CHARCO NEWS
*The month of May, like other years, is a somewhat quiet month, as June, July and August will be. That’s why I’m going to stop this newsletter for a few months. Because there is little news and I am going away for a while.
*Lili’s paradise and la Plazita are open again after a holiday. And there is still music in the weekends. Now Tropical is closed for holidays.
*Kirenia from the supermarket had her birthday and was surprised with a cake and flowers.
*The line in the ocean near the Monkey Rock has come loose. With a number of villagers we pulled the entire steel cable and balls construction on shore. It turned out that in a few months many shellfish have attached themselves to the balls and the line. Once on shore within a few minutes the line became a living entity as the snails searched for water. If we had not taken action, they would have died quickly and spread a terrible smell. So we tried to free them and threw them back into the sea. At this moment the line is back in place.
*Preparations are being made for the sign that will be placed at the entrance of Charco.
*A group of volunteers have cleaned up litter in the village , this will happen more often if necessary.
AGENDA
*La Plazita is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Open from 12am -10pm. On Fridays music and delicious pinchos.
*Lili’s Paradise opening times on the board in front. Sat 5 pm music with DJ A. Escorial , sun Gian Luca 1.30-4.30 pm. reservations : 0034 629257645
*Tropical Restaurant open: 5pm. Thursday music.
*Obona restaurant open Mon-Fri from 3 pm.
*Supermarket open 8.30 – 6.30 pm. Sun to 3 pm.
*Don Quijote almost every Saturday live music from 8.00 pm
Recommended:
JojotoY Millo, de Arepera
The restaurant you pass on your left when you drive into Mala. They serve Arepas, grilled dishes, pizzas and there Columbian hospitality. Closed on Monday
LANZAROTE NEWS
There are many ruins in Lanzarote. A paradise for graffiti artists. There was a French artist who wanted to turn some of them into art, but that was not well received by the authorities. A ruin is part of the authentic landscape and should not be contaminated with ‘art’. She has apologized. But we also discovered Graffiti in Charco. At the unfinished houses near the dunes.
IRON MAN 2024
Club Santa has organised an ‘ironman event’ for many years. A gruelling sport event that attracts participants from Lanzarote but also from many other countries.
Here is a report by Ina Kleikamp.
On May 18, the Ironman Triathlon took place in Lanzarote, a huge sporting challenge in which participants swim 3.8 kilometers, cycle 180 kilometers and then run a full marathon. It was the 32nd edition of this event and it is considered one of the toughest triathlons in the world. The competition started at 7 a.m. in Puerto del Carmen, where the swimming took place off the coast. Afterwards, a cycling course was set out across the entire island, and the marathon was run between Puerto del Carmen and Play Honda. The men’s winner completed the triathlon in an incredible time of 8 hours, 29 minutes and 54 seconds! The winning time for the women was 9 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds! More than 1,000 athletes took part, the oldest participant was no less than 74 years old and he completed the triathlon in 14 hours, 4 minutes and 19 seconds!
Men’s winner: Kenneth Vandendrieschen from Belgium
Women: Anne Haug from Germany.
*THE GOAT
A kid was found among the trash. The animal was almost dead. It was taken to ‘Casa de Estrellas’. An animal shelter and the animal is now attracting a lot of interest on Facebook.
*LANZAROTE CHEESE A WINNER
‘Queso de Vaca Madurado’ produced by Don Nicolás, a Finca in Uga.18-month-old matured ‘cow’ cheese in wood has been rated the best of all 880 Spanish cheeses submitted. Yellow inside, ocher outside. A firm cheese with a crispy sensation, sweet as caramel and pineapple. Source: a Lanzerote newspaper.
However, we have never seen a cow on Lanzarote? How is this possible???
CHARCO DAILY LIFE
A daily walk takes us into the surrounding nature. On the way up to the ruins we come across many fields with ‘Tuneras’. Cacti that grow abundantly between Charco and Guatiza and Mala. We are amazed at the amount of work that must have been done here. So many walls built and terraces created. This must have involved an enormous amount of manual labour. Now many plots are bare. But what is striking is that where there are still cacti but they are all dying quickly. There is a white powder on the cacti that eats or destroys the entire plant in no time. It turns out that there is a plague that has taken its chance by climate change? Wide lanes have now formed where we would otherwise have had difficulty walking through. It’s shocking to see. Concerns are also expressed in the local newspapers. Below a report.
TUNERAS AND COCHINILLA
Between Charco and Guatiza there are many hectares of cacti. They are mainly TUNERAS. Cacti introduced from Mexico 200 years ago. It was a time of crisis in the Canary Islands. They looked for something that could grow in the dry, rugged nature of Lanzarote, which was edible and from which people could earn a living.
Tuneras are flat cacti (opuntia ficus-indica) that bear edible fruits. There are 15 species. Once a year they bloom with orange or yellow flowers. The cactus figs contain a lot of vitamin C and minerals. Cochinilla was added later because there was a demand for red dye. Cochinillas (Dactylopius coccus) are insects or small aphids that feed on the sap of the plant. They are scraped off to harvest the red carmine colored liquid that was used as a dye for the clothing and cosmetic industries. This yielded a lot of income in the years 1845-1860. But first all the stones had to be removed to clear the fertile soil. An enormous amount of work has been done by past generations. The walls and terraces that you still see everywhere were built from all those stones.
When a chemical alternative for the red dye was found, demand decreased and little money was made from cochinillas. Harvesting is still taking place on a much smaller scale.
THE PLAGUE
However, in recent years a plague has invaded over the plant, completely destroying it. This is due to the so-called ‘bad cochinilla’ (Dactylopius opuntia) this is a parasite that also lives on the cactus but completely destroys it. At this point, 60-70% has been destroyed and this continues. Everything has been tried to tackle this plague, but none of it works. It can be seen by the colour of the white matter. If there is grey, they are the good lice. Only the white ones are of the destructive kind. As a result, the landscape changes drastically. Bare landscape remains.
THE BAD COCHINILLA
THE GOOD COCHINILLA
From Charco ‘un abrazo’ and a very good summer!
You’ll hear from me again in September or October.
Tineke
