The carnival season 2024 has begun in La Gomera and the island capital San Sebastian's festivities are already in full swing. The main parade will wind its way through the streets tomorrow, Sat. 10th of February 2024, followed as usual by dancing until sunrise, see poster above for the full carnival programme, which is themed 'The Jungle'.
The capital will barely have recovered from the jamboree when the celebrations begin again across the mountains in Valle Gran Rey where this year's theme is 'Hawaii' and the main carnival parade takes place there on Saturday, February 24th 2024 from 5pm(-ish).
See VGR programme below:
Then carnival and all aficionados move to Playa de Santiago in the deep south of La Gomera where the fun begins on March 28th, themed 'Pirates of the South', see their poster below.
Agulo and Hermigua in the north of the island will of course have their own distinct carnivals as well, but I don't have their programmes yet. Watch this space...
UPDATE:
Nice poster (below) out now for the carnival in Vallehermoso (March 7th-9th):
La Gomera's president Casimiro Curbelo speaking at the opening of the new Guardia Civil post (Image: gomeraverde.es)
Valle Gran Rey's Guardia Civil police station has recently moved from its previous location in La Playa to the harbour of Valle Gran Rey. The refurbished building on the pier in front of the fishermen's co-op once housed the office of the 'Garajonay Express' direct ferry, but had been vacant for years since the termination of said ferry connection. Now the Guardia Civil police have relocated to what is meant to be their permanent station in Valle Gran Rey, and NOT to 'Casa Maria' as I reported as an April fool's joke last year..., but who knows if the Policia Canaria or some other Spanish police force is not eyeing that vacant building to cover the western side of Valle Gran Rey ?
There was a major rockfall and landslide in the cliff of Teguergenche mountain towering over the harbour of Vueltas. The incident happened this afternoon and the unsurfaced access road to both the Argaga ravine (where the 'Fruit Garden' is located) and the resort of 'Finca Argayall' has been blocked by countless tons of debris. Some camper vans parked there narrowly escaped destruction. Three rescue helicopters were searching for signs of anyone trapped, but up to now there are no reports of any casualties. The video shows a huge plume of dust and even waves caused by the massive amount of rocks falling into Valle Gran Rey's harbour of Vueltas. A couple of diggers are on stand-by near the scene and the tough work of reopening the access road will begin as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. (Above video source: Esteban Perez)
UPDATE:
The Canarian government has activated the ''territorial emergency plan'' and additional teams from civil defence, Red Cross, police, etc., as well as search dogs have been sent to La Gomera from Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
The harbour beach in Vueltas has been closed.
Update Sunday night:
There seem to be no casualties after extensive searches by rescue teams with sniffer dogs did not find any traces. Thankfully there are no reports of missing persons, and the search teams have returned home. Specialist engineers have arrived in Valle Gran Rey who will assess the stability of the cliff and the debris before any work to clear debris can begin. In the meantime the area will be serviced by boat. The beach in Vueltas will remain closed temporarily.
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The administration of Vallehermoso, under whose jurisdiction the affected area falls, has announced that the access road to Argaga and Finca Argayall is to remain closed permanently and will now be given up as it has become too unstable and dangerous. This decision was taken in agreement with all the other relevant authorities. Geologists from INVOLCAN have spotted more cracks and splits in the face of the cliff that will probably lead to further rock material breaking off. In fact, locals are well aware of these cracks and the erosion of this mountain has been ongoing for millenia. The whole of La Gomera presents an erosion landscape.
There is now a proposal to rapidly build a small pier to service the area and this project has the support of La Gomera's government.
More information about the track to Argaga, with frightening stories of near misses and fatal rock falls can be found here... Read more...
Image source: gomeraverde.es
View of the fallen material from one of the helicopters. Note the new coastline and the camper vans on right.
The catamaran 'Gemini 3' (above) visited Vueltas harbour today. This superfast ocean racer can reach speeds of over 38 knots (about 70 km/h) under sail, has won many races and even broken a few records in recent times. The ultra-modern design with the towering 100+ ft mast and ultra-wide 44 ft beam is an impressive sight. The vessel is one of the fastest sailing vessels in the world and was built for skipper Roman Paszke, sailing under the Polish flag.
More and more yachts are visiting Vueltas port, showing the need for a marina (most yachts have to anchor in the bay now) and proper facilities. This in turn would generate much-needed employment and extra revenue.
Gemini 3 showing off the very tall mast against the backdrop of La Gomera's towering cliffs
Above the programme for the carnival week in Valle Gran Rey which starts on Monday, February 12th 2018. This year the main theme is 'cinema'' and the carnival headquarters will be on the pier in Vueltas harbour where a marquee has already been erected. The main attractions are the parade which sets off from the town hall in La Calera on Friday Feb 16th at 5:30 pm and then passes through La Playa, La Puntilla, then back up through Borbalan to the harbour where late night dancing to salsa bands will follow from 11 pm. The following day the 'sardine procession' will start from La Playa and then follow the same route as the parade and once the sardine has been 'buried', all-night dancing will follow once again to end this year's carnival.
The doors are open as is the Valle Gran Rey office of the Armas ferry company
The interior of the terminal building in the port of Vueltas, where there are the first public toilet facilities in Valle Gran Rey. Work on the exterior landscaping and car parking has also just begun.
La Gomera, and especially an area in the Atlantic just off the southern coastline, forms part of one of best whale watching destinations in the world, where you can experience the sight of over 20 species of whales and dolphins in their natural habitat.
Throughout the whole year there is a 90 percent chance of observing a variety of marine mammals and also turtles and flying fish. This is probably because the biodiversity here is extremely rich and especially attractive to cetaceans.
Some of these mammals live here on a permanent basis and among them are many species of dolphins such as bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins or common dolphins. Furthermore there is a uniquely large population of pilot whales living here permanently.
Other marine mammals congregate here temporarily while passing through his part of the Atlantic. A couple of days ago Jose Miguel, the skipper of both 'Tina' and 'Speedy' whale watching boats operating out of Valle Gran Rey's Vueltas harbour, spotted and filmed a small group of orcas in the area and posted the above video on his Facebook page. Orcas are rarely seen in the area, but have been encountered near La Gomera before.
The three-masted 'Alva' from Stockholm in the harbour of Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey yesterday. The 44 metres long vessel is crewed by students and operated by the Swedish marine instute. Vueltas harbour is attracting more and more large sailing vessels.
The video above was posted by Ruben Martinez on his facebook page and shows the spectacular 'rock bombardment' of Vueltas harbour in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera last Saturday. There had been a very heavy shower during the night before, but this rockfall occurred well before the thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon. The video only shows the end of the landslide and rocks had fallen for about the same length of time before. No damage was done as the fishing boats are moored well away from the spot where the rocks hit the water as the spot where the large lumps fell is known for such incidents. It was lucky though that no swimmers were in that part of the water, as sometimes people who're not aware of this danger zone swim out to there and snorkelling is also popular there. Swimming and sunbathing on the larger part of the beach toward the pier is safe, however, and that's where most people go.
Some rocks also fell onto the track that leads out to Argaga and the 'Finca Argayal' where the meditation centre is situated and many people walk under that cliff every day. See previous post about the dangerous path: Death in Argaga (click). There's an even more spectacular video at the end of that post.
It is important to bear in mind that during and even long after rainy weather (when the sun heats the rock and soil) the erosion landscape of La Gomera is more 'active' and that being near cliffs then is even more dangerous than normally, but bear in mind that the sign below was put up there for a reason and that the rocky side of the beach is rocky for the same reason:
Warning sign just before the area where the rocks fell last Saturday
The air ambulance was called to the harbour of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, at lunchtime yesterday after an elderly tourist with a heart condition became ill aboard an excursion boat, obliging the vessel to return to port. The emergency services had been called who sent a medical team, and the air ambulance also arrived despite the very windy conditions experienced yesterday. The patient was removed from the excursion boat under medical supervision and brought to the air ambulance which then transferred the seriously ill tourist to the university hospital on Tenerife.
It is always amazing to watch the skill of the helicopter pilots of the emergency services, especially in the very windy conditions experienced yesterday which forced the chopper to come in at a very low altitude at what appeared to me a wobbly, crazy angle and later having to take off again in the dusty and gusty conditions.
The currently very poor mobile 'phone reception in many parts of Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, is set to improve substantially soon when a newly erected mobile mast will have been calibrated and switched on. The temporary unit supplied by Spanish multinational company Movistar was stationed and fenced off at the roundabout by the sea in the harbour village of Vueltas not far from where the final permanent mast is to be erected soon in the outer harbour from where it will reach as far as La Playa in the west.
Reception had been very poor after an initial total blackout in June 2014 when the ancillary infrastructure at the large mast in La Calera was sabotaged once again because of its strongly-felt radiation and damage was such that it could not be repaired.
The relatively poor mobile phone coverage in several part of Valle Gran Rey is set to improve soon as the Canarian ports authority has finally issued a permit for the erection of a new mobile phone mast yesterday. The new equipment is to be installed in the outer harbour area of the port of Vueltas.
The popular bar and restaurant right on the pier in the harbour of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey had been closed for several months, but has now been refurbished and reopened a couple of days ago. The premises are owned by the local fishermen's coop and one of the conditions of the lease is that it must be open in the early hours of the morning to facilitate the fishermen. The coop also has plans to open a proper fish shop in the old auction hall behind the bar as Valle Gran Rey hasn't got a fish shop despite the huge demand for fresh fish from both locals and visitors. To date to get fresh fish you have to be on the pier when boats come in and buy directly from the fishermen in the blazing sun. A fish shop on the pier would really make sense.
The remodelling of the fishing village of Vueltas which is also the commercial hub of Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera has been achieved and finished in what must be a record time, considering that some works take ages and/or end unfinished. The road and pavement are both at the same level, allowing easy access even for wheelchairs. Badly needed street lighting and other urban furniture has been added and the whole area looks much more inviting. I will post a detailed report with more pictures once I'll be there in autumn.
