‘Rebajas’ signs went up all over the island of Tenerife this week heralding the start of the annual summer sales.

Early reports indicate a wide range of discounts available in the stores of the island capital of Santa Cruz, with some stores offering just 20 per cent off, while others have bitten the bullet and gone straight in, cutting prices by as much as 50 per cent.

But seasoned Canarian shoppers won’t be taken in by these headline offers.

They know that the sales will continue until the end of August and if they keep their powder dry – and their purses clamped firmly shut – that the bargains will become even more tempting in a few weeks time.

It’s an annual game, one the Canarians love to play.

It requires nerves of steel, an icy determination and, most important of all, the instinct and ...

The decision by UNESCO’s world heritage convention to grant heritage status to Teide National Park led to a series of impromptu late-night parties around the island of Tenerife.

The news came on Thursday June 28, several days earlier than expected, bringing a swift end to an anxious period of waiting for the island authorities.

World Heritage status for Mount Teide means that the tiny island now has two favoured sites recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

San Cristobal de La Laguna was admitted to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 1999 as ‘the first non-fortified Spanish colonial town; its layout provided the model for many colonial towns in the Americas.’

In all, 37 sites around the world were under consideration at the ...

Low-cost airline Monarch is offering up to 75 per cent off flights to some of its most popular destinations, including Tenerife, on bookings made between now midnight on Thursday July 5.

Monarch operates flights to Tenerife South from Birmingham, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester.

Bookings can be made online at www.flymonarch.com.

All flights on all routes and all dates are discounted, with the sale offering various increases to the normal web booking discount, usually £10 off return flights.

The offer only applies to bookings made online.

Late spring and early summer is Tajinaste time up on Mount Teide, a time when the wild and rugged mountain landscape is briefly tamed by the blooms of a number of brightly coloured plants, most of which are endemic to the island of Tenerife.

Tajinaste rojo, or Echium wildpretii to give it its correct name, is the most spectacular, a species of bugloss which can grow to over 10ft tall.

Echium is a genus of around 60 species of flowering plant which flourish across Africa, Europe, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Some species are also found in east Asia and Australia.

The sub-alpine zones of the ravines around Mount Teide are the native habitat of the Tajinaste variant, which thrives under the hot sun and the arid and dry conditions there. It can also tolerate temperatures as low as -5C.

A herbaceous biennial, the Tajinaste’s two-year cycle ...

Mount Teide and its surrounding national park, the crowning glory of Tenerife, is among 37 natural and cultural sites across the globe competing for World Heritage Site status.

If the Teide bid is successful then tiny Tenerife will have two World Heritage Sites after its former colonial capital La Laguna was favoured by the UN as "the first non-fortified Spanish colonial town". San Cristobal de La Laguna, to give it its full name, became the model for many colonial towns in the Americas.

Teide’s bid has been significantly bolstered by an endorsement from the World Conservation Union (IUCN), an official advisory body to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

UNESCO will choose the locations it wishes to grant favoured heritage status to during its annual meeting currently taking place in Christchurch, New ...