WHEN I mention Tenerife to most people they usually think of the bustling southern resorts that Scots flock in their thousands to every year. They don’t normally think of urban chic, the world’s biggest Carnaval outside Rio and a superb capital city that rates as one of the most thrilling in Spain. In short, they don’t think of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
I’m arriving this time by ferry from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the city’s great Canarian rival, which I shared a trip to on this page recently. It’s a spectacular way to approach as the hulking Anaga mountains rear to the north of the city in a scene Lord Nelson once shared, perhaps admired, before the locals took exception to his invasion plans and fired the shot that famously took off his right arm. I’ve heard more than one local joke that the reason Tenerife and Scotland share the same flag is that we gave it to Tenerife in thanks.
My arrival is more pacific, indeed charming as the whole waterfront has been pedestrianised since I was last here, transformed into a boulevard alive with strolling families, roller bladers and cyclists. I join them heading south in search of what is for me the city’s greatest sight.
Santiago Calatrava’s epic Auditorio de Tenerife is Tenerife’s Sydney Open House, a soaring modern icon overlooking the Atlantic that is designed to resemble a breaking wave. It’s a truly brilliant building, best savoured by walking around it, taking it all in, before catching a performance. They stage everything from rock gigs, through to classical concerts and on to opera.
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Pushing deeper into the city much of the centre is pleasantly pedestrianised. And alive with independent shops alongside cafés, bars and restaurants. This is a year-round warm city whose citizens firmly believe in outdoor living. I join them ambling upwards to the Parque Garcia Salabria, my favourite green lung in Santa Cruz. It is awash with paths, a floral clock, cafes serving ice cream and a wine bar that showcases some of Tenerife’s increasingly fine wines.
When the sun comes down in Santa Cruz de Tenerife I head for La Noria district. This revamped collage of pastel hued buildings is a pedestrianised joy with a flurry of restaurants. I recommend going down the tapas route with a drink and a single dish at a few places.
This atmospheric district is also renowned as the hub of the Carnaval societies. They burrow away all year hatching plans for their nefarious, often satiric, performance art for when Carnaval arrives, which this year rages on right through to February 26.
Just on the edge of La Noria is TEA. The Tenerife Espacio de las Artes is my favourite cultural attraction. It looks like a sleek spaceship that has just landed in the city; its triangular designs sculpted to allow in as much light as possible. There are three floors with ever-changing exhibitions to enjoy, with a library too, as well as a welcoming café and an arthouse cinema.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife sports many more attractions of its own, such as an old world food market El Mercado Nuestra Senora de Africa, which dates back to 1858. It’s alive with all manner of exotic fruit and veg, plus all the fruits of the deep.
There is a glorious Museo de Belles Artes too. Santa Cruz is also an ideal base for hiking in the Anaga mountains, as close as you’ll get to a rainforest in Spain.
The Unesco World Heritage listed city of La Laguna is just a tram ride away, with its gorgeous old core, replete with mansions graced with wooden hanging balconies. Push further west and Puerto de la Cruz, a tourist resort that has been attracting Scots since Victorian times, tempts.
I finish my return to Santa Cruz de Tenerife harking back to those sunny beach holidays. The city doesn’t have its own beach, so they imported sand and built their own beach just north of the city – Playa de las Teresitas.
It’s a sheer joy, backed by the verdant hills of the Anaga and the village of San Andres, which vaults off up the hillside in a sweep of brightly painted houses that give the scene a feel more of South American than Iberia. Reclining on the sands in January in 23C heat I raise a wee toast to Tenerife’s glorious capital.
It really stacks up brilliantly for a city break with a beach on hand too.
EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) fly to Tenerife from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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