The airport in Sucre

October 25, 2007 By 1 Comment

The airport in Sucre (SRE) is located outside the city. It is not equipped for international flights and only has a basic terminal building and runway. The runway can only be used in the daytime as there are no landing lights. I travelled there from Santa Cruz in a Boeing 727 from Lloyd Aero Boliviano (LAB).

Sucre Airport, July 2000

The picture shows the airport looking back from the car park. Our luggage was just being loaded onto the buses at this particular moment.

LAB are currently not flying to Sucre because of operating difficulties.

I have heard stories about cars, in particular taxis, being driven to the airport and parked either side of the runway to allow emergency landing of aeroplanes after dark.

If Sucre is to become the seat of Government then surely the airport will need to be upgraded to international standards.

Filed Under: Bolivia, Photos, Sucre

Biofuel and the Royal Train

October 25, 2007 By Leave a Comment

OK, not bio-ethanol today, but bio-diesel instead.

Reading the BBC News website I came across an interesting article – the Royal Train in Great Britain is running a trial with bio-diesel to see if it is suitable for normal services.

Yes, the Royal Family have their own train!  Well sort of, there are dedicated locomotives and vehicles that are used for Royal purposes.

And it is one of these locomotives that is now running on bio-diesel.  In September HRH the Prince of Wales used the converted train for the first time.

Read more at the BBC News website.

Filed Under: Bio-Ethanol

I.G.I.C.

October 24, 2007 By 5 Comments

I.G.I.C. (Impuesto General Indirecto Canario) is an abbreviation that you are most likely to see on the bottom or back of menus when eating out.

The best way to think about it is as a form of VAT (value added tax). The Canary Islands are outside the EU VAT zone and therefore, as Spanish VAT does not apply, IGIC is could be considered to be the local VAT.

There are different rates ranging from 0% to 35%, but the one that you see most is the 5% added at restaurants.

That’s right – added. Over half the menus that you encounter will show prices exclusive of IGIC, meaning that when you ask for the bill the 5% will be added at this point.

If you are used to working in a business environment and adding VAT or an equivalent on at the final stage, then you probably won’t have too much difficult coping with this concept.

More likely, you are used to consumer pricing being VAT inclusive, and so having 5% added to your restaurant bill at the end of the meal can be anything from a few cent to a big shock!

Of course, there’s nothing you can do about it. Just don’t forget that everything will actually cost you a little bit more than you see on the price list (eg. 12,95EUR becomes 13,60EUR).

More importantly, don’t forget that this is a tax which the restaurant has to collect. It is not a service charge, so any tip you wish to give will have to come on top of the final, IGIC inclusive, price.

Filed Under: Eating Out, Lanzarote Tagged With:

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