Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands

Tenerife, as the title says, is the largest island of the Canary Archipelago. With an area of more than 2,034.38 km2, it is the most inhabited not only of the Canary Islands but of all the Spanish islands, it has 898,680 inhabitants. It is part of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, is located next to the northwestern coast of Africa and is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. Together with the sister islands of La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera, they form the Spanish province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is a modern and commercial city with an important fishing and commercial port that lately receives great quantity of tourist cruises. Of modern and stately architecture, we can highlight the houses of the Rambla de las Tinajas and the Auditorium of Tenerife, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The García Sanabria park and the Palmetum are places worth visiting for the great variety of palm trees and tropical plants that they exhibit.

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Tenerife has another important big city, La Laguna.

The old town of La Laguna has been named a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It is the oldest city in the Canary Islands and where the Adelantado was established at the time of the conquest. Its old houses, churches and convents tell us about a historical past full of mysteries.

Puerto de la Cruz, in the north of the island, is the pioneer city of international tourism in the Canary Islands.

The city of Puerto de la Cruz is a tourist par excellence, it is a reference center for many visitors, a small, quiet and charming city. Its Botanical garden, the Taoro Park, San Telmo street or the small streets of the fishermen’s quarter have all the charm of the small fishing village that once was. In the central Plaza del Charco you will find an AUTOS PLAZA office where you can rent cars at very low prices. The other two offices are located at No. 2 Venezuela Street and at the Avenida Familiar Bethencourt and Molina, 31. We should not forget in Tenerife the new tourist focus and more boisterous emerged in recent years in the south, the Playa de las Américas in the municipalities of Arona and Adeje.

But above all, highlights in Tenerife, the Teide National Park, also listed as a World Heritage Site. This Park is the most visited in Spain and one of the most admired in the world. Stresses especially because it is the majestic Mount Teide which is the highest elevation in Spain and the third largest volcano in the world from its base on the seabed. But I’ll tell you more about it later on.