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UD Las Palmas made a glorious comeback to the First Division in a thrilling encounter against Deportivo Alavés that kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final whistle. In front of a raucous near-capacity-crowd of 31,790, Las Palmas sealed their return ticket to the top flight with a hard-fought goalless draw in the season’s photo finish.
What an interesting last weekend of May ahead. Weather predictions are showing some rain showers are likely across Gran Canaria. This extended #WeekendTips covers up to Tuesday, when all things Canarian are celebrated on the Día de Canarias. There’ll be some gorgeous Patron Saints’ festivities happening in San Fernando de Maspalomas as well as in Valleseco.
Fun Fact:
Valleseco literally means “dry valley” in Spanish, but is actually one of the wettest municipalities Gran Canaria. Nestling between the famous fresh water sources of Firgas & Teror, half way up the island’s mountainous northern slopes, this area is well known for its apple growers, cider and its weekly market
The authorities on Gran Canaria have been engaged in a rigorous search for Swedish tourist Anna-Karin Bengtsson, who went missing in the south of Gran Canaria around April 9. Her unexplained disappearance has caused her family much distress, with no clues to her whereabouts having emerged in the six weeks since they first realised her phone was no longer functioning.
#WeCrossMountains
An exciting May weekend ahead with abundant events and festivities taking place all around Gran Canaria. There are Patron Saints’ festivities for Motor Grande, in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria, and in El Tablero in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and up in the mountains of Artenara. There is also a two day lively exhibition event in Meloneras boulevard and the Rally Gran Canaria is held this Friday and Saturday.
The body of a 58-year-old German man was found this Friday floating just off the coast of Mogán, on the south-west of Gran Canaria.
A new call for aid to implement 180 MW of wind power is set to expand provision much closer to the goal set by the Government of the Canary Islands to reach 45% penetration in renewables by 2025, which is included in the draft of the Energy Strategy of the Canary Islands .
The Minister of Economy, Industry, Trade and Knowledge of the Canary Islands Government, Pedro Ortega, during a presentation, together with the Secretary of State for Energy, talked about the new call for aid to implement wind power in the Canary Islands , aimed at entrepreneurs, promoters and agents in the sector with the aim of making known and clearing any doubt regarding the various stages and technical conditions needed for this process.
Ortega explained that the new 180MW provision equals the annual consumption of 158,823 Canarian households, which “is an important advance for the sustainable energy model on which we have been working since the beginning of this legislature and which is one of the priority objectives of the Government of the Canary Islands”.
Since 2015, installed wind power in the Canary Islands has increased by 154% to total a total of 417.6 megawatts, with the installation of 32 new wind farms. At present, the installed wind power on the islands is equivalent to the annual consumption of 368,470 homes; that is to say: 46% of the total that there are in the Archipelago.
The Canary Islands have gone from being at the tail end of the Spanish regions in the implementation of renewables, as a result of a blockade of ten years, to be one of the Spanish regions in which the most wind farms have been built in recent years .
This new call is the result of dialogue, cooperation and continuous work developed over the last few years from the Government of the Canary Islands, together with the Government of Spain and with the agents and companies of the sector.
The largest photovoltaic facility to have been built on Gran Canaria will be operational by March of 2018 say the Cabildo, and will prevent more than 320 tons of CO2 from being discharged into the atmosphere. In addition, it is the first publicly owned solar plant to be built on the island, as it is the result of a collaboration between the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the Commonwealth of the North and the Town Council of Gáldar.
The project has a budget of €770,000 contributed by the Cabildo through its [commonwealth] Cooperation Plan with the Mancomunidades, in this case the Mancomunidad del Norte, whose ten mayors agreed unanimously to back this important environmental project to construct in partnership with the municipal council of Gáldar, a 10,000 square meter ‘Parque Tecnológico del Norte‘, of which 5,000 square meters will be occupied by this installation.
The energy produced will be fed into the main island network and will generate an estimated income of €70,000 annually for the Mancomunidad (Commonwealth), and research is also contemplated into various other types of power generation including a study of the park’s proximity to the sea.
The president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales, underlined together with Minister of Institutional Cooperation, Carmelo Ramírez, and Minister of Energy, Raúl García Brink, that the island government has launched its ‘Transforma Plan’, an ambitious road map of works, funded by an investment of €456 million that includes the €18 million annual Cooperation Plan with the Municipal Councils and, for the first time, with the Mancomunidades, which will receive €1 million per year.
Last year the Commonwealth of the North allocated this amount to energy savings and efficiency projects, “probably the biggest revolution in terms of achieving lower consumption and pollution,” Morales said, “and this year goes a step further and contributes to Cabildo’s aim for an eco-island in which renewable energies play a fundamental role, and also sets an example to other institutions. ”
Morales emphasised that, in addition to generating clean power and contributing to the fight against climate change, this is a highly competitive energy source, as solar power costs about €80 per megawatt hour compared to the €200 it costs to produce electricity from petroleum, so much so that countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, with many hours less of solar radiation, have strongly opted for this option in recent years.
The president of the Mancomunidad del Norte, Pedro Rodríguez, described the start of the works as “magnificent news” for the environment and for the economic benefits, because the €70,000 a year saving will revert directly back to the north of the island.
More than 1,600 modules
The plant will have 1,674 photovoltaic modules with a power of 452 kilowatts, although it has the capacity to grow up to 1,850 modules and provide 500 kilowatts of power.
All in all they expect to initially generate enough electricity equivalent to powering 150 homes.
