Nationally 10.7 million passengers passed through airports in the Aena network airports in the month of January, representing a fall of 9.1% compared to the same month of 2012, according to figures released this Wednesday by the airport operator.

During the first month of the year there were 117,458 operations, which is 15.2% less than the same period last year, while goods transported declined by 0.4% to 48,500 tons.

In January, Madrid-Barajas led the rankings with 2.9 million passengers, down 13%, with 14.7% fewer landings and takeoffs totalling 26,414. Cargo traffic fell too by 6.9%, to 26,667 tons.

El Prat airport in Barelona followed, with 1.9 million passengers, a 7.7% drop, and 11.8% fewer landings and takeoffs totalling 18,306, with a rise of 6.3% in cargo, reaching 7642 tons.

   Meanwhile, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria stood in third position with over 881,000 passengers in January, 5.8% less than the same period of 2011, after seeing their takeoffs and landings reduced by 13.2% , to just 8425.

Tenerife South followed, with 754,516 passengers (-5.9%), then Palma de Mallorca, with 558,827 passengers (-9.1%) and Malaga-Costa del Sol, with 537,657 passengers (-2.4%).

The airport operator ended the year with 194.2 million passengers, 5% less than in 2011, and a total of 1.9 million landings and takeoffs, which represents a 10.1% decrease over the previous year.

Specifically, Cadiz hotels are the most expensive during Carnival, with an average of €134 per night, followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where half-board costs €101, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with an average of €74.

The price increase is especially significant in Cadiz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where rates increase by 79% and 60%  from the week before Carnival, though, curiously, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria there is quite the contrast with prices on average falling by up to 14%.

The hotels in these three destinations still have rooms available during the Carnival. 24% of Cadiz accommodation has availability, with a similar percentage of hotels in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which holds with  25% of vacancies. While the data on Santa Cruz de Tenerife suggests availability is higher reaching 38%.

Other international cities that host some of the most famous Carnival celebrations also record changes in hotel prices. The most significant case is that of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the hotels double their rates, from an average cost of €142 per night in the previous week to €286 during the Carnival.

Meanwhile, in Venice per night prices rise by up to 69% reaching €184, in Cologne by 36% to €130, in Nice by 16% to €85, and in Maastricht prices go up by just 6% yet still cost around €103 per night.

The Canary Islands is therefore the 5th cheapest autonomous community in Spain, just ahead of Valencia, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. Communities where housing is more expensive include The Basque Country, Madrid and Catalonia, with an average price ranging from €3233 to €2375 per m2.

The Canaries reached a record high, in average house prices, during May 2007 at €2,155 per m2. Since then there has been an accumulated decline of -27.4%.

Fotocasa.es reports that the province of Las Palmas experienced an increase in home values during the month of January, up 1.5%, bringing the average price to €1561 per m2, but the price in Santa Cruz Tenerife fell 0.2 percent, with an average of €1,567 per m2.

There ten Canarian municipalities which have had an increase in the average price of property for sale. The ones with the highest increase are San Bartolome de Tirajana (+7.8%) and Arrecife (+5.1%). Others included Puerto del Rosario (+2.2%), Adeje (+1.7%) and Arona (+1.6%).

The municipality which in January recorded the largest price drop was San Cristóbal de La Laguna (-1.3%), followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife (-1.2%) and Agüimes and Ingenio, both with a fall of 0.8%.

As for the most expensive cities, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria leads the rankings in the community with an average price of €1,782 per m2. And the cheapest place to buy a house currently is St Lucia de Tirajana, where the average cost is €1,075 per m2.

Neftalí Betancor, with an artistic creation entitled “Immersed in my sea, ideas, scales and gills” (“Sumergido en mi mar, ideas, escamas y agallas”), prepared by Nauzet Afonso Felipe, and sponsored by Carnicería, delicatessens and greengrocers Cándido was awarded with the first prize in the body makeup contest on Saturday night in Las Palmas as part of the 2013 Carnival celebrations.

The second prize went to Miriam Sala Sastre for her makeup entitled “Psychotic”, by makeup artist Eva Mora Cordón sponsored by  Innovación Peluqueros. The third and final prize went to Aarón Rivero Miranda, who donned a fantasy entitled Renaissance, designed by Ana Lidia Alonso, Sara Hernández and Emilio Guerra, and sponsored by Bell Cosmetics Center (Centro Bell Cosmética).

After several intense hours of makeup on the bodies of the models, and just three minutes on stage, six models in all showed the public creations full of wit, imagination and colour, their bodies a walking canvas for these authentic and unique paintings .

The audience at the Parque de Santa Catalina, with at the near capacity of 4000, watched the impressive works body painting (pintura corporal) from some of the best makeup artists in Las Palmas out on main stage at the Grand Masquerade Ball.

Everything from Baroque styles, to Japanese Geisha, nods to the Venetian carnival, and marine fantasies were the main inspirations for the six teams of makeup artists, who produced creative works undertaken exclusively with brushes and accuracy of the eye on these bodies for all to see.

Source: blog.lpacarnaval.com /

Photographs: www.elcoleccionistadeinstantes.com/

The supermarket chain Spar in Gran Canaria today signed an agreement with the COAG agricultural association to promote the cultivation and marketing of organic potatoes on the island, starting with the delivery of 14,000 kilos to thirteen farms. The first container of seeds will allow the sharing of 50 bags per farmer, with an initial cost of €10,000, which in turn will produce between 150,000 and 200,000 kg of potatoes.

The Area Minister of the Canarian Government,Juan Ramón Hernández, and Cenconsu president, Ángel Medina, met with the president of the Coordinators of Canarian Farmers and Ranchers Organizations (Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Agricultores y Ganaderos de Canarias or COAG), Rafael Hernández, the manager of Direct Harvest (Cosecha Directa), Antonio Suárez, and the secretary of the Consumers Union of Las Palmas, José Manuel Quesada.

For Hernandez, this “social” agreement  is defined by a commitment  the future increasing the number of hectares used on the island to about 9,000, with another 20,000 “empty” which could be an important source of niche employment.

Ángel Medina noted that Spar is aware of the difficulties encountered by farmers regarding the insecurity of their crops and so his franchised supermarket chain is now making a bid to ensure potato production and prices.  José Manuel Quesada has shown consumer support for the initiative in terms of flavor, aroma and nutritional content of local products.

Along similar lines Antonio Suárez emphasized the social nature of an initiative which eliminates “forms of slavery” in agriculture and promotes greater usage of Gran Canarian land and skills.