La Izquierda (Spanish Left)

comment by Anonymous, 2007-11-16 17:20:04

Las Americas locals are alright...
Surfed La Isquirda, La Fitenia etc for the first time this september...
No probs at all! get in the Lineup, wait get your wave...
I really don't know what your talkin' about!!! maybe it's because I look spanish or sth, but I only met nice people!! maybe if if you sport the british purple beerbelly Style, I don't know!! But K16 surfshop-staff should definitely smoke less reefer, these guys hardly manage to open their shoppe!!!

hasta luego

comment by z., 2007-02-23 11:57:52

Tenerife surfing
Just came back from 10 days on the island. Waves were good, terrible locals. Of course, not all of them (we did meet some very good people as well!), but enough to ruin your session. "La izquierda" is known to be an "only local" beach. Which may be understandable. The problem is that on the other spots as well the localism is bad. They demand respect but lack giving it back. And, they forget tourists are the main job supplying field on this island...All in all, a good surfing spot- good waves, rather chip, beautiful girls, great weather... Still, if your absolute goal is pure surfing, you can find better places.

comment by Anonymous, 2006-12-02 00:48:43

"Only Local!"
I have surfed all over the world without encountering any major hassles. I don't drop in, hassle or vibe anyone. Being a "local" myself (grew up and surfed one beach as a teenager), I know how it feels to have clueless people come and ruin your surf. Anyhow, first time I surfed Spanish Left, it was about 2 foot and pretty average looking. I paddled out, sat on the outside of the pack and waited for a set, hoping something would come my way. Before I had a chance to catch a wave, some dickhead paddled over to me and said "Only locals!" I must have just looked at him like he was from another planet, because he just paddled off and ignored me for the rest of the surf. After several trips to the Canary Islands and four years living in Portugal, I can tell you that this idiot is not unique in his part of the world. It always amazed me that guys would drop in on each other, paddle inside, get angry, run each other over and generally carry on like the biggest bunch of over-grown children I have ever seen. I think that the lack of a history of surfing in Spain and Portugal means that it is a first-generation thing. Their dads don't surf. Their sisters don't surf. Noone has educated them as to how to behave correctly in the water. An average day at Carcavelos will see ten-times more aggro than one at the Superbank! With about 25% of the number of surfers! Most of the surfers in Spain dn Portugal are young blokes, full of machismo and local pride and there are no girls or older guys in the water to mellow out the atmosphere and tell them that acting like a complete arsehole in the water is not cool. Instead of actually surfing to enjoy it for what it is, it is just about posing. Most of these young surfers have a pathetic "look at me!" approach to surfing, which results anger and violence. I can't imagine how negatively surfers from these countries will be viewed when they start bringing these attitudes en masse to France, Australia, USA and Hawaii. Well, actually I can because it has already happened to the Brazilians, and they are nowhere near as clueness as their latino cousins on the other side of the Atlantic. British, German and French surfers, continue to go to Spain and Portugal and enjoy the wonderful waves that these beautiful countries have, and while you are there try to educate them as to the true surf culture of sharing and enjoying together the gift of waves by being cool and not acting like a toddler who is trying to grab all of the toys.