Features22.06.2008 - Paula, 44, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer in December, 2001, but battled against the odds to continue working up until her donor bone marrow transplant in Madrid in May last year. Entertainment colleague and friend Gerie Barber told us: “Each time I sing Celine Dion’s I’m Alive, I dedicate it to Paula. It’s her song. I use the occasion to promote the donor register and then ask everyone - whether they believe or not - to pray and there’s always a tremendous response.”

The Lancastrian mother-of-two, who originally had a transplant using her own stem cells, has been overwhelmed by public generosity since her initial diagnosis. She said: “There have been fund-raisers both here and back in Britain, I’ve had countless private donations and other entertainers even give up their wages for the night. Regular customers who I’ve got to know over the years even send money over.” more...

FeaturesPuerto de la Cruz - 17.06.2008 - It was 10 pm and my father lay on the white sheet of the hotel bed. For a moment he gazed at the moon through the window. It was his way of saying goodnight to his beloved wife, my mother. He also hoped no southern mosquito would find its way through the tear in the net . As always, however, he was soon rocked to sleep by the sound of the tide slapping on the nearby beach.

In 1964 and at that time of the night there was almost complete silence in the fishing village of Los Cristianos. The Hostal Reverón was the only hotel in the area before southern Tenerife became a vast tourist resort. It was family-run and quite adequate. Electricity was produced by that noisy generator and although there was no hot water the rooms were spotless and the service was amicable. It was all there was, all one expected and all one needed in those days. In fact it was paradise after a day visiting the farmers in the dusty south of Tenerife. more...

Features13.06.2008 - The boy, who was denied treatment when seriously ill, was fortunate in that his family recognised the gravity of the situation, refused to accept the summary judgement of the doctor concerned, and were not intimidated by her anger.

They have since denounced the doctor to the authorities and the area health authority.

Seventeen year old Merlin Kallai, who as a surfer, skateboarder and cyclist generally exudes good health, felt unwell. more...

Features27.05.2008 - You work long hard years, earning enough money to buy your dream home, in a well chosen location, with excellent facilities, superb views and enviable year-round sunshine. Now it’s your time to sit back and relax.

However for Marilyn Pendleton and many of her neighbours what was their chosen Tenerife paradise has become something of a hell hole in recent months with the appearance daily – in fact up to four times daily – of a large truck traversing their quiet residential zone in San Eugenio Alto, filled with raw sewage. The sight and more so the smell of said truck has become a real blot on their otherwise enviable landscape.
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Features10.05.2008 - Okay, so maybe you do go through a juggling act each month when paying bills, and your nearest and dearest, who used to joke that money burns a hole in your pocket, isn’t laughing anymore.

The average adult now owes £33,000 through mortgages, credit cards and personal loans com­pared with £17,000 in 2000, the interna­tional accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers claims. Gordon Brown said, “I think everybody knows what has happened in America. It is already having an effect on the housing market and the question is what will be the effect on the rest of the world.” more...

FeaturesAdeje - 29.04.2008 - Some 50 stalls selling clothing, handicrafts, typical Indian food, books and other items, and various activities including dancing, games and music meant that for ten hours, Calle Palo Mayor became a little India, with all the sights, sounds and aromas of that fascinating country.

Six Djs provided the music, and one, Nitu, said that she was delighted at how the non-Indian children were fascinated by the dancing displays, adding that next year they hoped to have an ever greater mix of cultural events on stage. more...

Features26.04.2008 - Some may call her ‘Granny Annie’, but a septuagenarian Lanzarote charity worker has found new love af­ter two decades of wid­owhood - with a man 11 years her senior!

Ann Squire, from Güime, stunned family and friends on announcing a sudden engagement to 83-year-old retired Scottish traffic cop Ian Cameron, whom she had only just met. Then without further ado, the starry-eyed couple with a staggering combined age of 155 and a massive offspring tally of six children and 17 grandchildren, jetted back to the UK to make arrangements to tie the knot in Middlesex on FA Cup Final day, Saturday, May 17. more...

Features06.04.2008 - The attic at Brambles, the family home in Surrey, was where they played with their trains and soldiers and, as they grew, where plots unfolded out of reach of their little sister. It was also the natural store room for school trunks and forgotten things. To be fair, Alice never ever wanted to interfere with the boys’ games. All she hoped for was for a chance to peep inside one particular trunk, the one that never accompanied them to their boarding schools, the brown one in the corner. It had the initials A.J.C. on it which meant it must have been her grandmother’s. more...

Features20.03.2008 - Martina has been involved in the organisation for many years and is a well known face and organiser of many of Failte’s events and social occasions. Always ready with a genuinely warm smile and no doubt the first to take to the floor if a jig or reel is called for, she has now taken over the position of president and is already making ambitious plans for the coming year.
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Features01.03.2008 - Even though it is quite legal to drive in Spain with a European driving licence many residents still feel more comfortable exchanging them for the Spanish equivalent or having their EU licence inscribed on the back with their NIE number.
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