Police in Canary Islands scratching heads over car parked on house roof

Police in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria are a little baffled after finding a car parked on the roof of a house in the La Isleta area of the Canary Island city.

The police posted photos of the white hatchback Daewoo Matiz on Twitter on Monday, showing it has no license plates and is parked on the flat roof of the house. Their comment to the image was, "This is what they call parking 'on high,'" but saying they value the structure of the house.

Esto es lo que se llama un estacionamiento "por todo lo alto". Valoramos estructura de vivienda por riesgo de caída. pic.twitter.com/GDYHJaPRMh

— Policía Local LPA (@PoliciaLPA) February 29, 2016

While there is a parking shortage in the city, it does seem to be a strange solution. Reportedly the police were first alerted to the weird parking situation by a neighbor in the suburb. They and firefighters in the city have no idea how the owner got it up there, but suspect they may have used a crane.

After firefighters examined the structure of the house, it was established there is no risk to the car falling through the roof, but according to TelevisiónCanaria, they will be asking the car's owner to remove it from the roof.

An island adventure for the whole family in Tenerife

Mt Teide, Tenerife

Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, is a stunning destination, with magnificent scenery and gorgeous beaches.  Known as the Island of Spring for its pleasant climate, the island is home to the iconic El Teide, the third largest volcano in the world and a World Heritage Site. However Tenerife has so much more to offer than just beautiful views ... read more

Spain seizes Greenpeace ship 'Arctic Sunrise' off Canary Islands

The iconic Greenpeace vessel, "Arctic Sunrise" has been seized by Spanish authorities, after activists approached the Repsol oil exploration vessel as part of their recent protests.  Arctic Sunrise has been in the area for several weeks, protesting against oil exploration in the Canary Islands.

Photo: Courtesy Greenpeace España 

Spanish News in English recently reported on the ongoing protests by Greenpeace against oil exploration off the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.  In a recent incident, several Spanish naval vessels rammed into a dinghy manned by Greenpeace activists, injuring four, one of them critically.

According to Spanish authorities a "case had been opened against Greenpeace for not respecting an exclusion zone banning navigation and fishing," however, they did not confirm whether the ship had been sequestered.

According to the ship's captain, the vessel "cannot move until a €50,000 ($63,000) bail is paid."  Spokesman, Julio Barea, told AFP Spanish authorities were holding the ship at Arrecife.

The previous incident occurred on Saturday when activists were using smaller boats to approach the oil exploration vessel belonging to the Spanish oil company, Repsol, which was about to start oil exploration efforts on Tuesday.

Three Spanish navy boats were captured on video ramming one of the activists' vessels and a 23-year-old female Italian protester fell in the water and was injured, her leg broken, in the incident.

While Greenpeace says it only wished to protest peacefully, the Spanish defence ministry alleged that Greenpeace was intending to board the Repsol vessel, which would violate a maritime exclusion zone.

The people of the Canary Islands themselves protested against the oil exploration, citing the possible damage to the ecology and tourism on the islands, but without success against the government's plans.

Spanish Sources:

Greenpeace (1)

Greenpeace (2)

El Mundo

Second photo of Arctic Sunrise public domain by Michael Sample

 

Greenpeace boat rammed by Spanish Navy, four injured (Video)

Greenpeace España launched a protest Saturday against oil exploration off the Canary Islands of Spain. A Spanish navy boat rammed their dinghy, injuring four activists, one badly.

The islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are both at stake, as Repsol, a Spanish oil company, has been given permission to drill near the islands, a move which puts both the ecology of the area and also the much-needed tourist economy in severe danger.

The people of the Canary Islands have been protesting on an ongoing basis, fighting against the oil drilling off their shores which threatens their livelihood and the ecology of the region. Greenpeace España has joined in their cause.  However, all the various warnings on the safety and legal issues involved have so far been completely ignored by the Spanish Government. It is well known worldwide that the greed of governments and Big Oil generally wins the day, but Greenpeace still continues to do their best to prevent this.

The Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, occupied the drill site off the Canary Islands prior to the arrival of the drilling vessel.  And it stayed there, despite strong pressure from the authorities.  The video below shows the captain of the Arctic Sunrise, telling the Spanish authorities that they were staying put, and telling the navy ships to stay away at a distance of at least one mile:



During Saturday's protest, a Spanish Navy vessel rammed into the Greenpeace dinghy, injuring four of the activists on board, one of them seriously.  Video was captured of the attack and a woman screaming can be heard clearly, as she fell from the dinghy and was hit by its propellers, breaking her leg.  See the video below:

However, despite this, the Spanish navy disputes the story saying it dispatched two boats from one of the navy ships in the area, purely to prevent the Greenpeace activists from boarding the oil drill ship and that the woman accidentally fell from the boat.  The navy apparently rushed the woman to hospital in a helicopter.

Speaking by radio-telephone from Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in the area, Capt. Joel Stewart identified the woman as a 23-year-old Italian activist and said the injuries to the three other activists fortunately were only minor.

Referendum blocked:

Last month the Canary Islands regional government was to hold a referendum on the oil exploration in waters off the islands, situated off northwestern Africa.  However, the Constitutional Court, acting at the behest of the Spanish government, blocked the proposal.  It gave Repsol YPF S.A., the Spanish energy company, permission to begin drilling with a large drilling ship and platform.  This oil exploration is currently ongoing.

View of Lanzarote CC by-SA Luc Viatour 

 

Arctic Sunrise back in action:
 
Saturday's protest was the first by the Arctic Sunrise since that ship was boarded in international waters and held for more than 300 days by Russian authorities.  This was during a protest against Gazprom's oil drilling in the Arctic.  Once the ship was released, Greenpeace took it to Amsterdam for repairs and the ship is now fully back at work.

However, it was not only the ship that was held during the incident in Russia and 28 crew members and two journalists on board the Arctic Sunrise were also held for over three months in detention centers in Russia.  Despite the ordeal, two of those crew members were involved in Saturday's protest to protect the Canary Islands - Ana Paula, deckhand, from Brazil, and Alexander, bosun, from Canada.

Sources:

Greenpeace International (English language)
Greenpeace España (Spanish language)

NBC News

Migrants from Africa detained in Canary Islands over Ebola concerns

African migrants, some of whom were suffering from fever, were kept on a beach in the Canary Islands for five hours Wednesday, over concerns that they may be suffering from Ebola.

It was a case of "better safe than sorry," when 23 undocumented migrants arrived on a beach in Maspalomas on Gran Canaria island on Wednesday.  Delays were caused as authorities had to decide whether to activate Ebola protocols or not, a problem that seems to be cropping up worldwide, as medical officials try to understand and deal with the deadly virus.

The migrants arrived on the beach from Africa on a small boat at 9 a.m. and immediately Red Cross volunteers went to their aid.  On taking their temperature, they found six of the migrants were running a high fever.  The Red Cross decided it was a good idea to activate their own Ebola protocol and called on the regional health department for assistance. It then took four hours for the doctors to arrive on the scene, and in the meantime the Red Cross volunteers left food, water bottles and face masks on the beach for the migrants to use. 

While this was going on, and during the delay until the doctors arrived, local police ensured that nobody got closer than 20 meters to the migrants, with the police officers wearing face masks and gloves, but dressed in short sleeve uniform shirts (see photo). Naturally, if the migrants had been suffering from Ebola, this clothing would not have been much help.However, El Mundo has published a photo showing the detainees seated on the beach in the background, with two nude male tourists strolling in the foreground!

When eventually the public health service doctors arrived, they questioned the migrants.  As soon as it was clear that none of them had recently been in Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone (the most badly affected countries), they were given the all-clear.  At that stage the four weakest individuals were taken for medical treatment in the Red Cross vehicle and the balance were loaded on to what was virtually a garbage truck, used for beach cleaning, and taken to the local police station for identification, prior to the start of deportation proceedings.

Red Cross coordinator José Antonio Rodríguez complained, saying that a garbage truck was no way to transport human beings, particularly those that were unwell.  However, the major of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez, told him no other four-wheel vehicles were available that could transport that many persons over the rough terrain, adding, “We had to get those men off the beach quickly, they’d been there five hours,” he said.

There was a similar incident in Aluche, Madrid at the beginning of October where undocumented migrants were isolated in a holding area for 19 hours without food, on suspicion that some of them might be suffering from Ebola.

Sources: 
El Pais
El Mundo

Naked Spanish sailors in bid for 2016 Olympics

Everyone has heard of skinny dipping, but have you ever seen naked sailing?   

Well, two Spanish sailors, in a bid to sail in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, ended up sailing in their birthday suits.

Onán Barreiros and Juan Curbelo, hoping to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, tried an interesting online theory to improve their chances.

The two 470 class sailors from the Canary Islands posted a very intriguing message on their Facebook page back in January.

"If we get to 1,500 likes on our Facebook page before February 28th we will pose nude on our boat and post the picture," is what they wrote.

It only took just over a week to reach their goal and on Saturday they kept their promise.  They went sailing, totally nude, and posted a photo to Facebook, which is included here.  They have a couple more on their Facebook page for anyone who is interested.

Choosing which photo to use was a little difficult, apparently, with Barreiros telling Nauto360 magazine (in Spanish): "We didn't want to show too much, or too little and end up cheating people."

They seem to have made the right choice however, with Barreiros adding, "The image has been there a few days and more than 27,000 people have already seen it.”

"Now people stop us and say hi at our club in Gran Canaria to talk about the picture," said Curbelo. 

It seems Barreiros has already participated at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and also in the London 2012 Olympics.  For Curbelo, if successful, it will be his first appearance in the all-important Games.

Holy smoke: Pot found on bishop's plot in Tenerife, Spain

A man has been arrested in Santa Cruz in Spain, after police found a marijuana plantation on land belonging to the bishop of Tenerife. Apparently the church was unaware of what the man, who had permission to use the land, was growing there.

After a series of anonymous tip-offs in June, police staked out the plot of land, which is in the heart of the island's Anaga mountains.

The investigating officers then discovered marijuana plants growing in what was formerly used as a vegetable garden. Reportedly the crop was shielded from view by some plastic sheets stretched over a wooden frame.

The police arrested the 27-year old, identified only by the initials R.C.H., when they found him watering the plants. He later confessed to owning them.

It was confirmed later by local police that the land is part of the diocese of the bishop of Tenerife, assigned to the parish of Our Lady of the Snows of Taganna.

R.C.H. had a written agreement to cultivate the land, dated April 1, 2012, but the plants he was cultivating were not quite what the bishop had in mind.

Marijuana is decriminalized in Spain. This means that selling cannabis is a criminal offense punishable by law in any quantity.

Buying anywhere, possession and consumption in a public place constitutes a misdemeanor and is penalized with a fine and confiscation.

Growing the plant on private property for personal use, and consumption by adults in a private space is not illegal. However, growing on a large scale, and on another person's property, as in R.C.H.'s case is against the law.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/353543

UK tourist throws boiling water from balcony in Canary Islands

A tourist from the UK, visiting the Playa del Inglés resort on the island of Gran Canaria in Spain, has been on a rampage, pouring boiling water onto passersby from the balcony of his holiday apartment.

 

The Canarias7 news website (Spanish language) reports that his apartment is on the 12th floor of an apartment building in the Playa del Inglés resort in Maspalomas on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. 

 

Apparently the travel company, TUI, tried to solve the problem without involving the police, but the man responded by threatening to throw himself off the balcony, so on Monday the national police had to be called in to assist.

 

TUI told the police that the man had been causing problems for their staff and also other guests for around 10 days. Police were unable to open the door of the man's apartment, but took up a position on a neighboring balcony, from where they could see several knives lying on a table, which was a worrying situation.

 

They attempted to calm the man, but this caused him to start throwing boiling water at the police officers, and then again on to the street below. As they got a warrant to break into the British tourist's apartment, the man attacked them yet again with boiling water.

 

The officers then broke down panels separating the balconies of the two neighboring apartments and stormed the man's bedroom. While the tourist tried to resist with kicks and punches, the police were finally able to detain him. 

 

The officers found huge pots of boiling water on the stove and reportedly the bathtub was also full of hot water. 

 

The man was taken to a psychiatric unit at the Hospital Insular on the island for observation.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/351021