Mega fiesta gets into full swing this weekend

The Fiestas Lustrales 2013 are entering the most important phase and this weekend until Tuesday an influx of 15.000 to 20.000 people is expected in the island's capital San Sebastian de La Gomera. Considering that La Gomera's total population is only about 22.000 this means that accommodation on the eastern half of the island will be almost impossible to find and some ferry sailings will be fully booked. 

The events range from a craft fair opening today to an open-air concert with folklore groups from all the seven Canary Islands plus many folk sessions in the bars tonight. Street entertainment, open air salsa-pop dancing, Mexican music, a funfair, and much more will frame the religious events. On Sunday Oct. 6th the band Efecto Pasillo who landed a top-selling hit this summer  will be in concert with internationally known DJ Ray Castellano from 11pm, followed by open air dancing until daybreak.

Source: gomeranoticias.com

Monday afternoon the island's patron saint 'Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe' will be brought by sea in a procession of nearly 100 boats from her little chapel at a remote bay to the capital San Sebastian where thousands will be waiting to accompany the small statue to the main church at about 6pm. Then follows by a huge procession through the town and another night of dancing to pop-salsa bands.

Tuesday is a local holiday on La Gomera with another procession, many more events and a major fireworks display can be enjoyed  at 10pm.

The following weeks the patron saint will be processed through every parish on the island framed by many more religious, cultural and entertainment events.  

Live on Friday

Singer songwriter Pat Fritz is on La Gomera for a short holiday and can be heard in the Bistro cafe in the harbour town of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, tomorrow Friday Oct.4th 2013 at 9pm.

The first autumn rain showers today ?

October is the month when the first rain of the autumn is eagerly expected by the people of the Canary Islands and today it looks as if we might see some of that. Tropical storm 'Jerry' is far west of us and heading for the Azores, unsettling the normally stable air masses here while  low pressure systems to the north and the east are helping cloud formation and the remnants of a dissipating front approaching us. The sea temperature around the Canaries is at its highest this year with 24-25,5 ºC and this means that more water vapour is available. 
In northern and western areas of each Canary island  showers are more likely, but anywhere is at risk. Rainfall amounts should be small to moderate and by Thursday afternoon most of it should have cleared away, but the weather will remain a bit unsettled over the coming days.

Low cloud enveloping the mountains just after daybreak

The sky over the sea early this morning

Sea Cloud coming to La Gomera

More cruise ships than last year are expected to dock in various ports around the Canary Islands this winter and La Gomera is becoming ever more popular as a port of call every year. The pier of the island's capital San Sebastian is just now being extended yet again to accommodate the larger cruise ships. Excusions on La Gomera were ranked top by passengers of several cruise lines in the past couple of years. The elegant tall ships 'Sea Cloud I + II will be calling again this winter, too, as USA Today has reported:

Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises

''Sea Cloud Cruises is offering something unusual for sailing fans this fall as its two sailingships travel in tandem for several days. The Hamburg-based line says the 65-passenger Sea Cloud and 94-passenger Sea Cloud II will sail together around the Canary Islands starting on Nov. 20 in a meet-up "designed so that sails and sailing are at the forefront."

The two vessels will meet in Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands and sail together from Tenerife to La Gomera and El Hierro. Passengers on each of the ships will have the chance to tour the other vessel during an "open house" party planned for Nov. 21 in Tenerife. To be part of the tandem sailing, sailing fans need to sign up for the Nov. 17 sailing of the Sea Cloud II from Las Palmas to Gran Canaria (fares start at 4,095 per person) or the Nov. 19 sailing of the Sea Cloud from Las Palmas to Gran Canaria (fares start at $4,395 per person).

Built for American cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1931, the Sea Cloud is among the most famous sailing ships afloat and is often billed as the world's most luxurious tall ship. It features authentic, four-masted rigging and lovely restored interiors that evoke a bygone era.''

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.

Six children hospitalised after funfair incident

© Diario de Avisos

Six children were taken to hospital after an incident at a funfair which was erected in San Sebastian de La Gomera for  the Fiestas Lustrales, being celebrated now in honour of the island's patron saint Virgen de Guadalupe. The children were enjoying the 'Dragon' ride just before 7.30pm last night when an electrical fault on one of the cars caused a 'considerable' shower of sparks. Five children of around ten years of age had to be treated for burns and a sixth was treated for shock. All are said to be recovering well.

Travel delays at the ferry port of Los Cristianos

The weekend is once again upon us and that means more people are travelling to and from the western Canary Islands and different ferry schedules from weekdays. All this traffic has to pass through the bottleneck of the port access road in Los Cristianos on Tenerife and the congested port itself. The ferry companies' sailings also often serve two islands during one trip, i.e. stopping over at La Gomera on the way to and from La Palma and El Hierro and that means that travel to all the western islands is affected. When two ferries arrive at the same time in Los Cristanos discharging hundreds of cars and trucks, delays are inevitable. Be warned and expect hold-ups if you need to catch a flight, as taxis and buses often can't get in nor out of the busy port during rush hour. The traffic delays sometimes also upset the ferries' sailing schedules. I've experienced these delays a couple of times this summer and met people who missed connections. The following report and photo was published by Island Connections.eu a couple of days ago:

Port blockage!

"The limitations of the port in Los Cristianos have again been in evidence as heavy weekend ferry traffic at the end of the summer brought the usual chaos and should serve to make the Port Authority and local council rethink the current lay-out.

On several occasions the simultaneous presence in Los Cristianos of the Fred Olsen and Armas ferries serving La Gomera brought massive problems, with cars, buses and container lorries stuck in the bottle-neck at the port exit as they disembarked.  The merging of up to six lanes of exiting traffic at the small roundabout into the single lane on the only road leading out of the port is a nightmare not just for vehicles trying to leave the port but also those heading for the departing ferries.  The complications are particularly serious on Fridays and Sundays, two of the busiest days for traffic to and from La Gomera, but no-one appears willing to provide a solution to the negative image generated by the long queues of vehicles at a virtual standstill for up to half an hour in some cases.  The Port Police do their best to keep the traffic moving but are severely hampered by the narrow exit.  The latest hold-ups have led to calls for the ferry companies to work together to ensure their ships do not arrive at the same time in Los Cristianos."

Sunsets don't come much better

Valle Gran Rey could be called 'The Sunset Capital Of The Canary Islands', but that may be just local pride. I've seen many an Atlantic sunset in the West of Ireland and sunsets over the rest of the world's oceans. They all have one thing in common: There's always he odd one that takes your breath away and makes even the most stressed and hurried and cynical people stop in their tracks just to ...waaaaaatch. The good ones tend to last for much longer than the rest and no camera will ever do justice to them. In Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera sunsets have become a focal point for all, almost a ritual, often with drummers, fire jugglers, musicians and dancers - but more about that another time. Today I'll just give you a few photos of a rare, long lasting sundown which I took last night while munching a tasty cosmopolitan falafel.

...and please do find out more about the monument man Hautacuperche with his broken bowl, 'The Last of the Independents' as Rory Gallagher sang in a different context.

The island of El Hierro in the background  

Hautacuperche

There are many bars and restaurants that offer vantage seats for viewing. Photo was taken from the
'Bar Estacion de Guaguas' (Bus Station Bar) near the only petrol station (La Calera) just a week ago

Hautacuperche last night. There are several bars, restaurants and the Hotel Gran Rey within 100 yds.

'Lidl' chain set to open first store on La Gomera. Weather: Hope on the horizon

This former village shop is now part of a restaurant on La Gomera

After yesterday's news that Spanish grocery chain DinoSol are looking to open a large HiperDino supermarket here, today it has emerged that the giant German supermarket chain Lidl who operate more than 10.000 stores right across Europe (incl. Canary Islands) are looking for a suitable site to open their first store on La Gomera and have approached the administration of San Sebastian de La Gomera looking for official assistance. La Gomera with its total population of only about 22.000 is the only island in the Canaries that so far has escaped the expansionism of the  mega chains and even the existing Spar supermarkets here are locally owned while being supplied under the international label. Now the retail environment on La Gomera is about to change drastically to the detriment of local stores.

Lower prices versus struggling retailers 

The establishment of stores by multinational chains here is not necessarily all good news even though the people of La Gomera have  had to pay the highest prices for groceries in the Canarian archipelago over the recent past. There are no facilities for containers to be landed here and nearly all goods first pass through wholesalers and distributors on Tenerife before arriving on La Gomera by ferry, adding costs. Lidl and other multinationals have a policy of uniform prices with cut-price offers and with their multi-billion buying power they will be able to offer prices below that of the much smaller local retailers. This will be good news for consumers as prices will be driven downwards by this new competitor, but in turn it will negatively affect small retailers who are already finding it difficult to survive the present economic climate and may force many out of business. Lidl and similar chains not only offer groceries, but also offer a variety of non-food products at special sale prices from electronics to clothing and every penny spent there will be missing in the tills of specialised local retailers and in the local economy. This will ultimately lead to job losses in a small and fragile local economy like ours. Further, Lidl (et al) usually open stores with ample on-site parking on green field sites away from town centres, drawing people out of the urban centres and thus away from all existing business. The eroding social fabric in many dying European small town centres is ample proof of the negative side effects. Another negative aspect is the multinational chain stores' very poor track record in the treatment of employees,  suppliers, producers, etc., and their  tax payments are generally very low.

If (or rather when) they open here I'll continue to support my more expensive local 'mini-supermarkets' and will only buy some select items and those 'impossible to get on La Gomera products' from the multinationals, I promise. The no-frills small shops provide local produce without unnecessary temptations and thus I'll save petrol, time, and money in the end, plus  getting  local gossip for free.

Some traditional shops still flourish in the Canary Islands

UPDATE (Feb. 2017):

Lidl hasn't opened any store in La Gomera and no more was heard about it in recent times...

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WEATHER: Hope on the horizon

Early this morning we had a short shower of light drizzle and far out at sea another shower could be seen a bit later (above). By 9:30am it had cleared up again. Over the next couple of days and over the weekend some scattered showers may be expected, but it will generally stay mostly sunny with temperatures of 24-26 ºC during the day and 19-21 ºC at night. The sea is very warm these days with a temperature above 24 ºC in some spots - warmest in western sea areas. Winds will remain variable light to moderate.

Video: Paragliding over La Gomera's north

I just found this video taken from the air during the recent SKYPAR paragliding festival in Hermigua, La Gomera:

Dragonflies

La Gomera is home to a huge number and variety of dragonflies. These harmless and useful insects can be encountered almost anywhere on the island and they come in amazing colours. They could be totally black or bright red, metallic blue, neon green and many more colours. Maybe they're the reason that we hardly have any mosquitoes on La Gomera, as dragonflies prefer the same type of damp, moist habitat and prey on mosquitoes and other small insects. I snapped the red one near my back door a couple of days ago.

Work begins on La Gomera set for Ron Howard movie

All obstacles seem to have been overcome and advance teams for the filming of key scenes of the new Ron Howard production 'In the Heart of the Sea' have arrived on La Gomera, according to local media. It is reported that they're staying in La Gomera's largest hotel 'Jardin Tecina' and have begun work at the nearby secluded beach 'Playa de Tapahuga' with preparatory work for the construction of a large water tank which will be used for filming scenes in case of adverse weather conditions at sea. The mayor of the area is quoted as saying that most of the filming on La Gomera will be done at sea in November. A pool of local tradesmen and labourers is available to assist in all aspects of set construction.

Meanwhile at Warner Brothers' studios in Essex shooting 'In the Heart of the Sea' is in full swing day and night as the following pictures tweeted by Ron Howard prove. Ron doesn't seem to get much sleep at all these days as he's jetting around the globe promoting the release of his F1 movie 'Rush' during time off directing his latest project.
+++Click:Progress on La Gomera film set for Ron Howard movie
+++Update - click: 'Essex' arrived here
+UPDATE:Ron Howard's Heart of the Sea getting ready to roll on location La Gomera. Latest images of preps + props ++

 

Rock Festival as live music returns to Valle Gran Rey

Slowly but steadily live music is returning to Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera and some more bars and restaurants are going to the trouble to obtain a licence for each specific event. A festival of live music will take place at the football grounds on Saturday, Oct. 5th 2013, from 6pm. Five solid bands for only a fiver sounds very good to me.

Morocco permits oil drilling off Canaries

Remember that you can still sign the petition against oil exploration as ISLAND CONNECTIONS.eu reports today:

''Morocco allows oil drilling off Canaries

While controversy continues to rage here over the prospect of exploratory oil drilling off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, and the local and regional authorities step up their efforts to block the plans, it has emerged today that Morocco has given permission to an independent UK oil exploration company to begin its drilling not far away.

The Canaries lie just to the left of Cairn's forthcoming explorations

Canary Islands - 18.09.2013 - Scottish firm Cairn Energy is about to begin its search for oil in Moroccan waters following the green light received from the country's government. The sectors chosen lie very close to those for which Spain has authorised Repsol to carry out its exploratory drilling and, needless to say, the news has sparked concern in both Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, which fear the environmental and tourism impact of a potential oil slick on their doorstep. According to the Canarias 7 paper in Las Palmas, Cairn Energy CEO Simon Thompson has now confirmed that a rig will drill to between 500 and 2000 metres below sea level in a preliminary search for possible oil fields in an area of around 3000 square kilometres. The rig is already in the port of Las Palmas.''

Reggae & Dub night on La Gomera

As part of the Fiestas Lustrales there will be a Reggae, Roots and Dub night in San Sebastian de La Gomera this Saturday, Sept. 21st 2013. The event is free of charge, begins at 11pm on the main square (Plaza de las Americas) close to the beach and hosts  two bands from Tenerife: Eclipse Reggae and Pachumba. Below two videos to give you a taste:

Frog on Tap

While on a walk in a remote area of La Gomera recently we wanted to drink from one of the many springs and wells you find scattered all over the island. This one even has  a tap at the ideal height provided  for your convenience. Hand stretched out to press the tap and the other already cupped to receive the water, there was an outcry: ''Oh, how sweet''. It wasn't the water, as I'd expected that caused this shout, but a baby tree frog stoically 'defending' his throne. Needless to say that we didn't drink there, but a bit further on there was cold clean water trickling down a rock face for our refreshment.

Baby tree frog on tap

Road closure due to fiesta

The road which connects the south-west and west of La Gomera with the airport will be temporarily closed today until 3pm from the chapel 'Nuestra Señora de El Paso' to the town of Alajero. The same stretch of road will be closed again tomorrow, Sunday Sept. 15th, from 5pm to 8pm. To reach the airport or the town of Santiago during the closure motorists should allow plenty of extra time for a long detour via the main road in the national park and Degollada de Peraza. The temporary closures are due to the processions during the fiesta in honour of the above mentioned virgin in the parish of Alajero. This is one of the larger celebrations on La Gomera with the usual mix of processions, sports and entertainment  which draws big crowds every  September. 
The weather on La Gomera is back to normal with mostly blue skies, light winds, and at 11am it was 25ºC. Perfect fiesta conditions !

Ermita Nuestra Señora de El Paso, Alajero, La Gomera

Hurricane Humberto influences weather in Canaries. Updated below

I'm not superstitious but today is Friday the 13th in the year '13 and the first hurricane of the season (named Humberto) is not moving west and then north over the western Atlantic, as tropical storms should do, but this tropical storm system is moving north in the eastern Atlantic after having formed near the Cape Verde Islands and this results  in our  weather being adversely affected today with some welcome rain.

lt is important to stress that hurricane Humberto will NOT hit the Canary Islands, but the mass of warm and moist air that the storm system is pushing towards the Canary Islands could produce some heavier spells of rain here today, while winds should remain mostly light to moderate, with a few stronger gusts only on the higher mountains.
It must also be said that the whole scenario might develop differently and the Canaries might not even get the desired rain, as the jury of meteorologists is still out discussing the unusual and difficult case.

The situation:

The Canary Islands are coming under the influence of an area of warm moist air from hurricane Humbert, located about 700 miles to the SW of the islands with sustained wind speeds of about 85 mp/h near the centre (984 hPa) and stronger gusts. The likely interaction of the advancing air mass with upper level low pressure to the north of and close to the Canary Islands could cause instability today, Friday. The entire archipelago is affected, but especially mountainous areas in general and central and southern zones of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. 

Warning in effect until midnight tonight: WARNING CANCELLED

Probability of persistent heavy rainfall which may be accompanied by thunderstorms. Precipitation could accumulate up to 30mm in 6 hours with central and southern areas of the islands at a slightly higher risk. Hiking in mountainous terrain as well as in narrow valleys and ravines is dangerous due to the possibility of flash floods and rockfalls, etc.

Outlook: 

Hurricane Humberto is expected to weaken later today while tracking more westerly away from the Canary Islands leading to an improvement in the weather. However, the upper low just north of the Canaries is likely to remain and the risk of well scattered light showers will persist over the weekend. Sunny periods and continuing warm temperatures in the mid-20s (ºC) are also expected.

Sat. image with enhanced water vapour at 6pm last night...

UPDATE 10am: 
Humberto is starting to weaken and tracking more north-westerly, but still feeding moist air towards the Canaries. Humberto is expected to be downgraded to a topical storm later today.
Personally I don't think that we'll get much out of Humberto in the Canaries today.

...and at 6am this morning. Now Humberto appears less organised and starting to move away to NW.

UPDATE 4pm:

News just in: Humberto has been downgraded to a tropical storm and lost its hurricane status and characteristics with max. sustained winds now 65 mp/h (100 km/h), tracking WNW (300º) now. All as expected and forecast except that a band of heavy showers was lying just a few miles south of the Canary Islands all day up to now without ever coming in over the archipelago. Very frustrating. I can see it from my window and it is as if someone was keeping it away and in an orderly straight line with a ruler (see rain radar image). A possible explanation is that a layer of dry air is persisting over us which is holding the ruler, but I'm not giving up just yet.

FINAL UPDATE 11pm:
Humberto continues to weaken while moving away from the Canaries without having left any rain worth mentioning here. So close and yet so far! Anyway, some of Humberto's moist air has fed into the minor low north/north-east of us and this low in turn might send some showers down to us with the trades over the next few days. I'll end this post with a cartoon that was circulating on the web tonight. On the 'No Entry' sign it says: ''Area reserved for trade winds'' ...

Mother of all fiestas on La Gomera

Programme

After countless fiestas over the summer and one major celebration (Alajero) ongoing, now is the time for the 'big one' to begin. This is the Fiestas Lustrales, when the island saint Virgen de Guadalupe is going on a procession to every community on the island. This event happenes only once every five years and is called a 'bajada'. There are numerous religious, sports, cultural and popular events taking place to mark the occasion. The programme is stretched over a period of three months (!), starting tomorrow and finishin on December 14th when the Virgen de Guadalupe returns home to the peace and quiet of her little chapel by the sea at a remote beach north of the capital. Some events will even be shown on TV and thousands are expected to travel here to attend. In the island's capital San Sebastian de la Gomera it will be difficult to find accommodation for the main events. Due to the financial crisis this year's programme is not quite as ambitious as that of the last Fiestas Lustrales in 2008. That time even international top acts like Alpha Blondie

Alpha Blondie, La Gomera '08

were seen on La Gomera between gigs in New York and Paris. However this year's programme will see another good reggae night with two bands, several folklore music events, classical, rock and pop, world music and the ubiquitous salsa music nights. All that is framed by art events, exhibitions, fairs, sports events, etc.,etc, and topped up with a massive fireworks display. 
...and I forgot to mention that another fiesta runs for 10 days from Sat., Sept.14th 2013, in Agulo. You just can't keep up with all of them...

Why September 11th will never be forgotten on La Gomera

The whole world now remembers 9/11, but on La Gomera the date has an added very sad dimension since the year 1984. On that day 29 years ago twenty people died in a forest fire near Roque Agando, a landmark rock formation in La Gomera's mountains above the village of La Laja where a forest fire had broken out. The spot is on an exposed ridge and the victims were trapped there when the wind suddenly changed direction enclosing them in fire and intense heat. Among the victims were locals and some people from Tenerife, including a former mayor of Puerto de la Cruz. The tragedy is one of the worst fire-related disasters in all of Spain ever and a sad-looking rusty steel monument near the spot lists all 20 names of the victims. The area around Roque Agando which stands at the eastern end of the national park was ablaze again in last year's devastating fires, but thankfully there were no casualties in 2012.

Roque Agando, the huge remnant core of a long eroded volcano, near where the tragedy occurred