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Santa Cruz de Tenerife Travel Guide

Travel to Santa Cruz de Tenerife - The Island of Contrasting Landscapes

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Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a beautiful port offering great cultural and leisure activities, and wide avenues, squares, and exotic landscaped areas.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. The city gained importance from its commercial and passenger traffic and for being a major stopover for cruisers en route from Europe to the Caribbean. The history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife stretches back just over 400 years. In fact, in spite of Alonso Fernández de Lugo disembarking on this coast in 1494, the city did not begin to develop until a century later, with its port being the motor for growth which has made this city into the second most populated in the Canary archipelago.

The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, as Añazo. Later, it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic and the Canary Islands, a status it retains to this day. This former fishermen's village rose to prominence after a Volcano destroyed the port of Garachico in the18th century, making of Santa Cruz the major port on the Island. It first won its independence from La Laguna and, in the 19th century, was awarded the status of Capital of the Canary Islands province by King Ferdinand VII.

Attractions in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Major landmarks in Santa Cruz de Tenerife are the Plaza de España, the Tenerife Island Council building, the Plaza de la Candelaria, la Carta Palace, the Guimerá Theatre, the church of San Francisco, the church of la Concepción, García Sanabria Park, the Cesar Manrique Maritime Park, the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre, Mount Teide, the Bishop's Palace, the castle of San Juan, Teide National Park, and Las Teresitas beach.

The city is famous for its Carnival, one of the most spectacular in Spain. This fiesta, which has been declared of International Tourist Interest, is characterised by the spectacular costumes and the performances of the murgas (satirical singing groups), rondallas (musical groups), and comparsas (dance groups).