I really hope that 2021 is a kinder year for all of us. It has been very strange seeing the resorts so quiet over the festive season and even the Día de los Reyes (King’s Day) processions were cancelled this year.

There is guarded relief in Gibraltar after Britain and Spain arrived at a deal that will establish the British territory as a passport-free zone, allowing free movement across the what has joined the Irish frontier as the newest border zone in Europe.

For the third time this year, the Canaries faces a blow to tourism, after UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced the closure of the travel corridor with the Canaries.

January Island Information! A rundown of everything that is happening this month that you need to know; written in a brief and easy to understand format.

The British Embassy in Madrid has announced that it has “requested greater flexibility” from Spain, after reports of British residents in Spain not being permitted to board their flights home because their residence documents are not recognised.

The glimmer of positivity caused by the news that the Canaries has once again turned yellow, or medium-risk, on the ECDC map has been immediately tempered by the knowledge that Christmas has brought another rise in cases on the islands, as well as the extension of lockdown measures on Europe.

Just one hour before midnight yesterday, the transition period for the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union finished, and Brexit was finally completed. British citizens are now classed as “third country” nationals within the European Union.

Monthly local news roundup! A rundown of everything that has happened during the past month that you need to know; written in a brief and easy to understand format.

Fears of a Christmas rise in Covid cases seem to have been justified as Lanzarote has experienced a significant rise in new cases. The number of active cases on the island has doubled from 51 to 102 within a week.

Spain will not make vaccinations against Covid-19 compulsory, but it will keep a register of those who refuse to be vaccinated against the virus, it was confirmed by health minister Salvador Illa on Monday.

With a 7-day rate of 54.1 cases per 100,000 people, the Canary Islands are once more heading towards the key figure of 50 that would permit the UK to reopen its travel corridor with the islands. If the rate of infection keeps dropping at the current rate, the islands will be below the threshold by the 5th January, which is when the Spanish government reviews its travel ban on British non-residents.

María del Pilar Pérez, aged 81, became the first Lanzarote resident to receive the Pzifer/ BioNtech vaccine yesterday at a nursing home in Haría. The injection was administered just before 3 pm, as six elderly women on each of the other Canary Islands also received the first doses of the v

Why did Lanzarote’s tracing figures recently stray into high-risk territory? The answer lies with students coming home for Christmas.

Six members of a drug smuggling ring that operated off the coasts of Tenerife and Lanzarote have been arrested, which also confiscated the largest haul of drugs on Lanzarote in recent years