Classical music lovers should head to the Canary Islands Festival on Gran Canaria and Tenerife early next year.

From January 9th until February 16th, the two Canary Islands host a number of events, and this year's festival will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the event which is popular with fans of traditional music.

As it is also the 200th birthday of Hungarian musician Franz Liszt, the party is themed around Hungary, and there will also be a focus on 250th anniversary of Handel's death.

The Hungarian National Choir will perform alongside the Tenerife Symphony in some of the events which is sure to be a treat for holidaymakers with a keen ear for classical music.

The Vienna Philharmonic also plays at the festival, as does the Philadelphia Orchestra, which contributes to the event's world-class credentials.

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Puerto de Las Nieves, is a picturesque, little fishing village, which has become increasingly popular with the tourists since the opening a ferry line to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

In favour of this development and to compensate for the declining fishing industry, considerable investments into tourism have been made in the past years and a new promenade - Paseo de los Poetas - lined with nice, reasonably priced seafood restaurants, craft shops and galleries, a hotel near the remains of a Guanche cemetery as well as some apartment blocks behind the harbour, blending nicely with the surroundings, have been built.

The port's rich history can be seen in the tiny chapel, known as Ermita de las Nieves, which features a real treasure - a 16th-century triptych depicting the Virgin and Child, painted by the famous Flemish artist Joost van Cleve. During the Fiesta de la Rama, a copy of this triptych is carried in a procession to the parish church of Agaete and exhibited there.

At the southern end of this village you will find its most photogenic attraction, the Dedo de Dios (God's Finger), a 30 m slender pinnacle of basalt rock protruding in front of the impressive rock formations, crowned by the Pinar de Tamadaba (Pine forest) towering over the harbour.

Sometimes - if the light is diffuse - you may even have difficulties in distinguishing this spectacular solitary rock from the cliffs in the background. If you are a lover of fish dishes you should try the Caldo de pescado, a delicious fish soup, which is served in all restaurants here.

A full day is recommended to enjoy everything here including the journey time. 'Corralillos' is located a couple of kilometers away from the town of Aguimes.

The park has over 300 crocodiles, tropical and Canarian fish, other reptiles, tarantulas and a parrot show are some of the things on offer here. Not surprisingly, this is a park that specializes in crocodiles, all shapes and all sizes from all over the world. They start by displaying the egg stage and newly born in various tanks then take you up a size to the half-grown stage. Next a size larger to the smaller breeds from places such as Florida, housed in outdoor facilities and on to the larger breeds such as a pool full of Nile crocodiles. Kids will be safe.

Staying with the crocodile section of the park and there's three shows daily whilst they feed the Nile crocodiles, mainly to demonstrate their strength and agility. The shows are daily at 12:00 14:00 and 16:15. A restaurant divides the park into two halves. It's in the restaurant that you can also catch their parrot show. Something more for the kids. The second half of the park is a zoo with chimpanzees and tigers to name but a few of the animal life on offer.

19 October 2006

Spanair's expansion plan establishes the airline as an important and ever continuing source of growth in Bilbao, with an increased market share, positioning them as the best alternative, especially orientated towards the Business sector, and all thanks to their flight timetables adapted to frequent flyer passengers, flexible fares, an increased number of daily frequencies, VIP lounges, etc.

The Company will offer four new routes during summer 2007, which will link the Vizcaino capital with the cities of Jerez and Munich, with one daily frequency respectively, as well as two daily frequencies to Valencia and Malaga, thus adding to the existing routes between Bilbao and the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Ibiza, south Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Palma de Mallorca. As well as this, the opening of two more routes to La Coruña and Zurich planned for 2008.

Moreover, with their flight network, it is possible to connect to a wide range of intercontinental destinations from the Star Alliance hubs; Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Zurich and Munich, allowing access to 841 airports in 157 countries, and to more than 660 VIP lounges, through the 18 Star Alliance member carriers, of which Spanair is also a member.

'Spanair has its eyes set on Bilbao as one of its key focal points in its expansion plan, contributing to its development and stimulating demand, by the means of competitive prices, and offering better quality and services' assures Lars Nygaard, CEO of Spanair, adding 'As a result of this, we will consolidate as the first alternative for business passengers from Bilbao Airport'.

The start of this project coincides with the 10th anniversary celebration of Spanair's first flights in the Vizcaino capital, which took place on the 27th of October, 1996, with the Bilbao - Madrid - Malaga route. Over these ten years, the Company has progressively evolved in Bilbao, and now has more than one hundred employees and fifteen daily flights.

Low fares airline Monarch continues to fly the flag for quality low-cost travel from Luton Airport, and as we approach the winter months, now is the time to think about escaping for some winter sun.

With destinations in the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal available, Monarch is one of the biggest players in European travel from Luton.

As well as low fares, which include complimentary daily newspapers and a refreshing hot towel service, Monarch offer a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals available with prices from 3 pounds.

Seats can be pre-booked at 5 pounds per one-way flight to avoid the last minute free-for-all, or you might prefer to try one of the 48 extra-legroom seats which offer up to six inches of extra space for just 15 pounds each way.

Regular travellers are rewarded too, with a range of benefits through the airline's loyalty scheme, Vantage Club.

Monarch flies up to 60 times per week from Luton Airport and fares start from just 40 pounds and 99 pence one way (67 pounds and 99 pence return), including all taxes.

The Croydon Guardian has teamed up with Monarch to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a pair of return flights to any of the destinations served by Monarch from Luton Airport, which include Alicante, Faro, Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Malaga, Menorca, Palma and Tenerife!

Gran Canaria has become a cosmopolitan island with numerous cultural events throughout the year, including international music, dance, theatre and cinema festivals and the many carnival celebrations, plus a long list of festive activities and religious feasts that take place all over the island. As the inhabitants of the Canary Islands are deeply devoted to tradition, the origin of some of these fiestas goes back as far as Guanche times.

The majority of these fiestas being associated with the cult of saints, in particular patron saints, or - in agricultural regions - marking the end of harvest, they are often celebrated with large and colourful processions or fancy-dress parades and some of them even last from one to three weeks. Besides much entertainment and fun for young and old, these fiestas always offer a full programme of traditional activities, folklore performances, sporting events, such as lucha canaria wrestling and stick fighting competitions, and much more.

With all these fiestas happening around the island, you would be very unlucky if you didn’t come across at least one or two while touring the island – especially if you’re coming in summer time!

There are many diving schools situated on the Canary Islands which cater for diving enthusiasts of differing abilities. The Canary Islands are perfect for diving since you can explore the stunning subaqua scenery of the marine park with it's caves, arches, swim-throughs and walls. Schools of barracuda, a giant fish ball, the sedate glide of a sting-ray or angelshark, the unique beauty of a seahorse or a cuttlefish effortlessly changing colour are all wonderfully beautiful possible sightings when diving.

Every guided dive in the El Cabron Marine Reserve will enhance your understanding of the complex ecosystems in marine environments. Deep dives, wreck dives, night dives and special dives for underwater photographers are also available.