Reader’s Letters

Our readers regularly send us messages and emails regarding Lanzarote, here are some of your thoughts that we printed in the May edition.

Readers are reminded that views and comments expressed within the Ed’s Postbag page are those of the contributors and may not necessarily reflect the opinions or standpoint of our staff. It should also be noted that we are an independent publication free from political persuasion or governmental censorship.

ACCESS DENIED

Dear Gazette,

They seem to have forgotten to make the new Lidl supermarket in Costa Teguise accessible to pedestrians. It might as well be on an island in the sea for most residents and tourists without transport.

You can walk there via C/Las Piteras, which is very convenient for all those not-so-new builds that have been sitting empty for years, but anyone in the Las Caletas Village 100 metres away can forget it. Buses are no good – the nearest stop is over 1 km away on foot.

I’ve recently driven past shoppers walking on the hard shoulder of the busy Avenida de Las Palmeras near the roundabout; I’ve seen people dashing across the main road, and I even passed a mobility scooter with two tourists chugging along the hard shoulder to do their shopping the other day.

This is not an out-of-town shopping zone, it’s a tourist resort with mostly expensive supermarkets. People will try and shop there, and they will take risks to do so.

Yours, John Knight

BUS-STOP WARNING

A warning to your readers regarding the Costa Mar bus stop at Playa de Los Pocillos, Puerto del Carmen.

If you get off at this stop you have to cross the cycle lane, so please check, There have been many near-misses.

David Patton

LANZAROTE AIRPORT IN CHAOS

On Sunday 22nd March there were several cancellations of flights to UK. Most, if not all, TUI flights on that day were cancelled.

TUI unfortunately wasn’t very helpful. Only a few people from two of their cancelled flights on that day had a place to sleep. The rest of us, including vulnerable, elderly and kids, were left in the cold.

Some tried to find shelter for one night, but it wasn’t available and even hotel lobbies didn’t let us be inside. We were told that airport would be closed by 1 am.

Joanna

Ed: Storm Therese caused severe problems at the airport, but there was definitely a communication problem here, with apparently no reps available and only an email at 1 am instructing passengers to seek overnight accommodation. We’d be interested to know how any claims proceed.

FOOTBALL FAIRNESS

Dear Gazette

You are very good at promoting UD Lanzarote, but there are three teams on this Island in that league.

We have seen the very rare articles on Yaiza, but never anything about San Bartolomé. If you are going to support football on the Island, then please make sure you do it equally.

Bill Bishop

Ed: We’ve received excellent coverage of UD Lanzarote every month for several years from our contributor, Ian, who has turned a local team into an important tourist attraction. We also published monthly reports submitted by US Yaiza when they were in the Segunda Federación last season. We’d be happy to consider any proposal from San Bartolomé or their fans, but they have never contacted us.

RETURN OF THE SUNBEDS

Hello,

I am due back to Costa Teguise May 26^th.

I have noted that the contract for sunbeds on the beach has been awarded but no date for return has been published.

Does anybody know when the sunbeds will be back on the beach?

Mandy Smith

Ed: The sunbeds should be there “in the very short term”, according to our sources. The three-year contract runs until April 30th 2029, so we’d hope that the sunbeds should be in place by May.