SOCIALISTS DEMAND RESIDENT EXEMPTION FROM SECOND-BAG CHARGE

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Tuesday March 2 2010

THE SOCIALIST Party urged the Canarian Parliament to support lifting airlines' new second bag charge for residents on Tuesday.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

Socialist Party (PSOE) regional MP Juan Carlos Alemán asked the Canarian Coalition and Popular Party groups in the assembly to support a Non-Legislative Proposal (PNL) motion from his party, calling for the Canarian and national governments and the EU to ensure that islanders are exempted from the fee.

Airlines have begun charging extra for passengers checking in more than one suitcase even if the total weight of their hold luggage is less than the maximum allowance, sparking anger amongst travellers already suffering under La Crisis.

Canarians already enjoy a 50 per cent state subsidy on airline flights to the Spanish mainland, some 700 miles to the north, one of a number of special measures for the archipelago tolerated by the anti-state interventionist EU.

The PSOE motion proposes extending that subsidy to cover the extra baggage rate.

Mr Alemán pointed out that air travel was the only option for citizens in the Canary Islands wishing to visit the mainland, and was an important link between the seven islands.

The mystery of the Guanches

The origins and language of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands remain a mystery, writes Dr Sabina Goralski Filonov Translation by James Tweedie The guanches, the aboriginals of the Canary Islands whose origin, lost in the mists of time, still arouses intense and passionate debate and great controversy about their origins and the how the seven Canary Islands were populated – which according to some studies occurred between 10,000 and 8,000 years BC. Literally, the word ‘Guan’ means man or person and ‘Chenech’ or ‘Chinet’ is applied to the island of Tenerife, thus meaning a man or inhabitant of Tenerife – although according to Núñez de la Peña, the Spanish named them the Guanchos during the conquest of the islands. But with the passage of time, experts in the subject are questioning whether the word Guanche was used to designate the primitive inhabitants of all the islands in the pre-Hispanic period. The term ‘Guanche’ has also ceased to be applied to the distin

Venezuela condemns MUD silence over terror attack

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Los Gigantes Beach Landslide Tragedy - Three Days of Mourning for Victims

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Ex-pats hail extinction of ‘mammoth’ development

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Venezuelan opposition declares "Zero Hour" for regime change

Venezuela’s opposition declared “Zero Hour” in its putsch against the socialist government on Monday — emboldened by US support. Leaders of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition gathered for the announcement of their takeover plan a day after their unauthorised referendum seeking a mandate for regime change. National Assembly vice-president and Popular Will (VP) acting leader Freddy Guevara said the Mud-controlled parliament would announce the results of the plebiscite on Tuesday. It asked voters to reject President Nicolas Maduro’s calling of a constitutional reform assembly demand the army support the opposition and back a “national unity government.” But before the announcement of the result Mr Guevara said the national Assembly would form a new government on Tuesday — a move beyond its constitutional powers — along with 1,020 local “Zero Hour committees.” He called a “national general strike” for Thursday while on Friday the assembly would again exceed its powe

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