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?

Documentation

• 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.  Bear in mind that if joining the IAC with a postdoctoral contract, the IAC has to prepare in advance the application for your Residencia card and the Exception of your Working Licence at the local Foreigner Office (detailed information: Tanja Karthaus: tanja@iac.es). The application form is signed by the Director IAC. Once the application has been formally approved (the resolution is sent to the IAC), we wil send you the related documentation in order to present it at the Spanish Consulate to apply for the corresponding VISA you need to live and work in Spanish territory. RECOMMENDATION: Do not desperate; this burocratic procedure takes some time.....

For more information, see: http://www.spanish-living.com/info_embassies.htm

Transport personal matters

If you wish to send personal belongings to Tenerife, the steps to follow are:

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. Rosa Mª González Gómez of our Export/Import Dpt. (rosa@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

2.- UPON ARRIVAL

How do I get to the IAC headquarters? 

Map Tenerife: http://www.tenerife-abc.com/MapaDistancias/

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. Map buslines

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 (~30Euros a day 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

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 seven 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 Fina or Laia will receive you at the reception from 08:00 till 19:00, from Monday to Friday.  Only the security guard will be at his post after 19:00 and during the weekends.

Secretariat Research Division

Either Judith or Tanja will receive you at the Research Division (second corridor) and hand you the checking card you will have tu use when entering or leaving the IAC headquarters (for security reasons) as well as the key of your office. Also the username and password of your e-mail account will be given. Any doubt you should have will be cleared up by any of our Secretaries. Eva is in charge of your travels related to observing runs or collaborations stays abroad.

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. 30 €/day (tax, insurance and special IAC discount included) with CICAR. Hire should be done through the Secretariat of the Research Divison.
• Buy a (new) car: approx. 10.000 – 15.000 €.
• Petrol: approx. 1€/litre
• School: schools from 5 years on are partially funded by the Spanish Government. 
• Restaurants: you might have lunch or dinner from approx. 15 €/person (drinks included) if visiting typical cheap restaurants, to approx. 30-35 €/person (drinks included) if eating at high standard restaurants. See: restaurants.

More very complete and useful information:
http://www.spanish-living.com/regional/indexR_Canarias.htm