Gran Canaria is to host the 2008 Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) Travel Convention, it has been announced.

According to Abta, the Travel Convention 2008 will be held in the Maspalomas Conference Centre in Gran Canaria between October 7th 2008 and October 9th 2008.

“Gran Canaria is looking forward to hosting the Travel Convention in 2008 as we believe it is an excellent opportunity to present our destination to the best of the UK travel industry,” Roberto Moreno Diaz, president of the Gran Canaria tourism board stated.

He added that is was his hope the board would be impressed by the improvements made to the conference centre.

Gran Canaria is the third largest island of the Canary Islands which include Tenerife, Lanazarote and Fuerteventura.

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Picture: El Sol News

The president of the Canary Islands Paulino Rivero has revealed that the long awaited maritime link between Fuerteventura’s Puerto del Rosario and Tarfaya in Morocco will be up and running by the beginning of December.

Rivero explained that route would be covered by the Assalama ferry, which has been undergoing a series of practice moorings over the last month. The vessel has successfully passed the initial stages and will begin to carry passengers in December.

The 102m long, Assalama will be joining Fuerteventura and Tarfaya three times a week and will take approximately four hours to do the crossing.

The Assalama can carry 510 passengers and boasts, a lounge area, a self-service cafeteria and bar as well as a swimming pool and a large number of both individual and double cabins.

The Tarfaya – Puerto del Rosario line is the first to be established in Fuerteventura since the declaration of the capital’s port as a Schengen port was made official in September and as such has attracted much attention.

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By Zoe Dare Hall

AS THE evenings draw in and temperatures tumble, it’s time to start dreaming about a warm, easily-accessible winter escape. And in that respect, the Canary Islands hold all the trump cards.

Still within the short-haul radius of Britain’s budget airlines, but on the same latitude as Florida and Mexico, they offer affordable sunshine when even southern Spain and northern Morocco are starting to feel the chill.

But while Tenerife is anything but undiscovered, the volcanic island of Fuerteventura, the second largest but least populated of the archipelago, retains a wilder edge. It offers dramatic landscapes and 150 beaches.

The main resort towns of Corralejo, on the north coast, and Caleta de Fuste, ten minutes from the airport in the east, however, are beginning to boom, thanks to EU investment and a flurry of new developments.

And the upward trend will be bolstered by the launch of Ryanair flights from Liverpool next month Thomsonfly already flies to Fuerteventura from numerous UK destinations.

It’s the climate that prompted Karen and Steve Rogers to leave their home in Telford, Nottinghamshire, and move to a villa in Caleta de Fuste.

‘It’s halfway up a mountain with sea views,’ says Karen, 46, a financial adviser. The move has prompted Steve, 44, to take early retirement from his job as a project manager.

‘We can see the mountains and we’re just a mile from the beach,’ says Karen, who first visited the island last summer for a holiday. She returned two months later to buy a house.

‘We’d looked in lots of countries and the biggest plus factor here was the climate. It’s always between 20C and 30C. And the island doesn’t close down in winter like some Spanish resorts. There’s also a big British expat population and a good selection of restaurants.’ With an average price of £156,000, properties are around 40 per cent cheaper than on Mallorca or Menorca, and 30 per cent cheaper than on Lanzarote, a 20-minute ferry ride away.

Even in relatively pricey Caleta de Fuste, you can buy studio apartments, five minutes’ from the beach and two miles from Fuerteventura golf course (site of the 2004 Spanish Open) from as little as £39,000.

Nearby, within the boundaries of the national park, Spanish developer Peninsula has built Dunas Park. It features fully furnished one-bedroom apartments from £94,000, or threebedroom villas overlooking the beach from £245,000.

‘The tourism market in Fuerteventura is starting to take off. Most tourists so far are German, which is a good sign as they tend to discover Spain’s new hot spots first,’ says Peninsula’s Frederic Fourestier.

‘Prices are relatively low and construction on Fuerteventura is strict.’

‘You can’t build properties of more than three storeys so your views of the sea and the volcano are never blocked.’ Jon Ainge, an education director from Wrexham, in North Wales, sees plenty of long-term investment potential in Fuerteventura. He has bought a three-bedroom villa in Dunas Park for £206,000. ‘Prices on the island are good way cheaper than the Spanish mainland,’ he says.

‘I think prices will grow over the next three or four years as Corralejo, which is in need of a bit of a revamp, will receive around £35million of new investment. And the island’s airport is being expanded, too.’ Frederic Fourestier has the last word on the island’s appeal. ‘Lanzarote can get a bit boring, but Fuerteventura has more attractions and stunning, Caribbean-style beaches. Plus you can benefit from the island’s endless summer.’ And so if you are reading this in the drizzle, perhaps it’s time for a visit.

This article first appeared in the Daily Mail

Fuerteventura is concerned the Plan Territorial Especial de Ordenacion Turistico Insular PTEOTI or Island Plan for the Organization of Tourism concentrates on improving the existing installations rather than increasing the number of tourist beds on the island. The controversial plan, a rough draft of which has already been put into writing, was made public at the beginning of October. It will not be officially presented to the Regional Government until the statutory sixty day period established by the law during which the local town councils and any other persons affected by the decisions can make allegations against the ruling.

Basically the Plan is centred on establishing five main tourist areas on the island namely El Cotillo, Corralejo, the area around Parque Holandes, El Castillo, Tarajalejo-Las Playitas, Costa Calma, Esquinzo-Butihondo, Morro Jable and Aguas Verdes stating that permission for touristic constructions will not be granted in other parts of the island.

The drastic decision is necessary, according to the Tourist Department of the Cabildo, if the future of the island as a tourist resort is to be guaranteed. The existing establishments once they have been renovated and improved, are sufficient to keep the sector ticking over, allege the councillors adding that any projects in other areas which have already been authorized by the Cabildo will probably have the number of beds cut by half once the plan has been approved. Furthermore, the land in other areas will no longer be classed as apt for touristic development and promotion companies which have invested in this land with the idea of building hotels and apartment blocks will not be compensated by the island government.

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The beaches of Cofete in the south of Fuerteventura are now littered with nests. The nests have not however been made by the local birds. They have been carefully transported from the beaches of Boa Vista in the Portuguese archipelago of Cabo Verde by helicopter together with their precious contents – turtle’s eggs of the Caretta Caretta variety.

Experts from the Canary Islands , together with a contingent from the Environmental Department of Fuerteventura Cabildo travelled to the Archipelago, which is just off the West coast of Africa . They selected nests, which they considered most to survive the attacks of the large number of predators, which are resident in Cabo Verde and supervised their transfer to Fuerteventura .

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Kate and Gerry McCann are clinging to hope their daughter is alive and have launched a new 24-hour phoneline to find her.

The line will be manned on a confidential basis and people are encouraged to ring in with sightings or evidence.

Spokesperson for the couple, Clarence Mitchell, told Sky News: “Without any hard evidence of her death, Kate and Gerry hope against hope that she is alive.

“They want this to exist as another line for anybody who might want to contact somebody independently.

“Any credible leads, of course, will be acted upon.”

Portuguese and Spanish police have given Gerry and Kate McCann their full backing in setting up the number, which will be based in Spain.

The operators of the line will speak a range of differerent languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French and English.

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Horizon Property Rentals S.L. is a new division of the Horizon Property Group S.L. specialising in Property Rentals throughout the Canary Islands. We bring together the best selection of apartments and villas available for long and short term rental throughout the archipelago.

With a long history for success in the Tenerife real estate industry, Horizon Property Rentals S.L. brings a wealth of experience from property sales and a unique commitment to customer satisfaction.

Our expanding operations now cover 4 of the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura & Gran Canaria). We aim to continue to provide a top quality service and ensure we surpass all our clients’ expectations

It is worth remembering that 2006 was a record breaking year for tourism with over 12 million tourists visiting the Islands. Of that figure, over 3 million were British, great news for property owners here. Figures for the early part of 2007 indicated that these figures are set to increase.

Many clients of Horizon buy property every year with the intention of letting it out for all or part of the year. Here we explore the mechanics behind doing this, and considers several aspects which ought to be thought about before deciding to rent your property.

If you are buying an apartment to let out, your annual costs will be rates, wealth tax, community fees, electricity and water, perhaps basura (rubbish) – though that is sometimes included in the community charge. All in all, you should not go far wrong if you mentally allowed around €1,500-2,000 (roughly 1,000 – 1,500 Sterling) to cover all of the above – at the very least, it’ll be in that sort of region.

Your potential net income, however, on a buy-to-let property will be significantly higher! For example, net income is around 200-225 Sterling PER WEEK for a one-bedroom apartment, 250-300 Sterling per week for a two-bed, and 300-350 Sterling per week for a three-bed. You would probably use a management company or booking agent like Horizon Property Group to fill your apartment – this will cost around 15% of rental income, but the figures quoted are net figures, i.e. they are what you would receive AFTER this commission has been taken.

We generally advise our clients to calculate on the basis of a 30-35 week per annum rental potential: The Canary Islands have an all year-round season, but again we believe it’s better to be cautious when making calculations – that way, you are guaranteed a safe investment. This all boils down to an income for a one-bed apartment of around 7,500 Sterling, with around 1,000-1,500 Sterling ongoing costs for rates, electricity, and the like,– so a final income of around 6,000-6,500 Sterling.

You would be well advised to employ a gestor (administrator/fiscal representative) because there should be some income tax payable on rental income, but this is not onerous here, and a gestor (who will charge only a few hundred euros a year) can minimise the amount payable by offsetting costs against income. And, of course, you always have the capital value of the apartment itself increasing – so a good investment that pays for itself, and one that also brings you in around 6,000 Pounds a year!

Would you like to own a 3 bedroom apartment, townhouse or villa, in the sun for as little as £15,000?

This is now possible on the Mirador de las Dunas development in Corralejo, Fuerteventura.

With completion of phase 1 of this stunning development set to start from June 2007, the developer, Maexpa-Arista had instructed their bank, Banco Pastor, to carry out sample valuations.

These have now been done and due to the significant increase in property values in Fuerteventura these are sufficient for UK residents to be able to obtain a mortgage to cover the full purchase price.
The only monies that you need to have is sufficient to cover the purchase costs, i.e. I.G.I.C (Canarian Taxes), mortgage set-up costs, notary and land registry.

These are normally between 10 & 12% of the purchase price of the property.

To live in Mirador de las Dunas is to have everything you always desired at your fingertips. Presenting a new concept of quality of life and a unique setting for those who know the secrets of enjoying the good life, it is now possible to take your pick of sea, sports and tranquillity. The beautiful and practically virgin beaches that go on forever invite you to lose yourself in the sand and sun and to enjoy the perfect union of natural elements, silence and the tranquillity of its hidden spots.

Mirador de las Dunas is a residential complex consisting of detached and semi-detached villas, townhouses, apartments and lofts, situated in magnificent natural surroundings overlooking the Dunas Nature park and Isla de Lobos.

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