Welcome to the on line edition of the popular free newspaper The Tenerife Sun. Click on the links on the left hand side to navigate around the articles. Or: Click Here to Search for a particular topic or access the archive

Tel +34 922 86 59 98 To Advertise Here

 

Spain has taken its fight with US treasure hunters, Odyssey Marine, to the Spanish courts.
A judge in the southern Spanish town of Linea de Concepcion has ordered the head of Odyssey Marine, Greg Stemm, to answer charges of destroying Spain’s cultural heritage after laying claim to half a million gold and silver coins from a ship it found in the Atlantic.
The Spanish government argues that if the shipwreck was Spanish or located in Spanish waters, any treasure would belong to Spain but Odyssey says just because the coins were Spanish doesn’t mean they came from a Spanish ship.

 

Spain has banned three British models from the catwalks during Madrid Fashion Week for being too skinny.
The move follows a fashion world furore started in 2006, which saw the Madrid event ban five models with a body mass index of 18 or less, which doctors consider unhealthy.
Another five were banned for the same reason from last year’s event.
The latest announcement came as Spain took a step closer to making clothes to fit real women and not skinny catwalk models.
All 70 models taking part in the five-day event which got under way on Monday of last week were weighed and the three were found to have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.
The country has just completed a pioneering project involving 10,000 volunteers having every inch of their vital statistics accurately measured by a laser scanner.
Major fashion houses have agreed to use the information to make clothes for real women.
The health ministry wants to standardise sizes and major retail chains, including the Spanish and worldwide Zara outlets, have signed up to follow the guidelines.
The project is the Spanish government’s effort to fight the perception that thin is beautiful, blamed for encouraging eating disorders, particularly among young women.
Last year, fashion retailers agreed to stop using shop window mannequins below a European size 38, British size 12.
A total of 10,415 women aged between 12 and 70 took part in the five-month study, standing in booths equipped with laser beams that measured their bodies from every angle and rendered a 3D image.
A spokesperson for the health ministry said the study would help promote an image of healthy beauty.
“We can now adapt catwalk and shop window models to reflect the shape of real women, rather than the fantasy of some designer.”
Nearly 41 per cent of the women who took part in the project said they usually have trouble finding clothes that fit them, the majority saying clothes tended to be too small.
The health ministry wants clothes to carry three measurements, one for the bust, one for the waist and one for the hips, rather than a single size
The ministry hopes the new standardised sizes would be phased in gradually over the next two years.
Angeles Heras, consumer affairs director for the health ministry,, said Spain was the first country to seek to standardise sizes for women’s clothes.
Where Spain led, other countries have followed. Milan also banned ultra-thin models from fashion week runways in 2006, and last year the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced guidelines designed to help models eat and live more healthily.

 

Spain’s flagship airline, Iberia, is planning a takeover bid for Spanair, its rival in the Spanish internal market but owned by Scandinavia’s SAS.
Iberia has teamed up with Spanish transport company Gestair in its bid, valuing Spanair at around €1.17 billion.
If successful, the takeover of Spain’s second biggest carrier would give Iberia a tighter grip on the domestic market, which is facing increasing competition from local and overseas low-cost airlines.
Iberia has 35 per cent of Spain’s domestic market and runs a fleet of 145 aircraft, flying both domestic and international routes.
Spanair operates with 65 aircraft, mostly on short-haul internal flights, where it is under increasing pressure from the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet, which have set up shop in Spain.
Iberia restructured its short-haul and domestic schedule in response to the arrival of low-cost carriers by dropping unprofitable routes that did not use its new, expanded hub in Madrid.
The company also launched Clickair, a Barcelona-based budget carrier that took over many domestic and European flights.
Struggling Spanair meanwhile, posted a loss of around €30 million last year, making the company ripe for takeover.

 

 

 

 

 

[ Local News ] [Features ] [ Around the World] [ Sun Spots] [ Spain Spots] [Your Letters] [Property ] [Useful Information]