very slow macro (delete blank rows)

Hi all,

I use this Macro:

Sub del()
  Sheets("TariefDisplay").Select
Dim r As Integer, tot As Integer

 With Sheets("TariefDisplay")

    tot = .Range("A234").CurrentRegion.Rows.Count + 20000
    For r = tot To 234 Step -1
      If .Cells(r, 1) = "" And .Cells(r, 17) = "" _
        Then _
        .Rows(r).Delete
    Next r
 End With
End Sub

This code takes very long (20 minutes).

is there a possibility to speed up this code?

Regards,

Danielle