Canary Islands Twitter Users

What a great way to keep in touch with what's happening in the Canary Islands in real time!  The live Twitter stream below is coming from English language Tweeters on the Canaries.  Tweeting Canaries is a comprehensive list of Twitter users based on the islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, La Palma, ElHierro and la Gomera who Tweet in English.

Changes to traffic fines

Changes to the traffic laws in Tenerife are soon to come into effect.  Below are details of fines, suspensions and other important changes

Driving without insurance in Tenerife

It is no longer necessary to carry the original of your vehicle insurance documents with you while you are driving in it.  There is a database in Spain  known as FIVA  which contains all the vehicles and the insured’s names of vehicles in Spain. The fines for not being insured €2.600.  In addition, you can lose penalty points even if you have a foreign EU DL, for example a UK one, with the new cooperation system between the various EU countries.

Emergency Lights to Flash Blue

The colour of the flashing lights on emergency vehicles in Tenerife will soon all be blue, in a draft change to the traffic regulations.  All fire, police,civil protection and ambulances will be fitted with blue lights, while amber flashing lights will be used for vehicles causing an obstruction on the road.

Expat News

There is no shortage of excellent news sources in Tenerife.  The media and internet resources available cover much of the news in Tenerife, if you speak English.  So there really is no point in repeating the day to day humdrum events that tick over.  The news we bring is aimed at expats, aspiring expats and anyone else with a general interest in Tenerife.

Expats move for the weather

Better weather is the top reason that UK expats prefer living abroad, according to the latest poll conducted by Alliance & Leicester International (ALIL).

Top ten reasons expats rate their new country over the UK:
1.    Better weather (57%)
2.    Better quality of life (56%)
3.    Higher standard of living (53%)
4.    Safer / lower crime rate (49%)
5.    Slower pace of life (36%)
6.    Higher income (30%)
7.    Better food (28%)
8.    The expat lifestyle (27%)
9.    Mixing with the local people (26%)
10.    A more social society (19%)

Franco memorial to be removed

The obelisk dedicated to Franco at Las Raíces (El Rosario) is to be removed, by a unanimous vote in the Tenerife Cabildo.

The monument marks the spot where Franco met on the 17 June 1936  to make the final plans for the military coup in Julyof that year.

Tenerife Lifeline January News

This is the first edition of Tenerife Lifeline's newsletter for 2009... in fact the first edition ever!  Since the book was launched we over 1,200 copies have been bought so far and it has been fantastic to hear feedback from all sorts of people who have found the book useful in so many ways.  I hope that you have also found the book to be a good resource of information about life on the island.

The newsletters that we will be sending out each month will provide you with updates to facts mentioned in the book.  The first of these are below, but you can check them at any time by clicking on the news section of the website.  We will also bring you new general interest articles from the website, as well as an insight into the topics that are uppermost in residents' minds in The Expat Buzz below.

We would also like to know about you and your opinions.  As you probably know, we conducted a number of surveys last year, and we would like to do the same again.  The results helped us to gain an insight into our expat community and we would really appreciate it if you can help us with them this year.  They won't take too much of your time!

And lastly, before we get on with the rest of the newsletter, I would like to wish you the very best for 2009 from all of us at Tenerife Lifeline.

Marketing in Tenerife

If you run a local business theres a great new resource to help you improve your marketing in Tenerife and the Canary Islands.  Leslie Beeson, the author of Tenerife Lifeline has started a new blog based on his professional marketing experiences so expect a constant stream of valuable content.

News in English: Tenerife's expat media

If you have the internet, then there is obviously a huge range of news available from hundreds of sources.  However, Tenerife newspapers, magazines in Tenerife and radio are all available in the English language.  Get links to Living Tenerife, Canarian Weekly, Island Connections, Tenerife News, The Paper, The Tenerife Sun, Casa Post, Tenerife Property Guide, Business Pages Tenerife, Oasis FM, Power FM, QFM and Holiday FM.