Now it’s official, Santa Cruz council have finally admitted that Elton John will not perform in Tenerife this year. They say that his people wouldn’t agree to the venue, the dock side, but the concert will go ahead sometime next year at the Recinto Ferial, just across from the auditorium.

It’s no good blaming Elton’s people, why did deputy mayor, Angel Llanos pose with Javier Rolo of promotors Rolo Productions, at a press conference on August 30th, as they signed the concert agreement. If the venue hadn’t been nailed down, how could they announce that Elton was coming. Ever since then the official Elton John website has carried no confirmation of the concert and once contacted, they flatly denied there would be a concert. At the same time the council kept insisting it would go ahead.

Still, Elton will be here next year, the council have an “agreement” Oh yes, is that like the agreement I have that I can sleep with Girls Aloud? The Recinto Ferial only holds 15,000 people, half of the dockside figure, so tickets would have to be very expensive to guarantee a decent return.

Remember, this is the council that hired an expensive choreographer for Carnival this year, only to see his show booed off and condemmed as the worst ever, and since then they have been locked in legal battles over not paying his entire fee. This is the same Angel Llanos, being denounced for his recent expensive jolly to New York to see a musical.

Sadly the council have also cancelled the planned Piss Up in a Brewery , apparently due to organisational problems.

There’s bikes, and then there’s BIG bikes, and on Tenerife you can have both. Last Sunday, the annual bicycle fiesta took place in Santa Cruz, 8,000 cyclists gathered in Avenida Tres de Mayo and rode along the coast to San Andres and back again. Lots of fun and smiling faces all round, apart from anyone who leapt on their bike only to find the saddle was missing.

This Saturday, Sep 29, there’s a big motorbike rally down in the south organised by two of Spains biggest biker groups, Lobos del Asphalto and Moto Las Guadanas. They meet up at 10am at Cheers bar in Aldea Blanco for breakfast and then roar off to Los Menores and Taucho and set up camp. It’s a ticket only event and they will be sold out by now, but look out for the Wild Ones streaming down the road, and give them a wave, they’re a friendly bunch.

It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement! We have all heard that comment but a new exhibition outside the Los Cristianos cultural centre, takes that a stage further.

It’s a look at solar energy and in particular, using it to cook. A basic box design covered in silver foil, sits there in the sun and the thermometer inside shows 130 degrees centigrade, capable of cooking anything. The Canary Islands come third in a table of kw hours that can be solar generated per square metre, just behind Saudi Arabia and the Sahara desert.

If this turns your mind to renewable energy, you might fancy a trip to I:T:E:R the renewable energy centre on the Granadilla industrial estate. You will have noticed the huge wind turbines, but at the centre, they have much more on display and it’s free to look round. The centre is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10an to 6pm, it’s easier to drive there but a 111 Santa Cruz bus (dont get the 110-it doesnt stop) will drop you just past the shark fin bridge on the TF1 motorway, then it’s a near hours walk down to the coast.