After losing to a dominant Barcelona in their home game against the Spanish champions on 10th January, Tenerife's footballing heroes were up against it once again at the end of February when Spain's second most powerful team Real Madrid headed across the Atlantic to take on the home team. Despite dropping further and further down Spain's equivalent of the UK Premier division as the season goes on, Tenerife's local football fans are making the most of the promotion they gained last year to welcome some of the world's best footballers to their doorstep.

Continue reading... More Big Football On Tenerife

One of the biggest carnivals on Gran Canaria has the green light to go ahead having been given assurances by its local mayor that proper finances would be available.

Continue reading... Maspalomas Carnival Get Go Ahead

Most people choose to fly to Tenerife for their holidays, but for the 3000 passengers on one of the world's biggest cruise ships, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was a stopping point on their sea voyage that started in Barcelona during December 2009 and had already visited Casablanca before leaving the Mediterranean to head for the Canaries.

Continue reading... Tenerife Welcomes World's Biggest Cruise Ship

Due to there location, several thousand miles from the European mainland and the balance of resident and tourist population, the islands of the Canaries rarely benefit from visiting pop stars and celebrity performers. Premier music concerts featuring big stars are few and far between on the islands. In the past performers like Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan and Elton John have all played on Tenerife. Even Michael Jackson included Tenerife in his "Dangerous" tour during 1993, when 45,000 people watched him on stage in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Continue reading... Celebrity Musicians in Tenerife

The Spanish music style of Flamenco is the kind of music played during traditional dances with performers dressed in stylish costume. The ladies wear long flowing skirts while the men dress in outfits that symbolise the attire normally associated with bullfighting. But in Spain, Flamenco is better known as a form of music rather than a dance. The castanets, or palillos as they are known locally, are small-hand held percussion instruments usually played in pairs.

Continue reading... Shake Out Your Castanets in The Canaries

There may have been a big freeze across northern Europe at the beginning of January but the attractions for tourists soaking up the sun in Gran Canaria were added to on 8th January when the Canary Islands Music Festival started in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Continue reading... Canary Islands Music Festival Schedule

If you go to the Canary Islands for a winter break, don't be surprised to find the locals with a healthy appetite for watching football. The islands currently have several successful teams, one that competes in the top Spanish League and others that play more locally.

Continue reading... Canaries Football Spotlight

Tree blossom brings a welcome boost of colour to UK trees in spring, but for Mediterranean islands like Mallorca and Menorca, as well as the islands of the Canaries, spring blossom arrives a little earlier in February thanks to the almond trees.

Continue reading... Almond Blossom In February

Since beach volleyball became part of the Olympics in 1996, its popularity has boomed. In October last year, Tenerife hosted a top level mens tournament at Siam Park.

Continue reading... International Volleyball in Tenerife

One of the more unusual sporting events on Lanzarote this year saw over 700 competitors setting off on the 23rd January from the African coast and racing the 100 miles or so to Lanzarote. The cash prize for the first one home was a healthy 6000 Euros, so competition was fierce with only the very fittest and fastest in with a chance of winning.

Continue reading... Race to Lanzarote

Ask anyone to name the islands in the Canaries and most would, without much trouble, come up with the main four islands of Tenerife , Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. After all that's where most of the holiday companies and airline operators provide services for. However there are actually 8 main islands, the others being La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa, the smallest of the inhabited islands of the Chinijo Archipelago off Lanzarote.

Continue reading... La Gomera In The Canaries

While much of Britain still experienced cold, snowy weather and temperatures in Scotland plummeted to as low as minus sixteen, we thought a round up of the weather in our key winter sun destinations would warm you up a little.

Continue reading... Festive Weather Round Up

The Spanish islands of Mallorca, Menorca and the Canaries are not the only places to hold their carnivals in the early part of the year. The town of Rethymno in Crete also stages a spectacular carnival programme that runs throughout the whole of February.

Continue reading... February Carnival in Crete

During January Tenerife hosts the Festival de Musica de Canarias, a celebration of classical music that first started in 1985.

Continue reading... Music Festival in Tenerife

The small island of La Gomera, one of the less well known of the Canaries that lies just off the west coast of Tenerife, is the start point for a rowing challenge that calls itself the 'World's Toughest Rowing Race'.

Continue reading... Rowers depart Canaries on Marathon Journey

For many the Christmas period presents the perfect opportunity to take a short break and get away for a little rest and relaxation. For some a cosy chalet in snow covered mountains is the ideal break while others yearn for some warm sunshine. Being only a short flight from the UK, Lanzarote offers the combination of convenience and value for British tourists seeking some warmer weather.

Continue reading... Lanzarote Christmas

The Canaries version of the WOMAD Festival took place from 12th to 15th November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Continue reading... WOMAD Festival in Gran Canaria

The islands of Tenerife and Lanzarote are no strangers to the international film industry. Tenerife hosts an international film festival, the next edition of which happens in June 2010 and the islands have also been used numerous times in films such as The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and also several episodes of Dr Who.

Continue reading... Film Crew in the Canaries

With the Canary Islands being surrounded by Atlantic Ocean you would expect much of their commercial and leisure activities to involve water, but that is not always the case. However during October this year a group of hardy athletes tackled a challenging journey across the waters between two of the islands.

Continue reading... Lanzarote to Fuerteventura Swim

The Canary Islands International Jazz Festival was in full swing this year kicking off with a series of great performances where the beach at Telde on Gran Canaria and Puerto de la Cruz on the north coast of Tenerife both played host for opening night concerts.

Continue reading... Gran Canaria and Tenerife Open Jazz Festival

The smaller island of Gomera, off the coast of Tenerife hosted its first Gomera Rock festival in August this year.

Continue reading... Tenerife Gomera Rock festival

The eastern most island of the Canaries, Lanzarote is a place of spectacular natural beauty. This unspoilt volcanic island will bowl you over with its extraordinary rock formations, mountains, seascapes and desert plains. With so much to enjoy here, Lanzarote is a superb beach break for a relaxing or active holiday.

Continue reading... Lanzarote - Part 1

Starting on the 3rd of July 2009, the 18th Canaries Jazz Festival kicks off with performances on Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. Acts from all over the world are playing during the week long festival and on the second day concerts are taking place on 4 different islands in the group.

Continue reading... Canaries Jazz Festival

Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, got its second tramline route this weekend when operator Tranvia opened an additional link to its network in the city. The new line supplements the existing line by adding a route between the areas of Tincer and La Cuesta. On the opening day the company organised all kinds of events to celebrate the occasion and for the first two days of operation was offering free journeys for all passengers. The existing line runs for a distance of around 8 miles between La Laguna to Santa Cruz and the new line adds a further 2.5 miles of line between Tincer and La Cuesta.

Continue reading... Expansion of Tram network in Tenerife

Theatre productions, film showings, conferences, even a tea dance; these are just some of the events that form part of a special Agatha Christie week in Tenerife starting on 5th June 2009.

Continue reading... Agatha Christie Week in Tenerife

With a lush and dramatic landscape and so much to do both on sea and land, Fuerteventura possesses riches to attract both the budget and discriminating traveller all year round.

Continue reading... Fuerteventura - The Canary Islands - Part 1

Keen to showcase the natural and raw beauty of the their islands, the Canary Islands Tourist Board has sponsored a garden at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. The tourist board responsible for promoting the Canary Island Archipelago is working hard to maintain the strong ties between the island group and visitors from the UK. Tourists from the UK have always formed the majority of visitors to the seven Spanish islands located off the North African coast which include Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Continue reading... Canaries come to Chelsea

The Tenerife Tourist Board has just released a stunning new promotional video for the island that features time-lapse photography to great effect. The video, which is one of a series covering the Canaries, showcases many of the economic, traditional and natural features of the island. Initially focusing on the bustling urban areas the video moves to the countryside in the second half and illustrates the amazing natural beauty of the island.

Continue reading... New promotional video from Tenerife

It is possible to see the occasional dolphin or basking shark in UK coastal waters, particularly off the Cornish coast, but if you are looking for bigger creatures such as Minke whales, Sperm whales or Blue whales then Fuerteventura is only a four hour flight from the UK.

Continue reading... Whale watching in Fuerteventura

A varied mix of over forty events are planned across the seven islands, featuring cultural performances of music, film and theatre, sporting competitions and traditional celebrations.

Continue reading... Plans Announced for Canaries Celebration Day

The streets and squares of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria are preparing to welcome the world's best freestyle skaters as the first round of the 2009 World Cup Series for the sport comes to the island in the middle of May.

Continue reading... Street Skating comes to Gran Canaria

The island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries has its own unique mix of wildlife dictated largely by its climate. The weather is rarely cold on Fuerteventura and warm dry days are the norm almost all year round. It is because of this that the island has a very limited number of animals living wild. There is however a zoo on the island at Oasis Park that is home to 200 species but hardly any are native to the island.

Continue reading... Find the Wildlife in Fuerteventura

Mount Teide in Tenerife is the spectacular high point of the island. In fact, as well as being the highest point of the Canary Islands, it is also the highest mountain in the whole of Spain which is all the more remarkable when you consider that Spain is also home to the Pyrenees. In the Pyrenees, which strech from the Atlantic coast across to the Mediteranean between France and Spain, there are almost fifty peaks higher than 3000m but none are as high as the 3718m peak of Mount Teide.

Continue reading... Tenerife High Point

Having seen the excitement caused by the UK concert series announced by Michael Jackson recently, it's interesting to see other pop stars popular with previous generations still performing at concerts around the world. The Canary Islands have attracted various stars in the past including Elton John and Rod Stewart is the latest to announce a concert date on Tenerife as part of the Canarias Live Sun Festival in May this year. The concert will take place at the Campo de Golf, Costa Adeje in Tenerife.

Continue reading... Canarias Live Sun Festival