The Spanish government’s refusal to allow airport facilities to be used for testing, or to test visitors from high-risk areas of mainland Spain, is causing increasing anger on Canary Islands, where authorities are desperate to salvage the winter season.

The arrival of five pateras (boats carrying migrants) on the shores of Lanzarote over the weekend have highlighted the urgent issue of migration, just as the Spanish minister in charge, José Luis Escrívá, completed a bad-tempered and fruitless visit to the Canaries to assess the issue.

The volatile political situation in Madrid took another turn late on Friday when the Spanish government imposed a state of alarm on eight large city municipalities in the region. Residents of these areas will be forbidden from leaving them for anything other than essential journeys.

The Canarian Government has banned smoking in the street from Friday 9th October, as distancing cannot be guaranteed.

Spain’s central government yesterday agreed a protocol that will permit the opening of travel corridors to the Canaries and Balearics.

The Traffic Department issued 4.5 million denuncias on Spanish roads last year, 10% more than in 2018. Two in three were for speeding, while half a million were for expired ITV stickers. Lack of insurance, drunk driving and refusal to wear a seatbelt each saw over 100,000 police reports.

Lanzarote's Cabildo yesterday announced an “early warning” detection system for coronavirus that will works by analysing sewage samples.

Gorgeous George, a magnificent Podenco/Labrador mix, was born in December 2012 and arrived at Sara in August with the two dogs he’s grown up with: Balou and Coco.

As the Canaries slowly manages to conquer the second wave of coronavirus, bringing the prospect of the return of tourism, concern is shifting to the situation in countries that are the source of the islands' tourism.

Jet2, the principal airline connecting the Canaries with the UK , has extended its cancellation of flights and holidays for another two weeks, until 31st October.

Lanzarote farmers will be praying that forecasts of rain later today, which have caused the Canarian Government to issue a general warning, will materialise after a second consecutive year of drought conditions on the island.

Ángel Victor Torres, the President of the Canaries, praised the work of professional and “social responsibility” after the Canaries fell below the 50 cases per 100,000 people over the last 7 days.

When the clocks went forward for summer time at the end of March, Spain was in the strictest phase of its lockdown and millions who would normally have lost an hour of sleep were unaffected.

Lanzarote has controlled the “second wave” of late august and early September, and there are encouraging signs that the Canaries and Spain as a whole are also managing to flatten the curve.