Tenerife loses its clever residents

By Marlis Zoschke

When I read the latest newsletter from Teneriffa News, I wasn’t surprised by the poor performance of the Canary Islands in the PISA study. However, Germany cannot boast either, as its results are also on a downward trend. Tenerife would, however, have had every opportunity to address the issue of education following Franco’s death.

It must surely be a source of shame for the island that it ranks among the lowest in Spain when it comes to education. Yet those concrete blocks – some of them rather ugly – were deemed more important. And when a construction firm went bust, a monstrous structure remained standing in the landscape for years.

Tenerife’s population has doubled, but the bright and best are leaving

That doesn’t mean there were only ’stupid‘ people. But many intelligent people have left the island. For many, there were probably too few opportunities for further education. It is said that 125,000 islanders have emigrated.

It is hard to believe that Tenerife’s population has almost doubled in around 50 years, from about 500,000 to about 966,500. Around half of the island is considered barren or volcanic and is therefore of little use for agriculture. Whenever a new development sprang up, many pub-keepers enthusiastically opened a second pub and called it an ‚investment‘. I don’t even know if they were really aware of the meaning of that term.

The banks were apparently always willing to support such ventures. It was not uncommon to see pub owners who had invested just the previous year suddenly struggling to sell the eggs laid by their own hens. I suspect that it was the major investors, in particular, who made a good profit.

If electricity or water bills went unpaid, a charge would quickly be placed on the property. There were no reminders. The water or electricity would be cut off within a short space of time. A friend drew our attention to this. We then immediately instructed the bank – which was also our postal address – to pay any incoming bills without delay.

More tourists in the Canary Islands, too little investment in infrastructure

No doubt a lot has changed for the better in recent years. But in my view, people haven’t become any wiser. Or how else can you attract 7.5 million tourists to the islands every year whilst allowing the sanitation systems to fall into such disrepair that sewage is simply channelled into the sea, where the tourists then go swimming again? Doesn’t anyone worry that, with this water quality, even the locals could fall ill? There aren’t enough doctors and hospitals as it is. I haven’t even seen such a «mess» in the favelas of Rio.

On the other hand, I’m always pleased to meet people from the Canary Islands at the hotel. They receive further training at this Spanish hotel chain, as their skills are usually not up to European standards. I get the impression that they are aware of this and are very grateful for it.