Vital Statistics

Population: 700,000
Area: 2,000 sq km (800 sq miles)
Capital: Santa Cruz
Language: Spanish 
Religion: Roman Catholic
Time Zone: GMT 
Currency: Euro, divided into 100 cents
Electricity: 220 volts
Weights & Measures: Metric
International Dialling Code: +34

The Place

Time signals on state radio and television in Spain give two times: one for mainland Spain and one for ‘Las Canarias’. Adrift in the Atlantic more than 1000km (620 miles) to the south, and 115 km (70 miles) from the west coast of Africa, Tenerife and the 12 other islands that make the Canary archipelago don’t see the sun rise until around one hour later than their mainland compatriots. 

At just over 2000 sq kms (800 sq miles), Tenerife is the largest of these volcanic cones that began to erupt from the depths of the Atlantic bed 20 million years ago. Six are tiny and uninhabited. Of the others, the three closest to Africa (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventurra) are the oldest, formed 10 million years before Tenerife. Finally some 2 million years after that, the Canary’s other western isles of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro burst into life.

On a clear day all of the islands can be seen from the top of Tenerife’s Pico del Teide, at 3718m (12,195ft) the highest mountain in the whole of Spain. Its peak was formed a million years ago inside the crater of a former, collapsed volcano, the Circo de Canadas, where the landscape is burnt and hauntingly bleak. Theer has been no volcanic activity here for 500 years, though eruptions have occurred elsewhere on the island, the last in 1909 on Montana Chinyero, near Santiago del Teide. Lava fields created by volcanoes are only part of a diversity of landscapes on an island the shape of an inverted triangle of just 2,034 sq km (785 sq miles). It includes tropical gardens, misty forests, fertile mountain slopes, tranquil villages, rocky headlands and black beaches, the most popular of which have been lined with imported Sahara sand.

The People

The resident population, including 25,000 expatriates, is around 700,000, more than half living in the conurbation of Santa Cruz. In the southern resorts where most visitors go, you are likely to encounter godos from Galicia and other pooerer regions of the Spainsh mainland, who come here to find work. Tinerfinos are cheerful, gregarious and courteous, with a love of children, parties and football. According to a folk song, ‘Canarians are like the giant Teide, quiet as snow on the outside and fire in the heart’. Their carnival is, after all, one of the greatest in the world. No trace of the tall, fair-haired Guanche survives, though recent DNA sampling, using Gunache mummies, shows traces in a percentage of islanders.

The local Spanish accent is halfway between Madrid and Mexico. The ‘c’ and the ‘z’ are not lisped th as they are on the mainland, and consonants at the end of words sometimes fall away (examples include Sanata Cru’, La’Palma and Jua instead of Juan). Some words come directly form South America (guagua for a bus) others form the colonial past – choni for a foreigner , from the English ‘Johnny’ foreigner.

Where to go

Because the island is not large, it is easy to make forays from any base. Nowhere is far away, as cruise ship passengers discover when docking in Santa Cruz with just four hours ashore, they find they have enough time for a cpacjh to take them to the top of El Teide and back, stopping off at Orotava from some souvenirs, or even to hire a car and make their own way up to the cable car at the summit.

For much of the island you don’t need a car. Buses are regular and inexpensive. From the capital, Santa Cruz, you can have a day out on the opposite coast in Puerto de la Cruz, the north coast resort, stopping off at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of La Laguna, with enough time to enjoy both place sat leisure and return later in the day. From Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas in the south, you can have a day out in these places too. A hire car of course adds convenience and allows you to stop and photograph a view or to inspect flowers, or to take advantage of signs of honey or wine for sale. 

Tourist office website