# Economy Canary Islands



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Unemployment fell for the last two months here in the Canaries.

The equivalent of the V.A.T. has been raised to 7% and that means fuel prices have risen by 10 cents. Diesel is now 1.03 € here on El Hierro


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Reported last night on the local news channel,

"Unemployment has fallen for the last three months in the Canarian Archipelago,"

Although many are still unemployed, this as got to be good news!


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Reported last night on the local news channel,
> 
> "Unemployment has fallen for the last three months in the Canarian Archipelago,"
> 
> Although many are still unemployed, this as got to be good news!


Hepa on Tenerife my step daughter and her boyfriend have found some work for the last 3 months. It's not permanent or full time. Of course the problem will come when the high season ends. It will be interesting to see figures on the same basis for Sept to Nov.

It's also worth noting for anyone thinking of taking the plunge that this "slight decrease" in unemployment still leaves 36000+ more islanders unemployed than a year ago.

Hepa is your island still impacted by the volcanic activity or have all the resorts returned to a degree of normality?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The irresponsible scientists who predicted a series of earth quakes of 4.5 and above more or less killed of the tourist industry.

Once the story hit the press cancellations were immediate. The Parador was hit badly, my good friend Pedro lost his job. August however brought in more tourists.

The larger Canary Islands do not have a High and Low season, tourism is year round, perhaps a slight dip in January


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

Hepa said:


> The irresponsible scientists who predicted a series of earth quakes of 4.5 and above more or less killed of the tourist industry.
> 
> Once the story hit the press cancellations were immediate. The Parador was hit badly, my good friend Pedro lost his job. August however brought in more tourists.


Hepa that is bad news. I've just looked on a diving site (BSAC) and Hierro hasn't had a mention for almost a year. I know diving is not the main reason to visit Hierro but it does illustrate that even when there is no bad news it will take some time to get back the punters.

I had thought diving a recent volcano might be a feature to promote 



Hepa said:


> The larger Canary Islands do not have a High and Low season, tourism is year round, perhaps a slight dip in January


On Tenerife there are certainly tourist seasons and sadly the employment opportunities follow it. Dec-Mar is for a mature audience seeking a break from the winter elsewhere. June-August is the younger set period. Lots of extra bar work on offer (well used to be). 

But lets hope for a miracle


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The diving has resumed in La Restinga, I watched them going out last week. We are told that since the eruption there is more life in the ocean. We have seen whales and orcas in large numbers, which is a first here.


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## primavera (Aug 11, 2013)

Sorry for the off topic, Speaking of orcas, I just read this somewhere: "From a marketing point of view it such a disaster calling Orcas as killer whales. They should be called Sea Pandas


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## Ann in La Palma (Jun 14, 2013)

Sea pandas is a great name! And I think you _could_ go to El Hierro specifically for the diving. I haven't dived it yet but after seeing some recent underwater photos, it's now on my list of top twenty things to do in the very near future. 
For too long the Canaries has kept its light under a bushel and if there's one thing that perhaps the recession has brought, it's the need to look at the tourist market more closely. For example, in recent years, La Palma is very much gearing itself up as a 'Star Island' with tours of the Observatory, night photography, etc. 
It's good to see these smaller islands promoting the fantastic natural resources that they excel in.


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