Local News Round Up - 15.08.2008

Look at what else made the news this week

Tenerife's tram

Tenerife's tram service will be powered by its own photovoltaic plant 

Metropolitano de Tenerife's (MTSA) board of directors has approved the installation of the photovoltaic plant. Power from the plant will be supplied to the headquarters of Talleres y Cocheras (T&C), with a view to ensuring that a significant percentage of the energy employed by the trams is produced from a source that does not entail pollution, thereby avoiding the use of fossil fuels, whilst upholding and strengthening the company's environmental policy.

Tenerife’s Institute for Technology and Renewable Energies will be responsible for carrying out the installation of the electrical power system. The plant will have a usable life of over 20 years, whilst proving environmentally friendly and resistant to extreme climatic conditions. Moreover, the plant does not require fuel.

The installation will have a power generation capacity of 600 kilowatts, producing 1600 hours of power every year. The plant, which is expected to open this September, will transform solar energy into clean electrical energy, which will be incorporated into the tram company's conventional power supply.

 

A Brighter Future – A New Beginning
Study and Career Workshops at Britannia School
The new academic year is just around the corner! By the time the Canarian Weekly goes to press this week, exam results will be emerging; it’s the time of year when many young people on the island begin to think of their futures and what options there are in terms of education and career prospects. 
We all know only too well what a challenge this is in this present economic climate!  Don’t worry – help is at hand, in the form of special chat and information sessions, at Britannia School, Los Cristianos. 
If you are undecided about what to do next in terms of study or career, or think that you might like to take a course to enhance your job prospects, why not pop down to the School any day between Monday and Friday, 11 am – 2.00pm, and have a chat with one of the team, and pick up loads of advice and information on the courses available at the School in the next academic year. 
New to the school this year, is the IGCSE and A level in Economics, which can lead to all sorts of careers possibilities, in banking, investment,  finance, sales and marketing.  Also new is the AS/A level in Law – this qualification can help you get into the legal profession, and other fields such as business, human resource management, research….the list is endless!   Combine this with qualifications in Business, IT, Psychology, Tourism etc., and you can put yourself on the road to better career prospects and advancement.  Advice is free and you are very welcome, no matter what your study query is.
Call on 922797563, or email at britanniaschool@hotmail.com, and get the advice you need to move on in your career.

 

Spanish inflation at 15-year high 

As worldwide figures for inflation are announced the prices in Spain rose at their fastest annual rate for 15 years in July, driven by rising food and fuel costs.

The annual inflation rate climbed to 5.3% in July, up from 5% in June.

Transport costs were 10.6% higher than a year earlier, the National Institute of Statistics said, with food prices up 7% compared with July 2007.

Spanish inflation is above the eurozone average of 4.1%, but recent falls in the price of crude oil could bring the rate down.

Spain's economy minister Pedro Solbes said the rate of inflation could drop to about 4% by the end of the year as crude prices have declined.

August being the holiday season the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has interrupted his to attend an emergency meeting with Mr Solbes and other cabinet members to discuss the economy.

The Spanish newspapers are reporting that the meeting will be to discuss additional economic stimulus measures to add to the 10bn-euro ($14.9bn; £7.9bn) package announced earlier this year to stimulate consumer demand, the housing market and small businesses.

 

Punishment of 15,000 euros for pouring rubble

The Environment Protection Agency and Urban Nature (APMUN) has imposed a fine of 15,000 euros to a resident of Güímar for conducting an uncontrolled discharge of non-hazardous waste in the area of La Asomada, near the ravines of the municipality. The APMUN has enforced that within three months, the rubble of illegally deposited and compensation for the irreparable harm and damage caused.

This criminal act had been denounced by various groups and environmentalists by agents of Seprona. The council has submitted three other similar complaints against various companies that were identified by signs of waste that had been discharged illegally.

The mayor, Rafael Yanes, ensures that the fines of these three penalties amounting to 3,000 euros each and an obligation for each company to remove the debris and restore the natural state to the affected area.

 

Taxi Driver Robbed

A taxi driver of Adeje suffered a robbery last Monday in the area of El Fraile, Arona, after two North Africans threatened him by putting a knife to his throat, in an attempt to take the money he had collected so far.

The event occurred at 3:00 am when the driver of the taxi went to the bus station of the tourist area of Costa Adeje and picked up two customers.

Both individuals, of North African appearance, talked only to themselves for the 15 minute journey to El Fraile.

One of them was sitting in the passenger seat and the second in the rear of the vehicle.

The passengers asked the driver to stop at the end of one of the streets, close until the end of the street Fuerteventura, one of the main arteries in the area.

That's when one of the individuals, who was sitting in the back, grabbed the neck of the young taxi driver, while the other put a knife in his neck. Supposedly, after this intimidation, they demanded his money.

Apparently, the thieves managed to take an amount close to 300 euros and the young taxi driver, fortunately, did not suffer any injury.

The Police are now investigating the case to try to identify, locate and apprehend the perpetrators of the robbery.

 

Drastic Measures

The Spanish press reports that some immigrants are undergoing plastic surgery to look Western. Orly Cuzco, 28, did not care much for his nose. "The Inca look really set me apart." So this Ecuadorian from Guayaquil, who lives in Madrid, invested his savings of EUR 4,200 in a nose job so he would "look less conspicuous" on the street.

"It's just right," says Cuzco, who adds a hesitant reference to a deviated nasal septum as another reason for the operation, which took place four months ago.

Among facial features, nose shape is one of the most indicative of a person's ethnic origin.

This is why rhinoplasty has become the star operation among immigrants, especially those from South America, who in ever-greater numbers are resorting to plastic surgery to look more European.

There are cases, where the main idea is to reduce the nasal arch, though more often than not the desire is for greater volume and narrower nostrils.

"Many clients come with the excuse of a deviated septum, when what they really want is to reshape flat, snub noses and soften the features that identify their nationality," says Diego Tomas, surgeon.

He handles some 30 similar cases every year, a little less than 10 percent of his practice.

"There has been a big rise in this type of patient in recent years," he adds.

The Spanish Plastic Surgery Association (Secpre) is aware of the phenomenon, which it addressed in its meeting in July in Zaragoza.

Its president, Antonio Porcuna, also speaks of a rise in numbers of clients looking for "a more Westernised nose." "It's a way of adapting to the environment in which they live," says Salvador Rodríguez-Camps, a surgeon in Valencia who handles around 30 such cases a year.

The nose job, though the most popular, is not the only operation. Rodríguez-Camps recalls operating on Central American women with very rounded faces, in whom he implanted a prosthesis on the chin to lengthen the face. He has operated, too, on people of Oriental origin who want a European eye shape.

This last procedure calls for blefaroplasty, or eyelid surgery, to make the eye more rounded. "This is a relatively uncomplicated operation, done with local anaesthesia," he notes.

It is not very common in Spain, but is seen in countries with large numbers of Asians, such as Australia and the United States, says Porcuna. Indeed, these operations have become a specialty of plastic surgery, many practices being wholly devoted to them.

In Spain, the number of immigrants who resort to plastic surgery is hard to estimate, especially since many opt for operations at far lower prices in their home countries.

For most surgeons there is a clear barrier, not to be crossed, in terms of good taste and proportion of features. "Corrections have to remain within a certain ethnic fidelity," says Juan Antonio Mira, a surgeon in Valencia.

"You can't put an obviously German nose on a Latin American woman, for example."