JOINING or VISITING THE IAC
You have been awarded a postdoctoral position to be carried out at the
European Northern Observatory (ENO), either at the Instituto de Astrofísica
de Canarias’ (IAC) headquarters in La Laguna, or at any of its two international
observatories (Teide Observatory on Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos
Observatory on La Palma), or you will just stay among us for a short period
of time. In this case, this guide will help you with useful information
before you travel.
Just have a look at our website to get familiarized with us: http://www.iac.es
1 BEFORE TRAVELING. WHAT SHOULD I PREPARE IN ADVANCE?
The information you will find at the website http://citizens.eu.int
might be useful for you, since you are leaving one country to enter a different
one.
Documentation
What could I apply for in my country?
- EU Citizens:
You do not need to apply for a VISA in order to work in Spain. But
you should nevertheless report to the Spanish Consulate of your country.
They will inform you in detail.
- Non-European Citizens
You need to report to the Spanish Consulate and/or Spanish Embassy in
order to apply for a VISA. They will inform you in detail about what
to do. This should be done as soon as possible, as it could take several
months (it depends on your country) to get the necessary VISA.
What do I have to send to the IAC to prepare my contract?
In order to prepare your contract we need you to send to the attention
of the Secretariat of the Research Division BY CERTIFIED POST (att.: Tanja
Karthaus, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/ Vía Láctea s/n, E-38205
La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) the following documentation:
- Certificate of your Doctorate degree.
- Copy of Passport or Identity Card/NIE (if you have one from previous
stays in Spain).
- Official Health Certificate (from your country of residence).
- Certificate of absence of criminal record.
- Social Security Card (if employed previously in Spain).
- 4 small photos (passport size).
Transport personal matters
If you wish to send personal belongings to Tenerife, the steps to follow
are:
Prepare a list of the contents of the crates, boxes etc you are sending,
assigning items an approximate value.
Make sure that the company transporting your belongings informs you adequately
about the conditions of shipment and what exactly is included in the price
(normally they fail to inform customers about the additional charges incurred
upon arrival at our port, during unloading and at the customs office).
These costs depend on the value and the weight of the goods.
The unloading and wharf occupation rates vary depending on the agent
and on how long the merchandise remains undispatched (we cannot indicate
in advance how much this will amount to).
Furthermore, we have to add the transport costs from the wharf/airport
to where the merchandise will be dispatched. These charges depend on
the weight per volume and on distance (Km) for local transfer.
The value assigned to your personal belongings should be as accurate
as possible. If you give wrong information, customs will assign a more
realistic value.
In the event of bringing a vehicle with you, you should present the original
documents of the vehicle.
For any further detailed information you might need, please do not hesitate
to contact Mrs. Otilia de la Rosa of our Export/Import Dpt. (ory@ll.iac.es / +34 922 605 214).
Flying to Tenerife
The Canary Islands are rather remote from continental Europe; however
their connections by air are extremely good. Tenerife is regularly connected
to 16 foreign airports and there are connections to the major Spanish
cities several times a day, as well as direct charter flights to more
than 112 foreign cities! The flight time from Madrid to Tenerife is approximately
2 hours 30 minutes.
Tenerife has two airports, one of them located at the northern part of
the island; Tenerife Norte (TFN), also known as Los Rodeos,
and the other at the southern part; Tenerife Sur (TFS) or Reina Sofia.
The airport code to search for connections to both airports is TCI. We
recommend using the North Airport if possible, as this is much closer
to the IAC (about 6Km).
In most cases Madrid Airport (Barajas) will be used as transfer
when coming from non-European countries. There are daily flights connecting
worldwide locations and Madrid. Madrid-Tenerife is operated by IBERIA
(http://www.iberia.com/iberia_es/home.jsp)
and other Spanish regular airlines (Spanair: http://www.spanair.com/es/,
Air Europe: http://www.air-europa.com/).
There are also daily connections via Barcelona for similar prices.
Given the abundant number of charter flights to Tenerife from all over
Europe, connections through any other major European airport can be considered.
TFN is only connected to Spanish cities by scheduled flight, although
there are now some regular charters to Germany, Austria and Switzerland,
whereas TFS is a national as well as an international airport. Both have
good connections for ground transportation. In case of difficulty with
a direct flight you may consider flying to Las Palmas (on the neighbouring
island of Gran Canaria) and crossing to Tenerife North on the frequent
Air Shuttle (a 20 minute hop).
Online information about flights arriving at or departing from Madrid,
Barcelona and TFS airports can be obtained at: http://www.aena.es
Living on the Canary Islands
You might be wondering how the salary you will earn compares with current
costs living on either Tenerife or La Palma. Just to provide you with
some useful information, here is the average of some
of these current costs (anyway, it will depend on what you want).
- Rent an apartment: approx. 500 €/month. Water supply and electricity
excluded.
- Rent a car: approx. 24 €/day (tax, insurance and special IAC
discount included).
- Buy a (new) car: approx. 10.000 – 15.000 €.
- Petrol: approx. 0.60 €/litre
- School: schools from 5 years on are partially funded by the
Spanish Government.
- School Meals/transport: approx. 120 €/month.
- Restaurants: you might have lunch or dinner from approx.
10 €/person (drinks included) if visiting typical cheap restaurants,
to approx. 30-35 €/person (drinks included) if eating at high standard
restaurants.
2 UPON ARRIVAL
How do I get to the IAC headquarters? MAP
OF TENERIFE
Public Transport (bus)
The public transport service in Tenerife is called TITSA and the company's
buses are painted pistachio green (guaguas) http://www.titsa.com
There are periodical services to and from the South Airport (Reina
Sofia), in conjunction with Iberia arrivals. The bus stop is outside
the national arrivals area of the building, behind the Taxi rank. The
price of a one way ticket to the main bus terminal in Santa Cruz is 5
Euros. Then the best thing to do is to take a taxi to the IAC. This will
cost about 12 Euros. If you prefer the bus, take the La Laguna directo
(bus nº 15) and once in town, get a taxi to the IAC, which
should only cost about 6 Euros.
If you arrive at the North Airport (Los Rodeos), the bus stop
is outside the building. There’s a bus to La Laguna every 30 min (nº
102).
A TITSA bono-bus may be purchased if you wish to use any line on a daily/weekly
basis, obtaining a considerable discount on the normal price. They can
be obtained at any of the bus stations and/or at the kiosks.
Taxis
If arriving at the South Airport and you need to take a taxi to the IAC
(La Laguna) the cost is around 60 Euros (1 hour drive).
If arriving at the North Airport and you want to take a taxi to the IAC
(10 min drive) the cost is about 6 Euros.
Car Rentals
Renting a car may also be an alternative, since car rentals in Tenerife
are rather cheap (~168 Euros a week for a small car). At both airports,
CICAR and Autos Reisen are the companies which generally
offer the best rates. If driving your own car, these maps might be helpful:
ACCESS FROM HIGHWAY TO
IAC
LA LAGUNA
IAC Opening times
Security Guard
If you are going to stay at our Residencia in La Laguna, there is a security
guard at the gate of the IAC’s main entrance door during 24h 7 days a
week. If he is not in the guard house when you arrive, just ring the
bell you will find near the gate. It may take some time until he arrives
as he might be on inspection round, so be patient.
Reception
Either Mrs. Fina or Mrs. Mari will receive you at the reception from 08:00
till 16:00, from Monday to Friday. Only the security guard will be at
his post during the weekends.
IAC Facilities
Residencia
A residencia with 2 single rooms and 3 double room might be used by visitors
and collaborators for a maximum period of 15 days (unless agreed otherwise
by the Board of Directors) at a rate of 24.15€ (sgle. Room) and 34.65
€ (dble. Room), only accommodation. If you are going to stay at the IAC
Residencia (up to a maximum of 15 days), the booking form is available
at the IAC external website, and the staff of the reception will hand
you the key of your room. If you arrive after 16:00 o’clock, you will
find the key at the guard.
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