Trump wants the Canary Islands too - Latest News

Will the little Canary be taken under the wings of the great American eagle (Image:hablemosdeaves.com )

After Canada, the Panama Canal, and Greenland the American president Donald Trump has now laid claim to the Canary Islands.

In one of his rambling speeches Trump has strayed again, from talking about his intent to buy Greenland to a claim much further south, namely the Canary Islands and he has revealed the following: 

''...that little group of islands, I think they call them the Canaries, a great place, much warmer than Greenland, a nice climate they tell me, no ice, and with clever people, a lot more people than Greenland, they're very important to us, too. We want those little islands and they're very important to us strategically there on that side of the Ocean. We've been looking into that, and we want to help them make a great place out of their islands again. Spain and the Europeans have ruined the place, that's not good, and they're important for our security.

Same as America, they've been taken advantage of by the Europeans for too long - a long, long time. Actually, since Columbus came. He was a great, clever sailor, but without the Canaries he couldn't do it, I mean come here and take America. So they, the Spanish, and all the European immigrants, colonised the peaceful Canaries first. They did bad things to them and we want to help them to get well again and be great again. 

They're strategically very important to us, sitting there on the eastern side of the great Gulf of America. You know, they're not even in Europe, they're in Africa, what's the term, geo-something, I don't know, but they're better off with us and so, so close to the Gulf of America. They already trade more with us than with Spain. Maybe you don't know that but it's true, so they're important to us and the other way round. When our tariffs kick in they'd do much better business with us. They'd be much, much better off...''

The American president continued:

''...and it's a great staging post, clever little Columbus knew that, too, and with lots of beautiful golf resorts. We've already got a great airbase nearby, in the eh, eh, Amores, or Azores, or something. That will help us. I mean it's massive, it really is big - you've got to see it, they showed me pictures of it that only the president gets to see - it's great, real powerful. We should, no we must have another one in the Canaries, that's important for international peace.

The Canarians really got a bad deal from Spain and Europe, who don't give them nothing but cheap tourists. I mean, imagine that, and they're poor there and no real jobs for the young people, only cleaning and serving jobs and making bananas, imagine that, that's tough, making bananas. But we'll help them build great new business and I can smell oil and other great things there. I don't know if you can, but, eh, I can. Maybe I'm a genius, but I can smell great things there, gas maybe, too. They've got cute little birds there, too (laughs), I mean the Canaries. I think that's why they call the place that and some people have them at home here, too, in cages. They even have wild Canaries in the golf resorts there, that's real smart. I'd like that in mine. J.D. is going there very soon to talk to their people and he'll find out, he'll find out. We're working real hard on this, it's become more important now, Elon says, and he's a genius. We must have, eh, help them, the little islands right there, just off the great Gulf of America.

We'll pay a fair price for that rundown place, of course, make a good deal, but maybe we have to use a little bit of force at first, too. But they've got smart people over there and like the Puerto Ricans and, yeah, the Hawaiians, too, they will see that they'll be better off with us, America. We'll give them a little time to think about it, but I'm sure in a year we'll have it all done. For sure, April 1st 2026 they'll be with us and celebrating, making the Canaries great again. Liberation day for the little Canaries this day next year, believe me, April 1st is the day ...''

    Image credit and more about the lookalike bird: washingtonpost.com           

San Borondon: The Mystery Canary Island

There's even a San Borondon brand of mineral water on sale in the Canary Islands which shows the shape
of the mysterious St. Brendan's island as it was described by many who've claimed to have seen it

As promised in my last post, today I'm introducing you to a myth that has been around for centuries. Saint Brendan's island or San Borondon in Spanish is described by IslandMomma below:

...'' We stood on the northern hillside of Tenerife, overlooking the Mar de Nubes, the famous Sea of Clouds, which often circles the island’s peaks. I pointed out the peaks of the island of La Palma, which drifted above clouds on the horizon, twin, purple,  mysterious humps .

“That reminds me,” my friend said. “The other day from the boat I saw an island, but I wasn’t sure which one it was,” and he described its position. I knew that there should be no island in the direction he indictated, but I also knew exactly what he had seen.

I drew a deep, sharp breath. “You saw the magic island of San Borondon,” I whispered. A tingle of excitement ran down my spine.

It took the Crown of Castille almost a hundred years to seize all of the Canary Islands, most of the 15th century, as the chain succumbed, island by island. The conquerors were aware that throughout history myths and legends had swirled around the archipelago. One maintained that the mountain peaks were all that remained of the lost city of Atlantis. Another claimed them to be the site of the fabled Garden of the Hesperides.

In a time when active volcanoes still struck fear into human hearts, Tenerife was claimed to be the last island to fall in 1496; but was it?

To this day rumors abound of another island, one never found by the Conquistadors, and never conquered by the Spanish crown. Never found because it has the magical power to become invisible, to shroud itself in mists so that we disbelieve what our eyes see, or not to be visible at all to the human eye.

My 1978 copy of the book

It is said that St Brendan of Clonfert, a 6th century Irish monk was the first person to set foot on this ghostly isle. St Brendan, or San Borondon in Spanish, himself a figure of legend, set sail with fellow monks in a simple vessel of the sort normally used for coastal fishing in those days, a vessel not designed for distant travel. It is claimed by some that the group even reached the shores of the Americas, recording the many wonders discovered along the way, from fire-breathing dragons to miraculous columns of crystal floating on the ocean. (It was a large version of a currach with a wooden frame covered with leather in which they set sail from Co. Kerry, and British explorer and historian Tim Severin sailed a replica across the Atlantic in 1977 - Ed.)

After days and days at sea with supplies run out, dehydrated, hungry and weary,  and praying for a safe port at which to land, they saw the mists before them parting, and an island of an emerald green to rival their own Ireland appeared. Thankful, they landed, and finding the island abundant in all the supplies they needed, from fresh sweet water to luscious fruit, they feasted, and then said mass in gratitude to their benevolent god.

It seems, however, that their god was not so generous as they hoped. In the midst of the ceremony the island began to shake and tremble, and fires began to spurt from its steep mountainsides. The monks ran for their flimsy vessel, and set sail once more, fearful as the island disappeared again into the ocean mists.

Another version of the legend tells that the island was actually a gigantic, dozing sea creature, whose awakening scared our adventurers, and others speak of rivers of fire or not-so-friendly natives attacking the landing party.

Although the truths of these legends can never be proven, their substance is clear, rivers of fire or fire breathing dragons could easily be ancient explanations of volcanoes, and crystal columns on the ocean, icebergs. Saint Brendan made it back to his homeland in time, and never returned to the island that now bears his name.

Whether or not there was an additional Canary Island has now been debated for centuries. Its position, if it existed, or exists, was somewhere west of the islands which now comprise the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro as well as Tenerife island itself. There are said to be reports of sailors or islanders who have actually set foot on it, but no definitive proof that it ever existed, despite explorations, notably one in the 18th century.

There are stories in Canarian folklore which reference this mythical island, stories which involved dragons and magic gardens, and lives untainted by man’s usual preoccupations.  To hear one of these stories told by a good storyteller is to be transported to another place and time, without the aid of moving pictures or even still ones, an expert teller of tales can make you believe in just about anything so long as you are willing.

It is, of course, possible that a volcanic island emerged from the ocean at some point, but that further volcanic activity destroyed it, causing it to sink back into the depths. Me, I prefer to suspend my disbelief and think that what my friends spied on the horizon that day was the missing island. ...''

One of many old maps showing San Borondon

Exhibition by expressionist painter

Italian-born expressionist artist Marco Menato has asked me through this blog to draw your attention to his forthcoming exhibition in the 'Casa de Colon' (Columbus house) of San Sebastian de La Gomera. It opens with a vernissage on the 9th of January 2018 at 4:30 pm and runs until the end of the month. Marco lives in La Gomera's west in Alojera where he draws inspiration for his paintings which he signs as 'Brazza'.

La Gomera one of Telegraph's greatest 20 destinations

Below the article in the Telegraph's travel section:

La Gomera: the Canary island that time forgot

''This small island was Columbus's last port of call before his voyage to the Americas. It is still a secluded beauty for winter sun travellers today 

La Gomera: getting to know the island is like peeling the layers from an onion.  

The jeep juddered to a halt on a dusty red mountain path 400 metres above sea level. With a foot to spare at the side of the track, I looked down as if into a kaleidoscope that had broken open. Below was an intensely green and fragmented world of giant palms, banana trees, huge ferns and mossy boulders blanketed by flowering vines. Beyond, the colour of mercury, the Atlantic Ocean seemed to stretch into infinity. A Cleopatra butterfly floated lazily by, its yellow wings tipped by tiny pink spots. 

It was early December. I was little more than half-a-day’s travel from wet-and-windy London, and just 50 minutes by ferry from the egg-box apartment resorts of southern Tenerife. But standing spellbound on the side of that mountain, on the lesser-known island of La Gomera, I felt light years away from the chaos and brashness associated with the Canary Islands’ more obvious tourist destinations. Bathed in sunshine and silence, with only sea, sky and nature for company, I could have been in a different century. 

The second-smallest of the seven Canary Islands - near-circular and with a diameter of only 25 kilometres - La Gomera feels like the island that time forgot... Read full article...

La Gomera stars in UK daily

The following article written by Linda Cookson appeared in travel section of the UK daily The Independent on Saturday, March 22nd '14, and while containing some minor errors is very well written and full of praise for La Gomera, that's why I want to share it with you, illustrated with my own images:

La Gomera: Plenty of star quality

'' Lights, camera, action! The small fishing port of Playa de Santiago, on the southern tip of the Canary Island of La Gomera, had never known such excitement. Chosen as a key shooting location for Ron Howard's forthcoming film In the Heart of the Sea (due for release in 2015), its quayside was a-buzz with trailers and catering vans.

Burly cameramen were lugging equipment on to speed boats. Runners with clip-boards were rounding up a bus-load of enthusiastic extras for costume fittings. And a cluster of schoolgirls were star-spotting like mad, as Hollywood's finest, clad in 19th-century sailors' gear, made their way towards the banana yellow shuttle-boat that will whisk them out to film at sea.

Based on the same true story that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Nathaniel Philbrick's award-winning novel In the Heart of the Sea (published in 2000) recounts the tragedy of the whaling ship Essex, sunk by a sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A fantastic black-rigged replica of the ill-fated vessel (built in England) bobbed incongruously on the calm horizon, its masts bathed in a golden wash of Canarian sunshine.

At first sight, pint-sized La Gomera – sitting prettily in an island chain renowned for its equable climate – might seem a strange location to have settled on for a tale built around tempest-lashed heroics. Deadly waves are in short supply. The filmmakers had to construct a special infinity pool by the former tomato packaging warehouse on nearby Tapahuga Beach to simulate the full-on storm scenes.

But Howard and his scouts definitely knew what they were doing. As the second-smallest of the Canary Islands, a one-hour ferry-ride from Tenerife and with no international airport, La Gomera is a world apart from the mass-tourism of its larger neighbours. With only a handful of low-key resorts, there was never going to be much risk of the Essex's hapless crew fetching up on a jarring parade of neon-signed shops peddling water-wings or advertising jet-skis for hire. Instead, the island's starkly rugged coastline of awesome volcanic cliffs rippling down to the water's edge in stiff rocky folds, feels almost eerily enduring – and (crucially for the film, of course) totally undateable. Inland, the mountainous centre is cloaked in a dense, misty rainforest of ancient trees hung, Druid-like, with beards of moss and lichen. It's as timeless and unspoilt as you could hope for.

As a place to visit in springtime, La Gomera is a total delight. The tangled green groves of the rainforest are rippled with carpets of brilliant pink bicácaros, Canarian bell flowers. Mountain villages float in drifts of white broom and almond blossom. On the coast, fringed with date palms and banana trees, the sea sparkles peacefully in temperatures that seldom vary from around 20C. Don't expect the blazing heat or golden sands of Caribbean beaches. Most beaches are rocky. (There may even be a little rain!) But if you're searching for sun and serenity in a gentle, unspoilt island retreat steeped in tradition – look no further. And you can certainly be confident of a genuinely warm welcome from La Gomera's friendly locals, keen to share their homeland's special character with visitors. With the island still very much a novice in the tourism stakes, the whole ambience is refreshingly uncynical.

Upper Valle Gran Rey

Such  tourism as there currently is can be found mainly on the west coast. Valle Gran Rey has a stunning sprawl of wild and rocky black-sand beaches, backed by majestic ravines (Valle Gran Rey means "Valley of the Kings"). Otherwise, most visitors-in-the-know head south for unpretentious Playa de Santiago, a friendly working fishing settlement with an endearingly scruffy town beach. This is La Gomera's sunniest spot and it's where I chose to stay (along, as it turns out, with the director and most of the cast and crew of In the Heart of the Sea).

We certainly weren't roughing it. The four-star Hotel Jardín Tecina, set on a cliff-top above the town, is laid out like a traditional Canarian village in exuberant, flower-filled gardens. There are palm-fringed bars and terraces, and attentive waiters galore – giving plenty of scope for your own brand of silver-screen decadence as you lounge like a diva by the poolside. It's also a wonderfully tranquil spot. The vistas from the sea-view rooms are spectacular. You can while away hours on your balcony watching the colours of the water change from turquoise to indigo to lilac, like a roll of shot silk, as butterflies and exotic birds flit all around you.

On day four of my stay, I wandered down towards the town and discovered that my friendly local beach bar – the ramshackle La Chalana – had undergone a dramatic change of location. Its wonky tables and cane chairs were now spilling haphazardly on to the edge of an early 19th-century Polynesian village. A nearby stretch of banana plantation had been cleared for carpentry and set-building, and crew-members with blow-torches were busily distressing a fleet of rustic-looking canoes that had been carved from hollowed-out tree-trunks. A mixture of real palm trees and bright green fakes had sprung up on the beach. Tangled branches and planks of driftwood had been choreographed artfully into a photogenic array of native huts. And a derelict warehouse had been transformed into a small chapel. A set dresser perched on a ladder with what looked like a two-ton brass church bell clutched in her free hand. It was obviously as light as a feather.

Eric in his bar 'Chalana'

La Chalana's affable host, Eric – who, with his curly black hair and earring, looked rather like a film star himself – was having the time of his life serving up tapas and beer by the trayful. He was sure he recognised some of the transplanted palm trees, he told me. They came from the schoolyard in San Sebastián, La Gomera's capital. He remembered sitting under them at break-times to smoke illicit cigarettes.

Eric was not alone in his enthusiasm. Everyone I spoke to on the island was thrilled by the filming – not least since the star, Chris Hemsworth, is married to Elsa Pataky, a popular Spanish actress who had accompanied him for the shoot. More pragmatically In the Heart of the Sea brought a crucial source of additional revenue to enable the island to address the environmental damage caused by a disastrous forest fire in 2012 – as well as much-needed employment for locals, who are mucking in happily as caterers, security guards and prop-makers.

La Gomera is also looking to the future. Although the island has been recognised for some time as a paradise for walkers, its more mainstream attractions – uncommercialised beaches and picture-postcard mountain villages – have remained a well-kept secret. There's real excitement now among Gomeros that this major, potentially world-wide, exposure will encourage new visitors to fall for their island's sleepy charms and living history. (After all, as everyone was keen to remind me, San Sebastián was the starting point for Christopher Columbus's epic 1492 Atlantic crossing. And where else in the world will you find "El Silbo", an indigenous whistling language developed so that farmers could communicate with each other across jaw-droppingly steep terraces?)

Towards the end of my visit, inspired by the filming, I decided to embrace the whale theme in earnest. I booked a trip on board José Miguel's excursion boat Tina and took to the water. I was rewarded with an entrancing marine ballet, courtesy of a pod of pilot whales and an especially obliging school of dolphins who flipped and dipped in glorious silver arcs as they rode in and out of the bow wave from our boat as it headed out to sea.

I looked back at the bulking headlands of La Gomera's proud cliffs, veined with blood-red bands of sandstone, and then ahead to the horizon, where the doughty ship Essex had magically split in two, while cameramen scudded around in dinghies, capturing the moment of its doom.

I really was in the heart of the sea, I realised. And lovely La Gomera is well on its way to becoming a film star in its own right. Don't wait for the movie – go now! ''