Cheap, rapid antigen tests will not be valid for entry to the Canary islands after the Spanish Council of State questioned last week’s Canarian decree permitting overseas tourists to use negative results of antigen tests. The next step for the Canarian Government is an almost-certain overruling in Spain’s Constitutional Court.

From tonight until Christmas it should be possible to see the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn , which has been hailed in the press as the first appearance of the Star of Bethlehem for 800 years.

The Canaries has rejected the idea of classifying Tenerife separately to the other islands in order to salvage the winter season.

The British Embassy is advising British residents in Spain who are visiting the UK for Christmas and returning in the New Year to carry proof of residence with them.

C.D. Magec Tías Contra la Violencia de Género is the full name of Lanzarote’s premier female basketball side, the first one to compete in a national league. Since 2017, the women from Tías have played in Spain’s Feminine League 2. We spoke to their coach, and 2020’s star signing at the Sports Pavilion in Tías recently.

In July, as Spain entered what was being called “the new normal”, the Canarian Government commissioned a public health advertisement to warn against the risks of family gatherings, which went viral on social media and won international awards.

Journalists, researchers and Covid nerds will be pleased to learn that the Canarian Health Service has launched a new daily report giving more information about the Covid-19 situation on all seven Canary Islands.

More than eight out of ten cases of Covid-19 on the Canaries are currently reported on Tenerife. But why is the largest and most populated of the Canary islands suffering so much during the pandemic? No one really knows.

In devastating news for the islands, The UK govenrnment has announced the closure of the Canary Islands “travel corridor”. Anyone arriving in the UK from the Canaries from 4 am on Saturday 12th December will have to self-isolate for 14 days, or pay for a PCR test after 5 days under the new “test and release” scheme.

After a day of misinformation and errors caused by a remarkable new Canarian law, we feel it’s necessary to clear up a couple of matters that are causing widespread confusion.

Spain’s senate has given the green light for British citizens to continue to enjoy the right to vote and stand in local elections after Brexit. The upper house in Madrid approved the proposal by 236 votes to 23 abstentions last week.

Deepika Harjani was the Brexit officer with the British Consulate in Tenerife before her recent appointment as the regional co-ordinator for Age in Spain, and, with the end of the transition period almost upon us, she's been pretty busy. Not too busy to pop into the Gazette office with Honorary Consul Sue Thain for a chat, though.

90-year -old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to be vaccinated against Covid-19 at 6.45 am this morning, as the NHS launches its vaccination programme.

Lanzarote vet Jane Burke remembers some Christmas callouts and reminds us of a few festive no-nos.