¡HOLA! ‘WAVES’

The sky was peculiar this morning – still dusty with the calima, which diffused the sun making it seem enormous – but yet there were low-lying clouds on the mountains.

What's going on with the world's weather this year?

Tenerife has been put on Yellow Alert for an ola de calor (heat-wave) this weekend, and the authorities are still dithering about whether it would be wise to cancel the annual procession for the Virgen de Candelaria – the patron saint of the Canary Islands. Doing so would disappoint thousands of people, some of whom travel a long way to take part. 

Carrying on with the pilgrimage from various parts of the island in excessive heat would put a strain on the ambulance services.

What a pity the festival isn't in the winter!

There is also concern in San Andres, where high tides and strong winds are throwing olas muy  grandes (huge waves) over the inadequate sea defences.

Down in Las Galletas where I went this morning to shop, the sea was actually roaring as I parked my car, and the waves were glorious.

I wasn’t the only one revelling in the sight of its power – there were people sitting comfortably by their camper vans watching the spectacle – and even between the breaking waves you could see the sea’s muscles flexing.

As I was driving home, all those waves - heat-waves and sea-waves - made me think. If ola means a wave, and the Spanish say hola without pronouncing the H so it sounds like ola, is that where the English verb “to wave” comes from? 

Just wondering.