CinX's Travels 2017

Time for some different scenery, so we go to...

Tenerife (/tɛnəˈriːf/; Spanish: [teneˈɾife]) is the largest and most populated island of the seven Canary Islands. It is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 square kilometres (785 sq mi) and 898,680 inhabitants, 43 percent of the total population of the Canary Islands. Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of Macaronesia.

About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the most of any of the Canary Islands. It is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and the world. Tenerife hosts one of the world's largest carnivals and the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is working to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Served by two airports, Tenerife North Airport and Tenerife South Airport, Tenerife is the economic centre of the archipelago. The 1977 collision of two Boeing 747 passenger jets at Tenerife North Airport, resulting in 583 deaths, remains the deadliest aviation accident in world history.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the island and the seat of the island council (cabildo insular). The city is capital of the autonomous community of Canary Islands (shared with Las Palmas), sharing governmental institutions such as Presidency and ministries. Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 the Crown ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. Santa Cruz contains the modern Auditorio de Tenerife, the architectural symbol of the Canary Islands.

The island is home to the University of La Laguna; founded in 1792 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, it is the oldest university in the Canaries. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city is the second to have been founded on the island, and is the third of the archipelago. The city of La Laguna was capital of the Canary Islands before Santa Cruz replaced it in 1833.

Teide National Park, a World Heritage Site in the center of the island, has Teide, the highest elevation of Spain, the highest of the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, and the third-largest volcano in the world from its base. Also located on the island, Macizo de Anaga since 2015 has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It has the largest number of endemic species in Europe.

CinX · September 26, 2017, 06:35:50 PM

Landing on the island...

Landing at Tenerife South airport by cinxxx, on Flickr

Landing at Tenerife South airport by cinxxx, on Flickr

The view after waking up in the morning

Costa Del Silencio by cinxxx, on Flickr

CinX · September 26, 2017, 06:36:59 PM

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (/ˌsæntəˈkruːz/, Spanish: [santaˈkɾuθ, -ˈkɾus], locally: [sãtaˈkɾu]), is a city and capital (jointly with Las Palmas) of the Canary Islands, the capital of Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and of the island of Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its administrative limits. The urban zone of Santa Cruz extends beyond the city limits with a population of 507,306 and 538,000 within urban area. It is the second largest city in the Canary Islands and the main city on the island of Tenerife, with nearly half the island population living in or around it.

Santa Cruz is located in northeast quadrant of Tenerife, about 210 kilometres (130 mi) off the northwestern coast of Africa within the Atlantic Ocean. The distance to the nearest point of mainland Spain is about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi). Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands, until 1927 when a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. The port is of great importance and is the communications hub between Europe, Africa and Americas, with cruise ships arriving from many nations. The city is the focus for domestic and inter-island communications in the Canary Islands.

The city is home to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Canarian Ministry of the Presidency (shared on a four-year cycle with Las Palmas), one half of the Ministries and Boards of the Canarian Government, (the other half being located in Gran Canaria), the Tenerife Provincial Courts and two courts of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. There are several faculties of the La Laguna University in Santa Cruz, including the Fine Arts School and the Naval Sciences Faculty. Its harbour is one of Spain's busiest; it comprises three sectors. It is important for commercial and passenger traffic, as well as for being a major stopover for cruisers en route from Europe to the Caribbean. The city also has one of the world's largest carnivals. The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife now aspires to become a World Heritage Site, and is the most important of Spain and the second largest in the world.

The main landmarks of the city include the Auditorio de Tenerife (Auditorium of Tenerife), the Santa Cruz Towers (Torres de Santa Cruz) and the Iglesia de la Concepción. Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts the first headquarters of the Center UNESCO in the Canary Islands. In recent years the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has seen the construction of a significant number of modern structures and the city's skyline is the sixth in height across the country, only behind Madrid, Benidorm, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao.

In 2012, the British newspaper The Guardian included Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the list of the five best places in the world to live.

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CinX's Travels 2017