We deserve a treat, it’s not always easy following CD Tenerife but the Armada Sur keep the faith with the help of good company and liberal amounts of Dorada. Thanks to a dedicated team of organizers we just had to roll up to Suters Bar in Parque La Reina and dive into a mountain of food and swim through lashings of beer.

The barbecue always attracts a few old friends that we don’t get to see that often and also we get some UK based fans flying in especially – come on where’s our award for services to tourism? The weather was just about spot on, a mix of passing cloud and sunshine, there were plenty of shades set up to make sure we were spoilt for comfort. As the beer flowed plenty of the old tales were rolled out for another airing, so many good memories over the years.

The get together also marks the countdown to the new season, at last definite news comes trough about pre season friendlies, player movement, and this year the build up to the Presidential election, a key point for our long term hopes. The new Armada Sur shirts made their debut as part of the membership package and were going like hot cakes, or hot burgers. Bob had a special surprise for The General, his own limited edition shirt with his name on the front, the comment on the back “Not Available For Away Games” drew some ironic cheers. The General’s record at away games has led to suggestions that he could be cursing our chances of more away wins.

The highlight of the afternoon is always the burning of the Pio (mascot of our yellow rivals), health and safety has made it more difficult in recent years as the damn things are mainly fire retardant. Even so, with plenty of vocal encouragement and prodding our two fluffy victims were dispatched to their rightful resting place. Back to the beer, our juggling Scottish waiter Bert nearly lost a tray of liquid refreshment but we discovered we have plenty of budding goalies who came to the rescue. We even got a visit from some hairy bikers, old friends of our, the hangovers were being booked by then, Armada Sur is a well oiled machine and I was certainly well oiled. It was a great afternoon and we are now refreshed and ready to follow our team on their wibbly wobbly road to destiny.

Vilaflor couldn’t be prouder of Hermano Pedro, the great man was always their favourite son even before he became the Canary Island’s first Saint in a 2002 ceremony in Guatamala. It’s no wonder he is everywhere in the charming Tenerife village on the road to Mount Teide.

With a good long walk in the hills around Vilaflor completed I was able to take my time and have a good stroll through one of my favourite areas. It’s not just Brother Pedro who feels the love, the main street shows how much the place is cared for. Dazzling displays of blooms burst forth from well tended flower beds, a detailed map signposts the cafes, restaurants, and main shops, and the place is spotlessly clean. Half way up the street in a mini plaza is a sculpted display of hearts, they’re a romantic lot. Each time I have visited I have always been struck by how quiet it is, most locals probably have to travel to find work. It was nice to see that the local council provide weekday summer buses down to Los Cristianos beach up to a maximum of 60 euros for 6 weeks. That works out even cheaper than my Titsa public bus trip of just 2.10 each way with a bono saver ticket.

Our friend Pedro adorns most houses in Vilaflor on ceramic tiles but his main stage is the large plaza further up the hill, the focus for visiting tourists. Two large churches dominate the area, the oldest was built onto the house where Pedro was born, an original section of the house has a further statue in the garden and our saintly friend is even featured in the design of the railings. In front of the more modern white church a multi layered garden with flowing water makes an impressive centre piece. The Tourist Information office is in the plaza and can provide routes for several splendid local walks.

Heading out at the top end of the village is worth it not just for the elevated views but also to see Los Lavaderos, the old communal clothes washing area. Spring water used to pour forth here and with the help of an old pump the water would pass over large slabs where clothes could be scrubbed and left to dry. It’s an important part of local history with the bottled water depot next door also harking back to the reason people settled in Vilaflor – and who said that history could be a little dry.

Maybe the marina wasn’t floating as many boats as predicted but four years on from its opening it was a welcoming sight as the Buenavista bus brought me into Garachico. Icod de Los Vinos was still emerging from early morning low cloud but the coast was bathed in sunshine. Some 200 berths were supposed to kick start the local economy with pleasure craft and excursion boats, Garachico is resilient and has always come through in the past, this might take a little longer.

The big volcanic eruption of 1706 destroyed the old port, walking along the coast road I could see the marks of a constant battle with lashing waves but thankfully it was a calm and beautiful day. The volcanic spit of rock just off the coast was speckled with seagulls, it’s one of those sights that always offers different aspects with the seasons, weather, and even time of day. Two coach loads of school age tourists poured out at the football ground car park, the sturdy concrete buttresses at the front of the ground bear the smears and scratches of previous wild tides. That doesn’t mean the town shies away from the sea, a few yards from the salty spray there were plenty of takers in the smart man made pools that lead to the craggy and hugely enjoyable natural channels of El Caleton.

It had been a while since my last visit and the white canvas shades at one end of the rock pools were new to me. They added a nice modern touch but the walkways through the rocks below Castillo de San Miguel surrounded by thick white edges made me think of a police crime scene – maybe I watch too much CSI. Further round the old port loading area harks back to busier trade routes, a small seating area was populated by some senior citizen locals contemplating the world. I could aspire to that job, a hefty cigar seems to be a key part of the uniform, I’m sure I could chew on a sweet or chocolate version.

It was time to retire down one of the narrow passages opposite to emerge in the large open Plaza de la Libertad. It seemed my arrival was just in time as a giant lizard slithered up the steps of Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles church. Phew, on closer inspection it was part of a series of amazing wood sculptures from Luigi Stinga, I was hoping to catch one before they perish in pre planned flames. It struck me as very appropriate, last year Peter Capaldi had stood on just about the same spot when filming a Doctor Who episode. Across the plaza the tall white tower of Santa Ana church dominated the skyline and the striking of the hour was light and melodic.

Garachico is still pulling in the tourists, I saw several large walking tour parties, and even with the afternoon barely an hour old the fish restaurants were a popular stop off. Duty called so I made the 10 minute bus journey back up to Icod and Santa Barbara, you can read about that leg of my tour in Island Connections as from 22 June. Traveling up through the cheese grater road tunnel with its circular ports reminded me that I must try walking down into Garachico from El Tanque – maybe next visit.

Is it the mopping of the brow, the plop of the ice creams, or the smouldering rubber of mobility scooter wheels. They are all clues to the arrival of summer’s peak in Tenerife but in downtown Los Cristianos it’s the diversity of street activities that is the clincher for me.

I never know what I’m going to walk into, an early evening exit from browsing in the cultural centre library and the slip road had been transformed into an assault course for dogs with large litter themed props strewn around. Arona Ayuntamiento (council) were promoting environmental awareness among youngsters and an attentive young audience had gathered to `learn solutions they could use to chastise their sinful parents. A hawk stood on guard on its perch, I think I had missed its moment of glory but a trainer guided a dog up and down the course to pick up selected litter items as indicated by the children. The youthful jury were then able to select the correct container for the dog to drop the rubbish in, plastic, paper, food etc.

Everyone wants dog pooh taken in hand or stamped out, but not literally, so a few plastic walnut whips were scattered around for removal, some children were even shown how to pick them up without touching by using a plastic bag. It caused quite a bit of merriment, and some guilty looking parents may have been shamed to clean up after their dogs in future. The entertaining programme is touring the Arona municipality through June and there are even two open days at the Arona refuse depot on 25 and 30 June.

Just a few days later I came across a large corporate team building challenge taking place at Las Vistas beach. A coach load of workers from Innospec, a global chemical company based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire were over to test their practical and financial skills in a series of challenges. It was like The Apprentice meets It’s A Knockout. I caught the last act, the teams had to build catapults from a selection of parts to propel water filled balloons. Extra materials and further glimpses at the plans cost them cash, as did malfunctions on their test firings. It was all fun and very safe with medical staff on hand.

This was a new one on me, I am aware of many sporting youth groups that come to Los Cristianos for sports based courses on the beach or at the big swimming complex. Arona council run a large programme of their own summer leisure activities from baby swimming to golf, kayak, and padel classes, for locals and non residents. There’s a brochure you can pick up at the cultural centre or online at the councils website. I’m quite happy with my regular sea swimming, now which way id La Gomera?

Who wouldn’t want a new 40,000 stadium as part of a 300 million euro leisure development? That’s the central policy of Juan Quintero’s bid to become the next President of CD Tenerife. The Armada Sur are supporters of old school football values but a small group of us were happy to welcome the front man of the project to Suters Bar in Parque La Reina to find out more.

Firstly we got to learn a bit more about the man, Juan Quintero, a 50 year old insurance broker born in Santa Cruz had requested the meeting and arrived informally dressed and greeted us all individually. There was a good cross section of our peña with Brits, Canarians, Dutch, and Austrian but our guest spoke to us in perfect English. It soon became clear that he is a football man, he recalled the glory days when he watched CD Tenerife’s exploits in the UEFA Cup, and stated his intention to see the club back in the Primera as an established fixture. All that would be backed up by an ambitious business plan to generate more support and income for the club.

It sounded too good to be true and even the sketchy reports so far had given us serious reservations. The big problem is the size and cost of the stadium, it was pointed out to Juan that even in the Primera we had struggled to fill the 23,000 capacity Heliodoro (owned by Santa Cruz council) and have averaged around 8,000 this season. There had been some doubts over who would own the new stadium, planned for Santa Cruz port, Juan made it clear that the club would own the new home, we could all see the implication that the club would effectively add a 300 million euro debt to the current 18 million owed to the bank. We were not told who the mystery investors are or their background, but investors would surely want a healthy profit on top. Juan

Onto more practical matters, does Juan have the shares and backing to oust current unpopular President Concepcion (below) who is up for renewal in December or before. Juan Quintero seemed supremely confident of amassing enough support to get elected, and vowed to sweep most of the long serving and under achieving board out. Former player Pier Cherubino is the fans favourite for the top job and Juan was asked if he would consider teaming up to make the most of both their attributes and backing. Although not dismissing the idea he said that he had spoken to Pier but had not seen any concrete proposals from him. I should add that the Armada Sur has only a few token shares and cannot affect the voting.

We were told that the new stadium would be built in 18 months from approval. It’s difficult for us not to be cynical about the slow bureaucracy here and the poor track record of completing major projects to a set budget and time scale. Juan also told us of two alternative sites, Hoya Fria on the southern edge of the capital, and the Cepsa refinery which is due to be decommissioned. In the meantime Juan said there is money and agreements from key players to join us to steer us into the Primera. He did add that current contracts would have to be respected, that brings us to one of his innovative fund raising ideas. Canadian kit makers DryWorld have a new approach to sponsoring teams, they give the kit freely, and offer good income to the club for selling replica shirts. Juan said he has a five year deal set up with them, it would have to wait for the final season of the Hummel deal. This deal would include 20,000 worth of kit for the other CDT teams and he says there is a 600,000 euros shirt sponsor lined up. One worrying aspect of this is the company would supply a big name football ambassador to promote the club, originally the unpopular suggestion was an ex big star from Real Madrid or Barca. I can’t help wondering if this ambassador would have any input into team matters or even play if the sponsors wanted that!

There was no getting away from our big concern of not getting a big enough increase in crowds. Special promotions with family offers, free buses from the south, and greater marketing were popular themes with Juan but breaking the mind set of armchair support for the big two in Spain is going to be a long hard push. On the plus side it was encouraging to hear Juan Quintero’s positive views echo ideas we have often proposed, and we appreciated him coming to see us in the long lost south. Each hurdle he can clear will increase his credibility. He has promised to be always approachable so if he becomes President maybe we can get more in depth details about his investors but for now our thoughts are on team building for the 2016-2017 season.

They came from as far away as New Zealand, Uzbekistan, and Finland, such is the pulling power of the Arona Combined Events meeting, now in its sixth year and with a growing reputation. Spain provided the majority of the competitors but it was pleasing to see several Canarian flags on running vests. Great Britain had 12 athletes registered and Ireland had their lone entry with Shannon Sheely. It was all set for two days of fiercely competitive decathlon and heptathlon, and they delivered in all departments.

The straining, roars of triumph, and flat out performers who had given their all were contrasted by the encouragement and support given by the athletes not only to their own nationals but also the rivals from the other 12 countries involved. The Rio Olympics were still a distant dream for many, there were more pressing short term targets like the European Championships in Amsterdam at the start of July. I recognized some returning GB faces like Martin Brockman, Jo Rowland, and Jessica Taylor, but a debutant in his first senior competition took my memory back to the 1980’s. Elliot Thompson (below) has followed his dad Daley into the decathlon, and he was making good inroads in the long jump and shot putt on the first day.

Their dedication to the constant training is inspiring, pre meeting research showed me that many of the GB crew compete for universities or regional athletic clubs. Several are signed up to a sports modeling agency, a good practical way to support their hectic schedule of far flung events. Athletics is very popular in Tenerife, the Antonio Dominguez Stadium is home to Arona Athletics Club and they provided the stewards, timers, markers, and support staff for the competition. On the first morning the local youngsters battled through their own competition between the main events. I was drawn to the high jump, it fascinates me to see the different styles of run up and technique they use

A poor effort in school sports days egg and spoon races was about the limit of my athletic skill so I sought some insight from Mike Holmes, an experienced coach who was guiding Jessica Taylor, and Anna Rowe through their Tenerife trials, his third charge Jessica Tappin had to retire early with hamstring problems. “ The girls are chasing their qualifying marks for future events, Jessica is chasing 6,000 points for the Amsterdam Euros.”

Mike is a regular at the Arona Pruebas Combinadas and clearly enjoys coming here. “It’s the best place for us to compete in Europe, the climate is perfect, we hate the rain and don’t want anything above a light wind. It’s relaxed and informal at this event too but always well organized.”

By the Sunday evening session all the events were coming to a head, the 800 metres in the heptathlon was keenly contested and brought a big reward for heptathlon under 18 competitor Niamh Emerson. “I was on course to beat the two year old junior record of 5,725 points thanks to a personal best 6.21 in the long jump and I finished strongly to break through that target. The heat (it was 35 degrees on that final evening) made it tough but I’m very pleased with my performance and can look forward to the Euro youth finals in Georgia in July.”

The presentations again underlined the international flavour of the competition. In the ladies heptathlon the under 20’s finished with GB’s Michelle Hughes bronze and Anna Rowe silver, and Paola Serabia of Spain taking gold. The heptathlon under 18’s went Shannon Sheehy (Ireland) bronze, Marisa Vaz (Portugal) silver, and Niamh Emerson (GB) on gold. The senior top trio was Anaella Nyabeu (France) bronze, Lecabella Quaresma (Portugal) silver, and (below) Uhunoma Osazuwa (Nigeria) gold.

In the mens decathlon sections the under 18’s went to Jorge Davila (Spain) bronze, Manuel Dias (Portugal) silver, and Raul Schlecht (Spain) gold. Under 20’s line up was Dario Costas (Spain) bronze, Alessandro Van de Sande (Belgium) silver, and Dimitri Montilla (Belgium) gold. The senior mens awards went to Jeremy Lelievre (France) bronze, Romain Martin (France) silver, and (long jump above) Kristjan Rosenberg (Estonia) gold. All the effort put in on and off the track deserved a bigger crowd for the free event but too little too late on the publicity meant it was mainly families and friends watching.

Whatever floats your boat, powers your jet ski, or paddles your board, they can all be found at the Marina del Sur in Las Galletas. For the first weekend of June it was packed with activity as the Fenautica marine fair showed off the many ways to experience the sea in Tenerife.

As I arrived on thee bus I could see the beach packed with sun worshippers as novices tried out kayak and stand up paddle surfing near to the boatyard. King Neptune looked down approvingly from his lofty perch above the first clutch of restaurants, and youngsters sat astride the old canon that stands guard by the fishermens sales huts. The Marina curls it’s protective arm around the beach side of town making it a safe haven for swimmers and a calm mooring spot. On the other side the promenade of bars and cafes looks out over the shingle beach where the ebb and flow of the tide is accompanied by the gentle crunch of the rocks as they are raked along.

The big focus of the weekend was the marina, it always a doorway to pleasure trips and fishing as well as being a pleasant place to stroll. The Guanches Cup regatta had set off earlier and a flock of billowing white sails were bobbing along on the horizon, a few steps up to the harbour wall provided clear views out to sea. Along the marina walkway a variety of craft were on display from big cruisers to small individual boats. I recognized a couple of speed boats from the waterski racing championships of previous years, the next is at Playa San Juan in late October. I have tried kayaking and really enjoyed it, a big display of multi coloured craft reminded me that I must do some more soon.

At the end of the marina there were stalls with food, drink, and even body painting. The pontoons leading down to the water were busy with eager trialists waiting to dip their toes into the delights of parascending, diving, and jet skis and many other aquatic diversions. Throughout the two days there was plenty of music from a traditional Canarian drum band to the late evening live music on the stage at the end of the marina. I always enjoy my short hops from Los Cristianos to Las Galletas, there’s another good excuse to pop over on 18 June for Arona En Colores. That day will feature 14 hours of music, bargains, and family fun in the commercial zone including a mad rush of special offers at shops and cafes from 2 to 5 pm. Back at Fenautica everything was sailing along smoothly and Las Galletas was winning plenty of new converts.

The ovation for departing midfield veteran Ricardo was warm and deserved, likewise the appreciation of the team’s progress under novice coach Pep Marti. The end of season party mood in the 1-1 home draw with Ponferradina was offset by a demo and prolonged chanting against President Concepcion’s intention to serve another two years.

With play off hopes gone this was always going to be a time to look at fringe players but injuries to Aitor Sanz, Saul, and Suso, suspension for Carlos Ruiz, and Copa America duty for Dani Hernandez with Venezuela dictated changes. The defence had a very unfamiliar look, Aurtenetxe took the left back slot, Cristian Garcia the right, with Alberto and German in the centre, Roberto got another call up but it all looked a bit wobbly. It was a different story up front, Choco seems to have continuous injury problems but again looked sharp and has a strong understanding with Nano who just keeps on improving.

The forward potency was soon making an impact, a long ball was neatly nodded down by Choco to Nano and the rising star reacted well but hit the post. Ponferradina still needed points to avoid relegation and weren’t shy in having a pop at the target, they put a speculative shot just wide and Casado came close with a free kick that cleared the bar. It was strange to see a big gap at our popular baja end, the noisy hub was dispersed as a protest against the President “empty seats call for change” being the message. We did get back to a goal less first half but Ponferradina looked ripe for the taking. It took just over 10 minutes from the restart for the opening goal, a breakaway found Nano on the left and he delivered an inviting cross which left a defender and the goalie scrambling, Choco saw his chance and slid in to bury the ball, his 10^th goal.

When Jorge came on after 66 minutes for Ricardo it gave us the chance to applaud the released midfielder, 241 games in two spells at the club brought more ups than downs from the hard working 33 year old. Choco nearly doubled the lead, again he ghosted in but the visiting keeper got a hand to the ball. Tenerife were the better side but maybe the changes and a little end of term feeling weakened their resolve, even the scoreboard had given up part of it’s duties. Melero swung in a long flighted free kick to the far post and Raillo had room among three defenders to nod it down past Roberto.

It stayed at 1-1, Javi Lara for Moutinho and the final minute for Cristo Gonzalez in place of Omar couldn’t conjure up the win. There’s still the last game at Bilbao Athletic to come but thoughts are turning to building for next season. The big challenge is not to let the good work slip away, that means nailing down Nano and most of the loan players like Javi Lara, Saul, and Moutinho. The crowd of 8,279 was good with nothing to chase, it’s been an enjoyable season and the Armada Sur are not the only ones itching to get back into the Heliodoro stadium.

You know it’s going to be a good party when there are two mermaids in the hotel lobby pool. That was just the start of Spring Hoteles 5^th annual music celebration, once I had taken the red carpet under the pool side arch by the Arona Gran Hotel there was a tidal wave of entertainment.

It had been a typically scorching Tenerife day and the sun was setting slowly behind the Los Cristianos ferry port, but in his raised booth looking over Las Tarajales beach the DJ was sewing a cool vibe as 250 of the great and good of the major tour companies mingled. Artist Rafa Gamez delighted the growing crowd with his well observed and skillfully sketched caricatures. The mayor of Arona Jose Julian Mena was in attendance and the cocktail welcome was backed up with a steady flow of assorted long cold drinks.

It’s going to be a big summer for Tenerife, bookings are soaring and all the hotel groups are relishing the prospect of welcoming a bumper crop of visitors. Even on a late Friday evening there were plenty of people taking the night air on the beach promenade below. They could only guess at the musical treat about to unfold for us as the Bravissimo Show burst onto a large stage with an explosion of music, dance, and saxophone. It was breath taking stuff as they raced through several lavish costume changes while the dancing got more and more seductive. For older memories like mine it made Hot Gossip look like a Cold Chat. After taking their well earned ovation, the dancers dropped down to the sun lounge and encouraged guests to strut their stuff too.

That was going to be a tough act to follow, my taste buds were already tingling at the thought of the lavish buffet dinner that awaited in the main restaurant. We entered to the sound of a flamenco guitar duo, my eyes nearly popped out as I passed the banks of exotic food that seemed to be never ending. Lobster, prawns, a stampede of salads, and a range of meats cooked to order as we waited, how’s a boy supposed to choose. The salmon won my vote, with canarian potatoes and a hint of salad I was under way. I’ll admit I returned for some turkey breast, prawns and a few more tempting treats.

As we enjoyed our meals, Rafa Gamez passed between the tables to capture some more faces with his pencil, and Steve Johnson mesmerized with his close up magic. A few Estrella beers and I was ready to tackle the stunning range of cakes and pastries, the chocolate fountain was luring people in so I had to dip a few profiteroles in the sweet flow. By now some of the ladies were displaying their nifty flamenco footwork, as someone with two left feet I was very impressed. Even fully loaded with food, there was plenty of enthusiasm for more live music as we adjourned to the big hall for Salvapantallas to mix classic rock and pop that had people up and dancing into the early hours.

Perky and thrusting, there were no thoughts of premature capitulation for CD Tenerife as they turned on the style for a 3-1 home win over Real Valladolid. The pressure was off with a promotion play off place disappearing over the horizon but our players are proud and stubborn and two goals from Nano and one from Choco Lozano left the tiniest of chances alive from three remaining games.

This was not a day for sitting back, Tenerife flew at Valladolid, Suso put a shot over the visitors bar after just two minutes. Nano was ready to chase everything up front and the midfield was strong and supportive with Mountinho and Javi Lara on top form. Roger was the main threat up front for Valladolid, he wasted two half chances, one straight at Dani Hernandez, and one comfortably wide. The opening goal on the half hour was a peach, Nano ran onto a deep ball from Aitor Sanz, his finish was perfectly measured and timed.

Javi Moyano got a mixed reception on his return to Santa Cruz, Suso was under his skin all game, the CDT captain used his knowledge of his former team mate to press all the right buttons. Home goals normally arrive in the second half but it was all change as Nano took a pass from Suso and beat two defenders before plundering his 14th strike of the season. There was a let off just before the break, Mojica smacked the post with his free kick and thankfully the rebound was scrambled away.

Aitor Sanz had a muscle pull and departed for Ricardo at the restart, it weakened the midfield but Tenerife were still attack minded. Suso went on one of his determined runs but this time it fizzled out before he could make it tell. Dani kept alert with a two fisted clearance as Valladolid sensed a lull in the home momentum. Launching another attack they caught the Tenerife defence napping and Oscar was able to elude four defenders to score. It brought an attacking substitution, Choco left the bench as Javi Lara went off, the Honduras striker showed no ill effects of a knock picked up the previous week.

Nano looked to have completed his hat trick as he leapt to head the ball down into the bottom corner of the Valladolid net, it was a close off side call that denied him. Soon after he put another shot onto the roof of the net before retiring, with a muscle tweak as Omar replaced him. Cristian Garcia went close with a header at the visiting keeper, the slender lead didn’t reflect the dominance of Tenerife but there was still four minutes injury time to come. Choco showed his speed of thought and feet as he rounded the advancing goalie and split two defenders with a perfect shot to make it a 3-1 victory.

Harsh reality may finally snuff out the promotion dream but this game showed the progress made during the second half of the season and the hope it promises for the next campaign. It’s a shame the crowd dropped to 7,714 but us lucky ones there can now make our leap of faith stretch to at least another 90 minutes.