But while much of the reporting has focused on the lack of funds that Spanair had, I think it’s worth asking why they got into that situation in the first place.

Over the past four years when I have flown with them, I freely admit it was because I wanted to get from A to B and they were usually the cheapest, and sometimes the most convenient option.  I was even impressed by the fact, that in-flight refreshments were still included in the price of the flight between Frankfurt and Madrid.

But on the other hand, almost every time there was a problem of some sort when I flew with them.  Booking on-line with a credit card was complicated if the whole family was flying on holiday.  Flights were often delayed, which sometimes meant rushing through Madrid’s terminals to catch a connecting flight.

On the one occasion that I was delayed by over an hour, they refused the compensation that I believe I was due.

Then finally, last year, they stopped flying daily to Lanzarote and re-booked our flight.  At least, they re-booked the flight from Arrecife, and only changed the connecting flight to Frankfurt when I rang them to make sure it had been done.

And yet they sold price increases for the in-flight refreshments as an “improvement”.

I can’t help feeling that they should have worked more on “improving” their customer service and punctuality, rather than on marketing gimmicks like Christmas presents for their passengers, and that at some point they entered a download spiral of less people flying with them because, at the end of the day, they were offering less flights.

One simple example of a lack of investment were the cue cards that the cabin crew used for making announcements.  It became obvious, even over the space of only four years, that the Spanish card was updated more often than the English one, and far more often than the German one.

Before departure, the Spanish card reminded passengers that electronic devices must not be used during take-off and landing, but non-wireless devices may be used otherwise during the flight.  The English card had the same initial reminder, but said that passengers should ask once airborne before turning electronic devices on, to see if their device is permitted.  The German card simply said that electronic devices may not be used for the duration of the flight!  (Imagine at this point the faces of some German passengers, when the Spanish speakers suddenly turned on their laptops…)

And when my flight got diverted due to thunderstorms one evening, I don’t think they even had a card in German to deal with that.  The information in Spanish was quite useful, but for those who didn’t understand it, “Welcome to Stuttgart” wasn’t exactly the first words they wanted to hear when we landed at the wrong airport.

Anyway, I guess the next time I fly to Spain I shall consider the last piece of advice that Spanair’s call centre gave me, the last time I spoke to them: “Next time, fly Lufthansa”.

Considering my recent good experience with their customer service, I might do just that!

Having deactivated the card and ordered a replacement, I was still curious to know if I really had lost it in the airport at Arrecife, so I tried to call the lost property office.

I started by looking for a number to call on the airport’s website.  Just calling a number in Spain can be a linguistic nightmare.  I’m usually quite happy to talk to the person on the other end in Spanish, but they see an incoming call from Germany and detect a British accent in my Spanish into the bargain.  So they usually attempt to answer in German, only to move to English a couple of sentences in, resorting to Spanish only when they don’t know a particular word.

To add insult to injury, the number of the website couldn’t even be called using my Skype flatrate!

The first person that I spoke to gave me a different number to call.  That at least had a Lanzarote STD code for a normal landline.  However when I called it, the number diverted to the mainland.  After going through the voice-controlled computer system I actually spoke to someone who tried to put me through to the airport, but failed.  So they gave me a different number to called.

The next number took me to the same computer system, and again I answered the questions and ended up with someone who was at least in Arrecife.  They took down my details and wanted to ask if the SIM card had been found.  Then the line went dead.

So I called again, went through the computer, only to discover that they were not actually in the lost property office, but were going to ask there for me.  Except that they couldn’t reach anyone.

Guess what?  They gave me another number to call that would go straight to the lost property office.  Only they told me that there is usually no-one there, because they are out around the airport, and I should just keep trying.

And try I did.  Eventually I managed to speak to someone.

No, they hadn’t had a SIM card handed in on my day of departure.  Oh well, it was good Spanish practise!

La Dolce Vita

Although specialised on Italian food, the restaurant also offers a selection of non-Italian dishes. The children’s menu has a variety of items on it, and the children’s pizza is a particularly good choice as it allows them to choose any pizza of the normal menu and have it in a slightly smaller size for a set price.

The food itself was good, and the pizza was even accompanied by a proper pizza cutter! The wine selection was similar to in Puerto Viejo below, but actually slightly cheaper. The house wine, whilst not bad, was from the mainland, although local wines were also available.

Instead of ordering a starter, we took the bread rolls and butter which were brought to the table anyway. These turned out to be fresh and warm.

The restaurant has friendly staff, although sometimes it did take a moment to attract their attention. As we left there was a whole round of “good byes” to do, including the kitchen staff and the pizza baker!

La Dolce Vita is closed on Thursdays.

Having walked from Puerto del Carmen to Puerto Calero, we decided to take the waterbus for the return journey and see where we had been from the sea.

The Waterbus (Ana Segundo) in Puerto del Carmen

The trip cost 6EUR for adults and 4EUR (as of October 2011) for children and even included a drink of Ronmiel for the adults on board! It should, however, be noted that there are no discounts for groups or for senior citizens.

As we had read online that it was not advisable to buy tickets in advance, we headed to the pier about 15 minutes before sailing and bought ours before boarding the boat. This was obviously a good idea, as we heard a rep complain later that the times on the brochure didn’t always match up with the actual sailing times.

Barranco del Quíquere viewed from the sea

The ride was quite choppy as first, but it was interesting to see the cliffs from a different angle, and Puerto del Carmen from the sea for the first time. We arrived in the harbour there after about 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any dolphins.

The steps at the end of Calle Teide

After going up the zig-zag path to the top of the cliffs, we continued along the first part of the path which was paved and with a wall between us and the rockface.

The first part of the path is paved...

There are some nice areas to sit on this part of the path, with plants providing shade. But eventually, the path becomes a dirt track and for most of it the wall is missing. There are only wooden posts marking the right-hand side of the path. At this point we kept a close eye on our daughter, although the path is not so narrow that we needed to hold her hand all of the time.

... before it becomes a dirt track

Even this part of the path has seats every few metres to rest on, and spectacular views across the sea to either Puerto del Carmen or Puerto Calero, and across the land to the volcanoes in the distance.

In some parts there is no wall

There are also a number of houses along the route, including one right on the cliff’s edge that looked as if it had been abandoned and was going to fall into the sea at some point.

Barranco del Quíquere

At first we ignored the steps that led down to the sea at several places, but on reaching the Barranco del Quíquere we had no choice and took the steps downwards into the cove. Here we found families under sunshades who were enjoying the solitude of the cove (apart from the walkers, obviously), and whose children were even swimming out to a pontoon moored some way out in the sea.

Puerto Calero is in the distance

After climbing back up to the cliff-tops again the dusty track continued with just the wooden bollards until we reached Puerto Calero. Here we were surprised to find a pair of gates across the road that had been locked, and so rather than just walking into the marina we had to go back up the other side of the road and walk to another road, from where we were able to walk back on a lower level to get to the waterfront.

The locked gates at the marina

The walk took us just over an hour and although we enjoyed doing it and taking in the views – this was, after all, the first time that we had walked anywhere on Lanzarote beyond the boundaries of one of the towns – we decided to take the waterbus back again and see where we had been from the sea.