Get a free knife just before boarding your flight

 The following article and above image appeared in Canarian Weekly last month and I'm sharing this worrying story with you below. The large knife was spotted at Fuerteventura airport, but the magazine with the free knife was probably on sale in some other airports as well:

'' FUERTEVENTURA AIRPORT: 

BUY A MAGAZINE WITH A FREE KITCHEN KNIFE BEFORE BOARDING

9/21/23, 7:57 AM  By Canarian Weekly  Fuerteventura  Photo Credit: Noticias Fuerteventura

The security policies at airports following the September 11th attacks in 2001 have left us all with frustrating experiences when travelling by air. Security systems implemented over 20 years ago sometimes require us to almost strip naked before passing through a scanner, and even empty our bags.

However, having a tube of toothpaste or a pot of hair gel confiscated seems even more incredulous when after passing through security at Fuerteventura airport, you come across a newsstand selling a cooking magazine with a six-inch knife (the blade alone appears 6 inches long to me, Ed.) attached to the front, free with the publication!

Passengers were left stunned when they saw a well-known Spanish cooking magazine in departures at Fuerteventura airport, with a ‘Dafne’ kitchen knife as a free gift available to buy and take on the plane.

At the time of this publication, the magazine is still on the shelves and there has been no comment from the airport authorities. Makes you wonder why they bother to confiscate your tweezers or nail clippers! ''

Ferry connection viability to be studied

The director of the Canarian ferry company Naviera Armas, Antonio Armas Fernandez, has publicly stated recently that his company will study the economic viability of the so-called 'interior ferry line', connecting the ports of La Gomera's capital San Sebastian, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey. His company runs ten ferries, connecting all the Canary Islands  and also intends to run a ferry from Fuerteventura to Tarfaya in Morocco soon.The announcement came after his meeting with the Canarian minister for transport and other officials at which various other options for this route were also discussed.

The 'interior ferry line' ceased operations early 2012 despite having been declared an 'obligatory public service' by the Canarian government some years previously and the decision to subsidise resident's tickets further.

The ferry route had been operated by three different companies over the years and attracted 150.000 passengers per year on average before it ceased operating.It is worth remembering that by taking the now sorely missed ferry  it took just about 30 minutes to travel from Valle Gran Rey to the capital San Sebastian, while the public bus needs about 110 minutes to get there. The route by sea would also reduce the amount of traffic that currently has to squeeze through the centre of the national park, and that Valle Gran Rey only has one access road which is very narrow in places and prone to rockfalls.

Let's hope that the outcome of the study will be positive, leadiing to a renewed connection between the southern ports of La Gomera.
Click for latest UPDATE

Human chains against oil prospecting today

All over the Canary Islands human chains will be formed to protest against oil prospecting today. On La Gomera the event will take place at the town's beach from 12 noon today. The initiative will also stress the abundance of alternative energy available here and will demand a new sustainable clean energy model for the Canaries.

Oil plans for Canaries to be put on hold?

The president of the Canaries believes he has secured a promise from the Spanish government to review the authorisation given to a major oil company to drill off the islands after the summer, although the news has still to be formally confirmed.

© Expansión.com

Paulino Rivero’s meeting with Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy in Madrid covered a wide range of issues including taxation matters and the Canaries  freeze on the building of all but 5-star hotels. However, media coverage has been dominated by the major hint given by Rivero that Rajoy has had a change of heart over the exploratory oil drilling, which is due to take place 60 km off the coast of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. According to Rivero, the prime minister has agreed to consider suspending the licences granted to Repsol to undertake drilling at several sites until an understanding can be reached between the two administrations. “An oil industry brings benefits only for the private sector and causes many problems” the Canarian president argued, while urging Rajoy to allow the islands to hold a binding referendum on whether they want the drilling. (Above report   by  queeniesdailysnippets)

Oil Find Near Canary Islands

Anglo-Turkish oil exploration and production company Genel Energy have confirmed an oil find off the Moroccan coast about 100 km east of Fuerteventura in the Juby Maritime exploration area near Tarfaya. The company is exploring the area in a joint venture with Scottish Cairn Energy with a 25% stake held by the Moroccan state office for hydrocarbons and mines (ONHYM), and they are hoping to have discovered a well with a potential of producing 70 million barrels of oil. However, it is still unclear if this can be exploited as the oil is in depths of more than 3000 metres.

Oil rig passing La Gomera yesterday © GomeraToday

The Canarian government meanwhile wants to keep their promise of holding a referendum on the issue of oil exploration in its waters, despite opposition from the Spanish national government, and have stated today that the announced oil find only makes the referendum more urgent. They are also demanding the highest possible environmental guarantees from the Moroccan neighbours, and a withdrawal of exploration licences for Spanish oil giant Repsol who are planning to start drilling close to the area of the new find. A Canarian spokesman has also said that oil finds were announced several times before over the years without any oil ever having actually been produced. Just two kilometres from the current find Esso discovered a well in 1968, but it never produced any oil.
The issue is being hotly discussed in the Canaries with some hoping for jobs and new prosperity and saying that tourism and oil production could live side by side as was the case in Scotland, Norway and some Mediterranean countries - while many remain opposed, pointing to the grave dangers of oil drilling in such depths and stating that very little economic benefit may be felt in the Canary Islands.

The local government of La Gomera has voted to support a referendum on the issue recently. As if to illustrate the issue a huge oil rig was seen being towed past the coast of La Gomera yesterday.
UPDATE March 15th 2014:
Moroccan state agency ONHYM who hold a 25% share in the exploration have stated that oil has not yet been discovered and that the news of an oil find was due to a 'misunderstanding'. What was discovered was a layer of heavy oil or oil-rich sediment which would prove very difficult to extract however. 
UPDATE March 22nd 2014:
Cairn and Genel stated that they have capped and abandoned the oil well. They are saying that more time is needed to analyse and determine the quality of the discovered oil. Moroccan ONHYM already said that the oil reserves discovered in a band some 100 metres thick in Upper Jurassic deposits was not of good quality, Cairn and Genel will have to determine if or where to explore the area further.

Second major film shooting in Canary Islands this year

Ridley Scott spotted
in the Canary Islands
Photo:The Canary News 

November will be a busy month for filming in the Canary Islands

Preparations are well under way for two major Hollywood productions here with shooting to take place mainly on La Gomera and Fuerteventura islands in November. On La Gomera Ron Howard will be filming scenes for 'In the Heart of the Sea' and set construction has already begun there. The second production is coming to Fuerteventura, where director Ridley Scott will shoot scenes for his new epic 'Exodus' and two castings for extras have already taken place there. Both productions are large-scale enterprises and will directly inject millions into the Canarian and local economies while indirectly promoting the archipelago as a tourist destination.