320 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
320 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sponsored
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travel
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spanish_tourist_board
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canaryislands
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7079397
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-----
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# La Palma: sitting pretty in starlight
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## La Isla Bonita (The Pretty Island) boasts an incredibly varied landscape
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including lush rainforests and marvelous rock formations.
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![Canary Islands: banana plantations in La Palma][1]
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Image 1 of 5
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Canary Islands: banana plantations in La Palma
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![Canary Islands: La Palma musicians][2]
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Image 1 of 5
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Canary Islands: La Palma musicians
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![Canary Islands: impressive tree roots in La Palma][3]
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Image 1 of 5
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Canary Islands: impressive tree roots in La Palma
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![Canary Islands: Calle Santa Cruz de la La Palma][4]
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Image 1 of 5
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Canary Islands: Calle Santa Cruz de la La Palma
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![Canary Islands: La Palma's varied landscapes include coastal lagoons like
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Fuencaliente][5]
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Image 1 of 5
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Canary Islands: La Palma's varied landscapes include coastal lagoons like
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Fuencaliente
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4:07PM GMT 26 Jan 2010
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Somewhere beyond 30 million years ago, as Europe was busy separating itself
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from Africa beneath the ocean, up popped the first signs of the Canaries.
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All the islands are volcanic but the ones closer to Africa are much older than
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those that lie 'out to sea', such as La Palma.
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That's why the landscape of each is so distinctly different. Lanzarote and
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Fuerteventura, for example, are ancient and have been shaped by both volcanic
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activity and erosion.
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La Palma, a mere youngster compared to some of the others at one to two
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million years old, has had its share of eruptions - it's been the most active
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over the past millennium or so - but nature's softer side has also played its
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part in forming La Isla Bonita (The Pretty Island). Where the lava flows
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missed, nature in all its green and exuberant glory got a foothold and
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miracles started to happen.
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Although the southern slopes of this heart-shaped island are moon-like lava
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flows, its central volcano is lush and densely forested, with surrounding
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cliffs, ridges and rock formations that rival anything in mainland Europe for
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sheer drama. The views both north and south from the Mirador de la Cumbrecita
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and the walking trails in the adjacent Caldera de Taburiente National Park are
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rightly considered among the very best in the archipelago.
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## Related Articles
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* [La Gomera: a small corner of whistles and love][6]
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26 Jan 2010
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* [El Hierro: stunning views, rare lizards and big green ideas][7]
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26 Jan 2010
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* [Canary Islands: sun, sea and truly stunning skylines][8]
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26 Jan 2010
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* [Gran Canaria: an exotic blend of ancient and modern][9]
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28 Jan 2010
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* [Fuerteventura: a little reserve amid all the action][10]
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28 Jan 2010
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* [Lanzarote: a blast from the past illuminates the present][11]
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28 Jan 2010
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La Palma's links with the Caribbean have also permeated the culture. In the
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centuries after Columbus reached the New World, emigration - particularly to
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Cuba - gathered pace. It is a relationship that has continued to the present
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day, leaving its mark on everything from cigarmaking to music, the latter
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considered to be the most authentic Cuban sound outside of Havana.
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Its major festival, the exuberant Los Indianos parade held in the streets of
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the capital Santa Cruz every year, celebrates the return of rich emigrants,
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with revellers dressed in white carrying cases of fake money and throwing huge
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clouds of talcum powder. Eager to discover the roots of these connections to
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Cuba, on my recent visit I sought out a tobacco plantation in the hills above
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Santa Cruz and met the manager, Antonio Gonzalez. His grandfather emigrated to
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Cuba; on the family's return, his father became a tobacco grower and Antonio
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continues the tradition.
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As I watched the chinchaleros at work - the men who choose the leaves and roll
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them into cigars - Antonio told me what makes a cigar from La Palma so
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special: 'A really good cigar is like a conversation. It shouldn't simply
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shout or whisper, but have a mix of different notes. Many smokers believe our
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cigars are better even than Cohibas from Cuba.' Praise, indeed. ([**www.
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fincatabaqueraelsitio.com**][12]).
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Another reason for La Palma's relaxed sense of prosperity and the good life -
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and why bananas grow so well here - is the island's steepness and the humidity
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this attracts from the north-easterly trade winds. It is the only one of the
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islands not to be seriously affected by lack of water, with the laurel forests
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of the northeast drawing in six times as much water from ground-level clouds
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than from the rain that actually falls out of the sky. The laurel forest of
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Los Tilos was the first of the island's World Biosphere Reserves, created in
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1983, and is renowned for its flora, fauna and enchanting walking trails.
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As a keen amateur astronomer, I was also fascinated to discover the Roque de
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los Muchachos observatory, a site picked for its consistently cloudless nights
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(90 per cent in summer) on the island's highest mountain ridge. Largely free
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from artificial light pollution (a situation protected by law), the quality of
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the darkness of La Palma's night skies has inspired the creation of a star-
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watching tour company.
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**Key facts **
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* _Capital:_ Santa Cruz de La Palma
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* _Size:_ 440 sq miles
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* _Population:_ 85,900
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* _Highest point:_ Roque de Los Muchachos at 7,950ft
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* _Protected nature reserves:_ 20. The entire island is a Unesco World
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Biosphere Reserve
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* _Website:_ [**www.lapalmaturismo.com**][13]** **
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**Island Highlights **
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_**Red de Sentedros hiking network**_
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The island's 620-mile spider's web of footpaths has been fully signposted by
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the European Ramblers Associations. There are two GR (long-distance)
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footpaths, 20 PR (one-day) routes, and numerous SL (local) paths shorter than
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six miles. Don't miss the epic Ruta de los Volcanes, a tough six-hour walk
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along an active volcanic ridge ending at the coast at Faro de Fuencaliente.
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_**Caldera de Taburiente**_
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A National Park since 1954, the central part of the caldera - the Barranco de
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las Angustias - is a five-mile horseshoe with some of the most stunning
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scenery on the island, including deep ravines, waterfalls, rock carvings and
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archaeological sites left behind by the Benahoaritas, the original inhabitants
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of the island.
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_**Mirador de la Cumbrecita**_
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The view from the southern ridge of the Taburiente crater is one of the most
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recognised views in Spain. This vantage point, overlooking both the Cumbre
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Nueva (New Ridge) to the south and the Taburiente crater to the north,
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includes such an incredible variety of forest and rock and cliff formations
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that it has to be counted as one of the world's great views.
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_**Observatorio Del Roque de Los Muchachos**_
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La Palma has some of the clearest skies in the northern hemisphere with strict
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laws to protect it against light pollution (that also extend to the adjacent
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shore of northern Tenerife). One of the telescopes at the observatory, the
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10-metre Great Canarian Telescope, is the world's largest single-aperture
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optical telescope. The site can be visited every day between 8am and 7pm, but
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the observatory itself is only open on two days in July and August.
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_**Las Hilanderas silk makers**_
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Silk has been produced and woven on the island since shortly after the arrival
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of the Spanish. Founded in 2002, this working museum in the town of El Paso -
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the brainchild of Bertila Perez Gonzalez, who single-handedly kept the craft
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alive - demonstrates every stage of silk production from the silk worm cocoons
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themselves to the finished product.
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_**Music**_
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La Palma has a unique connection with the Caribbean due to emigration that
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stretches back centuries. When islanders returned, they brought a great deal
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of Cuban culture with them, including music. Orillas del Son are a band that
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specialises in Cuban music and a Caribbean style.
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[**www.orillasdelson.com**][14]** **
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[X][15] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][16]
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* Share: [Share][15] [ ][17] [ ][18]
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[Tweet][19]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryisland
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s/7079397/La-Palma-sitting-pretty-in-starlight.html
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Telegraph
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## [Canary Islands][20]
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* ### [Sponsored »][21]
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* ### [Travel »][22]
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* ### [Spanish Tourist Board »][23]
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[X][15] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][16]
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Share:
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* [ ][15]
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* [ ][17]
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* [ ][18]
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* [Tweet][19]
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* [![Canary Islands holidays][24]][20]
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[1]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_P16-18_CM_B_1
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567635c.jpg
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[2]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_P16-18_CM_I_1
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567632c.jpg
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[3]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_P16-18_CM_R_1
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567631a.jpg
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[4]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_P16-18_STB__1
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567628c.jpg
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[5]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_P16-18_STB__1
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567626c.jpg
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[6]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079510/La-
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Gomera-a-small-corner-of-whistles-and-love.html
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[7]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079564/El-
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Hierro-stunning-views-rare-lizards-and-big-green-ideas.html
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[8]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079816/Canary-
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Islands-sun-sea-and-truly-stunning-skylines.html
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[9]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7080193/Gran-
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Canaria-an-exotic-blend-of-ancient-and-modern.html
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[10]:
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/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7091725/Fuerteventura-a
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-little-reserve-amid-all-the-action.html
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[11]:
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/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7091935/Lanzarote-a
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-blast-from-the-past-illuminates-the-present.html
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[12]: http://www. fincatabaqueraelsitio.com
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[13]: http://www.lapalmaturismo.com
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[14]: http://www.orillasdelson.com
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[15]: #
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[16]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/4590190/Share-this-
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article-What-are-these.html
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[17]: mailto:?subject=A Telegraph reader thought you would be interested in
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this article&body=Depending on your email program, you may be able to click on
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the link in the email. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such
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as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canary
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islands/7079397/La-Palma-sitting-pretty-in-starlight.html %0A%0AFor the best
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content online, visit www.telegraph.co.uk
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[18]: javascript:print()
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[19]: http://twitter.com/share?via=Telegraph
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[20]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/can
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aryislands/
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[21]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
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[22]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/
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[23]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/
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[24]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01569/sponsor_canaryisla_
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1569739a.jpg
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