spanish production of Chicago, one of the biggest modern musicals around.

Here are a couple of useful websites if you want to keep up with forthcoming music and cultural happenings. www.tenerifemagazine.com and the governments English site www.whatsontenerife.eu  Enjoy the shows.

To read or download your copy – Please go to the Owners Log–In section

My villa at Las Rosas is owned jointly with my wife and on 16th October last we visited the Consular General´s office at 20m Draycott Place, London SW3 2RZ, just a few minutes walk from Sloane Square Tube Station, where we met a Consular Officer – a lady, who was very courteous and helpful.

YOU MUST APPEAR IN PERSON AND TAKE WITH YOU:-

A) Form EX-14 IN DUPLICATE – two for each owner, this form may be downloaded from the Spanish Consulate´s website www.conspalon.org or alternatively obtained from WimPen´s Admin Office in Tenerife, and since this form is printed in Spanish and MUST be completed in Spanish online, PDF or on a typewriter, NOT HANDWRITTEN, I decided to contact WimPen whose Admin staff were very helpful and in addition to copies of the Spanish Form will also send you an English version as a guide, which will undoubtedly help facilitate your completion of the form.
Complete the Spanish form in front of the Spanish Consular Officer, who will then stamp the form and hand one copy of the form back to each owner. The retained copy will be forwarded to Madrid and in 1 – 3 months time the NIE Number will be forwarded to WimPen in Tenerife for personal collection in due course.

B) YOUR VALID PASSPORT and a photocopy of the page in your passport containing your personal details, but make sure you also copy the blank page opposite your personal details which will also be stamped and retained by the Consular Officer.

I am pleased to say that this service was provided completely free of charge. No passport size photographs were required, I did take my Escritura with me.

We arrived at the office at 10.50am and left at 11.00am – an excellent and efficient service, and we will collect the NIE certificates from WimPen when we next visit Las Rosas in August.

As indicated, the procedure is very simple and if any Las Rosas owner(s) would like to discuss the matter my email address is nallen772@btinternet.com

Nevilla Allen – Villa 50 – Weeks 35 & 36.

“After travelling for 3 days – arrived home exhausted! Met some terrific helpful people on the journey, Saw a lot of Spanish & French countryside.
Thanks to everyone in the office, particularly those that helped with the “bodywork repair” to our hire car with a sink plunger!!
See you next year.”
Mr & Mrs Cox – Owner Las Rosas

“Josi at WimPen Sueno Azul was marvelous, she tried and succeeded in helping everyone. I thought the price charged for the additional week was fair, no attempt was made on your part to profit from the situation – took all the stress away for me and my grandchildren. Thankyou”
Mr & Mrs Barrett – Owner El Marques

“Thank you for all you help at a difficult time. This experience has not put us off our visits to Las Rosas we will be back” – Many thanks to all the staff
Mr & Mrs Howe – Owner Las Rosas

“We cannot express our gratitude enough as to how helpful & kind everyone was in such difficult circumstances. I would recommend Las Brisas to everyone as at no point was anyone trying to make a “fast buck”, like many others around the world.”
Sara Denton – Las Brisas

Why should you be there? Cancer affects everyone, and devastates families, it is no respecter of age, sex or general health, but it can be beaten, and with increased support, the recovery rate will improve even more. Last year around 2,000 people turned out to support the Walk For Life, and some 20,000 euros were raised. The money this year will be split between Spanish cancer charity AECC and Tenerife breast cancer charity Amate.

Coaches will be bringing walkers down from the north, and stages at each end of the walk will present music and commentary in English and Spanish. The dress code for the morning is wear something pink, you might look out of place if you don’t! For more information try the website or call 600821100, you can also register your support at Facebook. This might be the most important walk you ever make.

There were 4 interactive themes to the display, Volcanic Experience, Wellness Delight, Family Welcome and Water Sports Experience. They must have made a good impression, because the organisers voted the stand the best at the show. It wasn’t just inside the hall that the Canary Islands were turning heads, several London taxis were covered in promotional pictures, and Herons Quay Bridge, an important landmark in Canary Wharf, displayed a 50 metre billboard.

There is a further boost to come next year when the British Travel Writers Association will hold their annual AGM in Tenerife during  January. Around 100 influential journalists will attend, as they help to shape the trends for future holidays.

A relatively small island, but bursting with major sporting events, that’s Tenerife, and september has a bumper bundle to offer visitors and long term residents. It starts with the Vuelta Ciclista, a cycle race that starts on the island of La Gomera, before taking in a wipe sweep of Tenerife. That is soon chased by the 2 day Adeje car rally, and the month closes with the Tenerife Ladies Open golf tournament in Costa Adeje.

The Vuelta Ciclista starts on September 2 in La Gomera, before winding through Tenerife to end in La Laguna on the 6th. On September 4th, the days stage will end up in Los Cristianos, a great chance for the good people of Los Claveles to enjoy some of the fun and celebrations.

The Adeje Rally zooms into action on September 11 and 12, and although it visits the neighbouring areas, Adeje will see the best of it. The action is more sedate from September 24, when the worlds best lady golfers descend on Golf Costa Adeje to compete over 4 days in front of the television cameras. Los Claveles is a short trip away, but this time Sueño Azul in Callao Salvaje is in a prime position to pop down and enjoy some top sporting action.

If that all leaves you hungry for more, don’t worry, Tenerife has plenty of action to keep everyone thrilled and entertained.

Just prior to this weekends big kick off, a deal has been struck between La Liga and Sky TV to show at least 2 live games a weekend as part of a 3 year commitment, and guess who is first up. Real Zaragoza v CD  Tenerife will go out this Saturday night on Sky Sports 2 at 9pm, other holiday destinations may have paid a small fortune for 2 to 3 minutes in the advertising break, but millions of British TV viewers can watch a 90 minute reminder of the name Tenerife, the away shirts even feature the islands tourism logo.

Winter TV viewers will enjoy watching shirt sleeved crowds cheering on Tenerife as the evening sun sets, all as they crank their heaters up another notch. Here they go, here they go, here they go, down to the travel agents, and they won’t have much trouble thinking of a suitable destination to go and lap up the sun.

Winter – there I’ve said the dreaded word, snow, wind, rain, dark nights, fog, frost. Well that’s one version of winter, but of course, here in Lanzarote and Tenerife, the sunshine life goes on. Now those seeking to escape from the UK winter not so wonderland, have encouragement from the pound, downtrodden but never beaten, the plucky pound is fighting back and stands proudly at around 1.15 euros.

It’s no time for complacency, could do better, that’s the report card on the pound but it is moving in the right direction to assist holiday makers, and given the fantastic beaches, night life and natural wonders, it’s only fair to meet it half way. Across Europe there are signs of the recession coming to an end, and value for money has always been a key driving force with Wimpen Leisure Management. Tenerife and Lanzarote will always be sought after destinations for short and long term visitors, the facilities are in place and the expertise to back them up. now is the perfect time to think about giving the cold winter the cold shoulder.

The Government of the Canaries, together with the Tenerife Tourist Board, hotel association ASHOTEL and the authorities of Adeje and Arona, have set up a committee to fight against the fraudulent activities of Discount Travel Membership Clubs (DTMCs) on the island.

This initiative is a direct result of the conference on the threats posed to tourism resorts by DTMCs organised in May, in which RDO’s Head of Enforcement, Alberto Garcia, called for their eradication. Both RDO and the European Consumer Centre will take an active part in the new committee.

The number of DTMC sales decks in Tenerife has decreased drastically over the past year, thanks to the co-operation of the local authorities, the police and the Enforcement Programme.

DTMCs demand high amounts of money from their clients in return for the promise of huge discounts on future holidays, which often don’t materialise. This kind of fraudulent practice can seriously damage the image of tourist destinations like Tenerife, something the new committee aims to address.