Tenerife is situated to the west of Sahara Desert. It was once colonized by the Spanish and ever since is internationally recognized as one of many Spain’s islands. Prior to the colonization by the Spanish, the island was inhabited by Guanches.
Santa Cruz being the capital of Tenerife and the capital of the Canary Islands is Las Palmas.
Tenerife is amongst the chain of Canarian Islands. It is the largest by size and population amongst the rest of the seven Canarian Islands. The native language of Tenerife is Spanish. However, English and German are widely used languages due to Tenerife being is very popular tourist destination. As the island attracts more than five million tourists annually.
Many of Tenerife’s beaches are not natural, but man-made due to the island’s volcanic nature. Tenerife has one of the rarest natural black sand beaches, due to the ashes from the Tiede volcano spreading across the beach sand.
Speak of the volcano! Right in the center of the island, a large active volcano is located, by the name of Teide. Tenerife’s Teide National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the second most visited park in the entire world. The volcano reaches a height of 3,718 meters. The volcano is the third highest volcano in the world.
The local brand of Dorada beer can be found nowhere in the world except for Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Tenerife also produces delicious locally brewed beers and sangrias.
Every February, Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts one of the biggest and most colourful carnivals in the world, just after the famous carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Tajaraste is a traditional dance and music style that originates from Tenerife. This dance has its origin in the original Guanche cultures and is still alive thanks to local folklore groups. Tajaraste is characterized by its vibrant colors, energetic movement and rhythmic music.
Tenerife has one of the leading sun and night sky observatories in the world. Built by the verity of European science and astronomical agencies, the Observatorio del Teide is the largest solar observatory in the world and is located at an altitude of 2,390 meters above sea level. Scientists from all over the world come to study the sun and other astronomical phenomena.
In the small village of Fuente Alta in the Vilaflor region, there is a spring whose water is known for its healing properties. The water from this spring is rich in minerals and the locals consider it an elixir of youth and health.
Due to often favorable warm weather and tropical climate of the island, a lot of inhabitants of the island are very motivated to train in variety of sports. Local youth of the island tend to train in both boxing and mix martial combat sport. There are often variety of internationally recognized combat sport events taking place in the island, such as One MMA Championship.
The local food of Tenerife is superbly delicious. As the island is situated in the crossroads between the Arabian culture and Western culture, the island provides vast variety of cuisines. A lot of fruits, vegetables, meat and especially seafood products are locally produced. This allows many local restaurants of the island to offer verity of international dishes for affordable price. Many visitors of the island can try out traditional cuisine or accustomed cuisine of India, China, Russia, Turkey and many more.