Has been with Las Casitas from the beginning, joining in 1982 as a maid, and promoted to house keeper in 1988, and continues to this day taking great pride in offering owners and visitors a warm welcome. On her last birthday she was 64.

Her husband Benabe joined Las Casitas in 1985 as Head of maintenance. until his sad death in December 2003.

Dolores has 2 children, Carmita who joined Las Casitas in August 2004 and is still working as one of our maids, and her son Alberto who joined Las Brisas in 1993 after completing his military service and is still working on Brisas in the Maintenance Department.

Many congratulations !!!!!!

Slushy pavements, big coats to keep out the cold and rain driving in sideways, that’s no way to do christmas shopping. Santa Cruz the capital of  Tenerife is putting on the style this year by installing an artificial ice rink in Plaza de España. It’s the focal point of the city with views out to the quayside and the Atlantic beyond and heads Calle del Castillo, one of the main shopping streets.

Now imagine christmas shopping in the sun, stopping for a coffee or a festive tipple, and having a whirl on the ice rink. The ice surface will be in place from 3 December to 10 January and an hours skating including skate hire is expected to cost 4 euros. It’s a decent sized rink of 600 square metres and can take 100 people at any time, opening hours will be from 10am to midnight.

Santa Cruz is just an hour from the south and has a wide selection of stores selling the latest in fashion and electronic goods. Sounds tempting, and not a snowflake in sight.

The Tenerife sea air and sunshine is always inspiring but on Sunday 12 December it will have an even greater incentive as thousands join the Walk For Life to raise money and awareness of breast cancer. Fun is the big ingredient of this walk, it’s a celebration of life and a determination to  prolong it with early diagnosis and well funded research. Everyone is welcome and you are encouraged to wear something pink to show your support.

This years event is slightly longer at 3.5 kms, starting at Salytien in Playa de Las Americas and ending at Plaza de la Pescadora at the old Los Cristianos beach. Gathering at 10 am for an 11 am start, walkers will be encouraged by comperes Katy Kennedy and Carlos and there will also be live music and dance. At the other end cheer leaders will welcome everyone as well as a blues and jazz singer. Previous years have been a spectacle and a great experience for those involved.

This years cancer charities are AMATE and AECC, sponsorship forms are available where you see the posters or you can call 600821100 for more information. All nationalities and communities will be joining together for this special morning so get invloved and make a difference.

Many think it is a talking shop or a jolly but the World Travel Market is one of the biggest travel fairs in the world and Tenerife has reaped positive rewards for their presence from 8 to 11 November at the show in the Excel Centre, near Canary Wharf in London.

The trade only show attracts all the big travel companies and all the travel media as trends are set for the year ahead. Tenerife had a large prescence as part of a huge Canary Islands stand. Tenerife president Ricardo Melchior popped over to lend his support as did Jose Manuel Bermudez, tourism councillor for the government.

The end result has been commitments from Monarch and Thomson, two of the biggest passenger carriers from the UK. Monarch has pledged to increse its number of seats for the coming winter from 264,000 to 344,000.  Thomson are also committing to Tenerife with an 18 % increase in winter seats. It all points to a healthy future for Tenerife’s position as a top winter holiday destination.

There’s good news for regular visitors to Lanzarote, Thomson Airways have launched a new service from Doncaster-Sheffield airport, also known as Robin Hood airport. New once a week flights have been added to the winter schedule starting from November 7.

Nick Smillie, Aviation Sales Director at Robin Hood Airport said the airline had recognised that holidaymakers want to travel from local airports. “This additional route has been added thanks to great customer support and demand,” Opening offers include return flights from as little as 169 pounds per person return.

It’s a great winter boost to Wimpen clients heading out to Las Brisas and Las Casitas resorts in Playa Blanca. Lanzarote enjoys wonderful winter weather and has a wealth of beaches to relax on and incredible volcanic scenery to explore.

Don’t panic if you haven’t started shopping yet, just a few gentle notes for your diary if you are planning Christmas in Tenerife. As always there will be plenty of events to enjoy and details and dates are now being revealed. Many of the big concerts are in Santa Cruz the northern capital but even that is a short drive of an hour, a little more from the west coast.

Let’s start  down south, big classical concerts tend to head for the north but the Magma Arts and Congress Centre next to the Playa de las Americas bus station is trying to redress that balance. On Monday 6 December the Moscow Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker there at 7pm. Tickets are 35 euros from their website or call the box office on (0034) 902109974.

Christmas Day may end back home with snoozing by the fire but in Tenerife you can end the night on a lively note in Santa Cruz with the annual FREE quayside concert. This year it’s Gospel Sinfonico featuring the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Mississippi Mass Choir, a stage full of 200 performers. It starts at 10 pm and finishes at midnight, or a bit later, with a huge firework show.

There is no Boxing Day in Spain but the show goes on with the start of the big festive season offering at the Santa Cruz Auditorium. This year’s musical treat is Chicago with a top Spanish cast. Tickets range between 30 and 50 euros, phone the box office (0034)  902317327 or the website. The show runs until 2 January but no show on New Years Day – even musical stars are entitled to a hangover.

There will of course be lots of local music, colour and culture all around the island, and the nativity scenes at the town halls are always worth a look. Sorry we can’t offer you any snow – well maybe a little bit up on Mount Teide.

Sometimes building projects seem to drag on forever in Tenerife so it’s good to see a big scheme nailed down to a start date and allocated a budget. That’s the case with the long awaited upgrade for Playa de Ajabo beach in Callao Salvaje. Work will start on 1st November for a 14 month project that will cost 1.2 million euros, this will provide a focal point along this naturally rugged coast and will make sun bathing and swimming a pleasure for the many visitors to this area.

Adeje council have been steadily improving the area with attractive walkways and gardens and better access, this latest investment will give a big boost to local economy and compliment the thriving network of local bars and restaurants. Sueño Azul of course has its own refreshing pools and family facilities but it’s always nice to pop down to the beach during your stay to experience the Atlantic lapping at your toes.

To know Tenerife is to love it, few can resist its lure once they realise the diverse locations and attractions on offer, and of course the tremendous all year temperate climate. Tenerife Tourism Corporation is very aware of this and is making full use of social media to reach new audiences. The days of flicking through a holiday brochure are long gone, now you can use the internet to see many different parts of the island and focus in on activities that appeal to you.

The latest move to promote Tenerife is a new You Tube channel featuring professional videos from all around the island with special categories for family fun, rural adventure, scenic routes, beaches, culture and much more. It’s not a one way thing, the Corporation is encouraging feedback, they want comments and peoples own experiences of Tenerife to widen the view. You Tube isn’t the only way to interact, Tenerife Tourism is also on Facebook, giving people a great way to share experiences and post photos and videos.

“The internet is an important place to research travel, so we are keen to ensure that Tenerife’s voice is heard on social media platforms,” comments Jose Manuel Bermudez, Vice-President of the Tenerife Island Government and Councillor for Tourism. “Social media presents us with the perfect opportunity to reach potential holidaymakers and engage in dialogue with those who know our island and those who may not. With wide amounts of open spaces, mountainous areas – including Spain’s tallest peak – as well as beautiful beaches, many national parks that make up almost half of the island’s area, a vibrant cultural arts scene and a whole host of exciting events and activities for all ages, we want to highlight Tenerife’s beauty and show exactly what it has to offer as a destination for all types of travellers.”

So don’t just take our word for it when we enthuse about Tenerife, get on the internet and have a good look around, you will be pleasantly surprised. Once you have that urge to visit or settle here come and see how we can help you find a home from home at www.wimpen.com.

Dear Owner,

The largest problem facing the community is that of community debtors, and one which receives our constant attention.
At the moment the process in dealing with debtors is to block the villa from their usage, employ professional debt collectors and as a last resource, initiate legal action through the Spanish court.
Wimpey, in its day, sold timeshare using the only secure system at that time namely the Escritura (public registered deed). However, it failed to recognise the problems that owners would face when they reached an age when visiting their timeshare resort was no longer an option and in particular, when one of the partners who signed the Escritura, is deceased.

WimPen regularly receives letters from owners who have no further use for their timeshare and wish to surrender them without cost in order to avoid their maintenance fee commitments but sadly, we are not able to accept them, firstly because we ourselves are not able to take over the responsibility of paying the maintenance fees and secondly, because the owner has to provide NIE numbers and Powers of Attorney from the two partners who originally signed the Escritura and pay the legal transfer costs of approximately £1,000. In many cases, one of the partners is deceased, and the survivor is faced with obtaining an “Inheritance Escritura” costing a further £1,500.

The object of this report is to offer advice on what action owners can take to avoid persecution by debt collectors or the Spanish courts when the time comes that they can no longer visit the resort.
As you know, when an owner becomes a debtor, WimPen block the villa and offer it for rental. If a rental is achieved, the income is credited to the debtors’ account however rentals cannot be guaranteed, particularly in the current economic crisis and also certain weeks in the low season are difficult to rent.
If you have no descendants or your descendents have no interest in taking over your timeshare, you should act now whilst you are both alive to ensure that your spouse is not left with the consequences of becoming a Community debtor.

As agreed at the AGM, a property holding company has been formed by WimPen and any owner can now transfer their weeks into the property company and continue their ownership by means of a private contract which would enable them, under certain conditions, to surrender their weeks without cost and distress to the survivor in the case that one of the partners who signed the Escritura is deceased. It also enables you to sell the weeks in the future with a minimal transfer cost of say £100.
Unfortunately, transferring the weeks to the property company, does not come without cost since under Spanish law, it is effectively a property sale that carries the requirement of obtaining NIE numbers and Powers of Attorney.

There are various ways to obtain Powers of Attorney and NIE numbers one of the easiest ways is to obtain them when you are on holiday at the resort and we are able to offer assistance to anyone who opts for this system. If you are not able to visit the resort, we are also able to offer you advice on how to obtain them in the UK. The legal transfer costs to the property company are approximately £1000, which although significant, is minimal in comparison with the distress that is caused to a surviving spouse who is being pursued for debt.

If you wish to take advantage of the private contract facility, then please contact Ian Crane at WimPen´s Head Office who will offer guidance on how to proceed.

Just take a typical week in Tenerife and there is so much going on, fiestas come in all shapes and sizes and every village has its own special flavour to add to the mix. Last week the small west coast fishing village of Alcala had its annual fiesta week and despite its small size it really packs a punch. The climax of the final night is a midnight firework show from rocks just off the coast. The display is huge and goes on and on, the fireworks lit up the sky as far west as Las Rosas and El Marques in Los Gigantes, and to the south at Sueño Azul in Callao Salvaje.

There’s hardly time to draw breath, this weekend Los Claveles in Los Cristianos will be close to a triple bill of action. Noches de Boleros is a feast of music and dance at the old marina, from 9.30 pm on Friday 20th August and Saturday with a host of musical performers paying tribute to different dance styles, there will be seating for 3,000 people. On the Saturday afternoon the chairs are cleared and all are invited to dance to Cuban music from 3.30pm.

If that wasn’t enough, before the friday night show, there are two earlier events. At the sports hall on the Los Cristianos ring road (next to the outdoor pool) there is a roller skating dance spectacular and in Playa de Las Americas there is a Summer Carnaval parade from Hotel Villa Cortes to Piramides de Arona. Both events start at 7.30 pm and last nearly two hours, so you can see either and go on to the Bolero Nights. All three events are entirely FREE, like so many that happen in Tenerife.

If you want to keep up with the many and varied events coming up the Tenerife government has a website www.whatsontenerife.eu or you can find more choices at www.tenerifemagazine.com You really can enjoy it all.