Assessment 2 (Part 1): Summary of country specific information (w 12)

Summary of country specific information about the area and institution of the destination (800-1,200 words) – 10%

Write a series of rubrics covering the following aspects as bullet points:

 Geographical area you will be moving to: main towns, population size, main aspects of the economy, areas of special interest, etc.

 Practical aspects of everyday life: e.g. healthcare (doctor, dentist, prescriptions), how to open a bank account, accommodation issues (e.g. deposit required?) etc.

 The institution you will be studying at: type of institution (e.g. a public university, a private business school etc.), date of foundation, size of student population, typical entry requirements, typical numbers of hours taught per week, system of assessment, registration fees, term times, statutory holidays plus other aspects which seem relevant to you.

 References: all the information including pictures, graphs, maps need to be properly referenced.

Submission date: to be uploaded to your blog by week 9

 ISLAS CANARIAS: GRAN CANARIA

The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago situated off the southern coast of Morocco. The main islands are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro, but other islets are part of the archipelago.

Gran Canaria, after Tenerife, is the second most populous island of the archipelago, with a population of 838,397 inhabitants, of which 383,308 only in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital city of the island. Besides Las Palmas, there are twenty other towns on the islands, which are Agaete, Agüimes, Artenara, Arucas, Firgas, Gáldar, Ingenio, Mogán, Moya, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, La Aldea de San Nicolás, Santa Brígida, Santa Lucía, Santa María de Guía, Vega de San Mateo, Tejeda, Telde, Teror, Valleseco, and Valsequillo de Gran Canaria.

 (http://old.wordtravels.com/images/map/Spain/Las_Palmas_map.jpg)

Gran Canaria is characterized by a hot desert climate, with warm dry summers and warm winters, with an average annual temperature of 21°C.

The economy of the island is based on the primary and the service sectors, with meaningful exportations of bananas and a well-developed tourism industry. Indeed, the tourism sector accounts for more than 80% of the income of Gran Canaria, with 2.2 million visitors a year.

The island is considered a mini continent, due to the variety of its landscape, which is at the basis of the island’s attractiveness. Gran Canaria’s protected areas, long beaches, white sand dunes, green ravines and villages, indeed, are among the main attractions. Moreover, the Canary Islands have an extremely valuable archaeological, artistic, architectural and ethnographic heritage, as Columbus’s House in Las Palmas, for example.

UNIVERSIDAD DE LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA

The city of Las Palmas is where the University is located. La Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) was founded in 1989 and soon established itself as one of the main universities of Spain.

Now, it counts about 1,585 professors and researchers, 761 members of staff, and 23,688 students spread between the campuses. ULPGC has six campuses: three in Las Palmas, one in Arucas, one in Lanzarote, and one in Fuerteventura.

La Facultad de Economìa, Empresa y Turismo is located in Las Palmas, in Tafira campus, whose address is “Calle Juan de Quesada, 35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria”. The campus can be reached by city buses number 7, 25, 26, 48, and by inter-city buses number 327, 328. 

(http://www2.ulpgc.es/hege/almacen/download/18/18224/Situacion_Campus_de_Tafir.jpg)

The International Officie within Tafira Campus is located in the Edificio Antiguo de Empresariales 018. The office is open from 10 until 14 , Monday to Friday, and from 15 until 19, Monday to Thursday. The telephone number is 928 45 2793, and the main email address is vri_feet@ulpgc.es, although the person responsible for the Office is Lidia Hernández López, whose email address is lhernandez@dede.ulpgc.es.

 The library is open from 8.15 until 20.45, Monday to Friday, and it is located in the Central Building of Tafira Campus. Moreover, students have free access to El Bunker, which is a building containing a computing laboratory and study rooms.

This campus also offers restauration facilities, which are located in the Aulario and in the Mòdulo C buildings.

ULPGC offers also an online service called “Campus Virtual”, where students can find information about the university and the different campuses  (http://www2.ulpgc.es/index.php?pagina=campusvirtual&ver=inicio).

At ULPGC the matriculation process takes place online. The pre-enrolment phase takes place between June, 15^th and July, 3^rd, while the matriculation process usually takes place until July, 31^st. The documents required are a copy of a signed confirmation of pre-enrolment, a copy of the passport, learning agreement, a photograph.

Before the start of the year, the University offers an induction week to all the new students. For the year 2015-2016, the induction week took place from August, 31^st to September, 6^th. Students are informed about timetables and programmed activities, and they are put in touch with ULPGC students who act as mentors. Students are also given a Guide to University City Resources. Leisure activities include: visits to the beach, a boat trip, multi-adventure activities and guided tours of Arucas, Teror and Agaete, among other options.

For year 2015-2016, the first semester started on September, 9^th, and ended on December, 22^nd, with the exam session being from January, 8^th until January, 23^rd. The second semester ran from January, 25^th until May, 13^th, and the exam session from May, 16^th until June, 4^th. Classes are taught from 8 until 21, Monday to Friday. Reassessments are scheduled between June, 23^rd and July, 16^th. There is a variety of exams types: continuous evaluation, oral and written assignments, and final exams.

LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA

(http://www.codigopostal.org/images/imagen-de-mogan-5.jpg)

 

The Tourism Information Office is located in Calle León y Castillo, 17.

To open a bank account, the documents needed are passport, personal details, photograph, proof of address.

Post offices are located in El Corte Inglés, Av de José Mesa y López, 18 and in Calle Bernardo de la Torre, 30-32. It costs 1.15 euros to send a mail to Italy or UK.

Bigger stores are open from 10 until 22, Monday to Saturday, while smaller shops are open from 9 until 13, and from 16.30 until 20.30.

One bus journey costs 1.40 euros, and a return ticket is 2.40 euros. A student travel card costs 28 euros and it includes 80 journeys. Taxi rates are around 0.64 euros per kilometre. To rent a car for a day, it costs between £23 and £50.

Public holidays are:

New Year´s Day, Epiphany, Easter, Christmas
May 1. - Labour Day
May 30. - National Day
Aug 15. - Maria Himmelfahrt
Sep 8. - Día del Pino
Oct 12. - Día de Hispanidad
Nov 1. - All Saints´day
Dec 6. - Día de la Constitución
Dec 8. - Maria Empfängnis
Carnivals or fiestas are held throughout the year and each town has its own celebration.

The average monthly cost of a one-bedroom apartment is 412.50 euros, a room in a shared flat costs between 200 and 300 euros, while a room in a student accommodation is about 390.60 euros a month.

The monthly utility costs (electricity, heating, water, garbage) are, on average, 77 euros, while internet is between 15 and 40 euros a month, and one minute of prepaid mobile local tariff is 16 cents.

A meal at the university costs 4.50 euros, while in an inexpensive restaurant is 7.25 euros. A monthly student spending on groceries, on average, is 190 euros. A bottle of water is usually between 50 cents and 1 euro.

It is important to have the European Health Card (Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea, TSE) and the university insurance (Seguro OnCampus). To choose the closest doctor, the student can go on this website: http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/principal/temas/sanidad/

Helpful numbers are as follows:

Emergencies, Ambulance, Fire brigade – 112

Police Station – 091

All EU citizens wishing get residency in Spain need to register to the Central Register of Foreign Nationals (Registro Central de Extranjeros) at a Foreigners' Office or local police station. A Registration Certificate as an EU Resident (Certificado de registro como residente comunitario) is issued and is valid as long as the applicant’s personal circumstances remain the same. The applicant needs to provide passport, photographs, proof of address, signed application form, proof of a 10.50-euro fee payment or NIE number, and TSE.

SOURCES

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Alquilerdecoches.rastreator.com. (2016). Car hire Gran Canaria (Todas las áreas) from Rentalcars.com. [online] Available at: http://alquilerdecoches.rastreator.com/SearchResults.do?dropCity=Gran+Canaria [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

Canaria, U. (2016). ULPGC - Agendas y calendarios de actividades - menu_agendas. [online] Www2.ulpgc.es. Available at: http://www2.ulpgc.es/index.php?pagina=menu_agendas&ver=inicio [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

Canarias, S. (2016). :: GRAN CANARIA CONVENTION BUREAU ::. [online] Grancanariacb.com. Available at: http://www.grancanariacb.com/web2010/en/5-3.php [Accessed 11 Mar. 2016].

Canaries.angloinfo.com. (2016). European Union Citizens moving to Spain - AngloINFO Canary Islands, in the Canary Islands (Spain). [online] Available at: http://canaries.angloinfo.com/information/moving/residency/eu-citizens/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2016].

Codigopostal.org. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.codigopostal.org/images/imagen-de-mogan-5.jpg [Accessed 9 Mar. 2016].

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Grancanaria.com. (2016). Towns of Gran Canaria. Canary Islands.. [online] Available at: http://www.grancanaria.com/patronato_turismo/371.0.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2016].

Grancanariaonline.com. (2016). Public Holidays at Gran Canaria. [online] Available at: http://grancanariaonline.com/en/public_holidays.php [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

Guaguas.com. (2016). GUAGUAS MUNICIPALES - Tu linea. [online] Available at: http://www.guaguas.com/tulinea/#6 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2016].

International Mobility Point ULPGC. (2016). Visita al médico - International Mobility Point ULPGC. [online] Available at: http://imp.ulpgc.es/movilidad-entrante/salud/visita-al-medico/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2016].

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