High season for this sport is May to September and there are 2 championships:

• Puerto Rico Deep-Sea Fishing Championship.                                       29 - 31 of July.
• Pasito Blanco Deep-Sea Fishing Championship.                                    26 - 28 of August.

Will see if this time a new world record is broken again.

We strongly recommend to take a look at the Yacht Marina in Puerto Rico between the 29th and the 31st of July.

“1. How large of a percentage of your customers are Scandinavians, and how interesting is the Scandinavian market to you?

2. In what way has the financial crisis affected the real estate market on Gran Canaria?

3. What preferences does an average Scandinavian have when they are buying a house/apartment in the south?

4. What is the price per square meter that a Scandinavian buyer in Gran Canaria should expect to pay to fulfil their dreams of a second home in the south?

5. Can financing be obtained in Spanish banks, or must it be arranged from your home country?

Cardenas Real Estate Company was established exactly 30 years ago by Carolina’s parents, Antonio G. Cardenas and Rolande Chagrin. After a long career in the hotel industry and a vast knowledge of languages they both had a desire to provide a high quality, honest and respectful working manner to the visitors to Gran Canaria, considering that in those days the legal security that customers have today did not exist.  As a result of superb testimonials the clientele increased very fast.

Today their daughter Carolina works together with her husband Ramón and her brother Daniel who is a lawyer.  She describes the family business as young and dynamic and is proud to announce that they speak Norwegian, Scandinavian, German, French, Italian, English, Hungarian, Russian and Spanish in their offices. At present, Cardenas has offices in Puerto Rico and Playa de Mogán, with a total of 15 employees. Carolina adds that despite the company’s growth, new technological investments and generation change, they take pride in having maintained their principal quality, professional service and honesty with their clients.

1.  A total of 50% of the properties that we sold last year were purchased by Scandinavians, especially Norwegians. It is therefore considered to be our main market, and we are pleased that the financial crisis has not damaged Norway to the same extent as in many other countries. We do also feel that the market is gaining strength.

2. The financial crisis has affected the prices in a negative way, which gives a negative impact to those who sell and a positive for those who buy. The national market is limited because the banks have large loan restrictions. This leaves us a group of buyers with a strong capital, mostly foreigners. The offers of apartments have increased, because people here are unable to pay their loans, and must therefore sell. In addition, a number of tourist complexes are closing and changing into private complexes, as tourists want to stay in modern hotels or apartments with more facilities. All this has contributed to an over supply in the market that opens up for large price reductions which benefits the buyers.

3. The main criteria’s for our Scandinavian clients are a large terrace with plenty of sun exposure and a nice sea view. It also has great significance that the residence is located in a quiet area with close access to the beach and various local amenities.

4. At present the approximate price per square meter is 3000 Euros in Arguineguin and approximately 2000 Euros in Puerto Rico.

5. Most of our Scandinavian customers organize self-financing in their respective homelands. It is also possible to obtain financing in Spain, but only 60% of the purchase price. To obtain a loan in Spain as a foreigner it requires a relatively large amount of documentation, which makes it easier for most people to arrange a loan from their homeland. Also in Spain to obtain financing from the bank there are costs of approx. 3% (taxes, government fees, etc) which as I understand are not as high in other countries.”

Article by Dag & Natt, translation by Natalia Ballester & Lucy Evans

The construction work of the new motorway between Puerto Rico and Mogán is continuing as planned with an estimated end date in 2012.

At the moment there are 2 tunnels opened and can clearly be seen, the tunnel in Puerto Rico and the tunnel from Mogan to Taurito.

The approximate length of the motorway is 6.3 kilometers which will have a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour. Each section will have two carriageways with two lanes each of 3.5 meters. Given the rugged terrain along the route 3805 meters will be tunnels cut through the mountain.

By Lucy Evans

On the 30^th of May each year the Canarias celebrate Canary Day ‘Día de Canarias’, this day is celebrated in remembrance of the date of establishment of the first regional parliament in 1983.  This year as it falls on a Sunday, the bank holiday has been passed over to the Monday so a lot of happy faces will be seen thanks to the long weekend!

Celebrations and festivities begin during the week mainly with school celebrations, the children dress up in typical canarian costume and hold a party with songs and dances followed by some delicious typical canarian food products including tortillas (Spanish Potato omlettes), papas arrugadas con mojo (Wrinkled potatoes with a mojo sauce), fresh local cheese, tortillas de calabaza (Pumpkin flat cakes) etc.  Parents are always invited along to see their children looking angelical in their costumes, watch them sitting patiently waiting for there performance to start and of course to help finish off the delicious leftovers that the children turn their noses up at!

Many other cultural and leisure activities are held on this day throughout Gran Canaria. Below you will see what there is to see and do in Mogán:

Friday the 28^th of May, 9 pm in La Santiaga Cultural centre, Playa de Mogán there will be a Folklore exhibition from the Music and Dance school with the participation from the students and various other groups.

Saturday the 29^th of May, 9:30pm in the Nicolás Quesada park, Mogán village the official program for the “San Antonio El Chico 2010” (Fiesta in Mogán) will be presented and will be followed by a concert from the local musical group ‘Taorogán’.

Sunday the 30^th of May, 6pm in the Plaza de las Marañuelas  ,Arguineguín there will be a Crafts and regional cuisine fair followed by a concert from Taorogán at 9pm.

By Lucy Evans

After the fun of Carnivals we are now entering into the months where the plazas and streets of nearly each small village within the district of Mogán come alive giving free rein to the fun and joy of their local fiestas.  Thanks to a mixture of traditional religious beliefs and a love of celebration these fiestas are a great opportunity for the visitors to get to know the unknown side of our holiday island and its warm-hearted atmosphere.

The fiestas in each village usually last between 9 and 14 days and although events take place every day the main ones are held on the weekends.  Concerts, performing arts, competitions, exhibitions and dance acts are a few of the activities to be enjoyed but the most celebrated events are the “Romeria” and the “Bajada de la rama”.

Romerias:  As well as being a religious Catholic event consisting of a pilgrimage with the Patron Saint or Virgin they are also a great time to unite families, friends and neighbourhoods for hours of fun and laughter.  Participants dress up in typical Canarian costume and many take part in groups with traditionally decorated floats full of offerings of food for the Virgin or Patron Saint, none of the floats are ever without their grills of sizzling meat and fish, bottles of soft drinks and amongst others our island’s famous Canarian rum from Arehucas!

The floats travel from one end of the village and eventually reach the church where the patron saint or virgin is placed and the offerings from the floats are presented whilst typical Canarian instruments are played, songs are sung and beautiful dances by the “Romeros” are to be seen.

“Bajada de la rama” translates to “lowering of the branch”, this is an event named after an ancient ritual and consists of a procession where the locals equip themselves with water Pistols, rubber rings or whatever takes their fancy and take to the streets singing behind a band “agua aguita la gente está sequita” (water, water, the people are dry). This then turns into one huge water fight where you will also see people from their houses throwing buckets of water or using hose pipes to drench the people along the route.

An outstanding mixture of generations participating, people from all over the island, a calendar full of events and the unique climate make the fiestas not to be missed!

Nearer to the dates of the fiestas the town hall will provide pamphlets of the events and the pamphlets can also be found to view and download on the town hall website.

Dates of the Romerias:

Romeria Motor Grande, Puerto Rico: Saturday the 15th of May
Romeria Mogán village: Sunday the 6th of June
Romeria Arguienguín: Saturday the 10th of July

By Lucy Evans

It so seldom rains in Gran Canaria that it is quite a happening for the locals and all those who live permanently here. The tourists seeking the sun will forgive us for rejoicing over every drop of rain that falls upon the thirsty ground, making the landscape greener and greener.

So on a Sunday some weeks ago after the last big rain, we did the same as many people and went in search of the water running downhill from the mountains. But we did not drive far on crowded roads. We chose the small and quite secluded valley behind Los Palmitos Park and the Tennis Hotel Helga Masthoff (presently still closed for repairs after the fire damaged part of it in July 2007).  We just walked down to and past the hotel and then up the barranco, first on a narrow path on the hillside and now and then through the reeds and jumping from one stone to another across the stream. It was fun and a real pleasure to see and to hear the clear water streaming down and forming tiny water falls and pools, where our dog Simba thoroughly enjoyed herself paddling in the water.

But hush! Do not tell anybody about it! We would not want that lovely secluded place to get over crowded during the weekends…

By Rolande Chagrin

Spain and its wonderfully sunny islands like Gran Canaria, are emerging as better value than ever, pushing holiday high fliers like Turkey, down the pecking order. The British Post Office Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer has shown a 44% rise in Turkey for meals, drinks and other holiday items. Spain, in contrast, is now the cheapest Eurozone destination, with a 30% fall in the cost of similar holiday items since last year.

That’s nice to know, but behind the figures, is an even more important message, the all year round sun and high temperatures make sure that Gran Canaria is still one of the most popular places for British holiday makers to visit and to live.

The south coast of Gran Canaria offers fantastic beaches that never go out of style, and with good transport, schools and shops, it’s sure to continue to put other holiday spots in the shade.

By Cardenas News

Photo by Oliver Bossecker, taken from Cardenas Facebook

More than 40 million people world wide have seen already the famous musical Mamma Mia with the best ABBA Hits.

Now and until the 29th of January you have the chance to see this Musical in the theatre Pérez Galdos in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Entry tickets can be bought at the theatre or via La Caja de Canarias in one of their branches or via Internet at cajatique.com

By Cárdenas News

The Tourism Board of Gran Canaria has selected Mogán in order to promote the “aquatic side” of Gran Canaria. David Silva, the European Football Champion, of Mogán, had a photo session in Mogán these past days, result which is going to be presented in the International Tourist Fair in Madrid “Fitur” this January.

By Cárdenas News (Photo from Masha31 a@ Flickr)

Last Saturday night there was a schoolmates’ get-together of the Colegio Alemán de Las Palmas (German School). We were about 40 old friends from different classes who finished high school in the early 90’s; hard to believe but it will soon be 20 years since! The event had eloquently been published on Facebook as “Show me your wrinkles”.

We met at the “Rockola Club” in Las Palmas, a live music night club recently opened by Oliver alias “el Rubio”, one of our old schoolmates and unconditional rock’n’roll fan. The club offers live music from the very best Rock and Blues bands of Gran Canaria, e.g. The Beatmaps (playing Beatles’ versions) or Red Marks (http://www.myspace.com/redmarksrock) only to name some. I truly recommend a visit to Rockola if you are fond of music of the 60’s and 70’s. The address is Olof palme 37 (next to Mesa y Lopez).

We had great fun. It was only the day after I realized I am not 18 anymore, what a shame. But I really look forward to repeating the event next year again at Rockola. So Keep on Rockin’, Rubio!

By Carolina García Chagrin