The reputation of Playa de las Americas
as a concrete jungle of tackiness
and hedonism is second to none in
the Canaries. This three-kilometre
long sprawl of hotel and apartment
complexes, housing some 100,000
beds, divides up into a number of
districts with subtly different
characters.
Central Las Americas was
thrown up in the 1970s to cash in on
the booming tourist trade. What
emerged was a number of particularly
ugly complexes - but they were cheap
and holidays here sold well, at
least at first. By the mid-1980s the
resort's popularity began to
dwindle, partly from competition
elsewhere and partly because many of
the resort's facilities were
becoming tatty and unappealing.
Despite renovation attempts since,
the bland concrete commercial
centres at the heart of the resort
remain - though they now house the
throbbing nightlife for which the
resort is notorious and as such form
the main attraction for many young
visitors to the island.
To improve the resort's image and
finances there has been some effort
to attract more affluent tourists,
with four- and five-star hotels
apearing in the more salubrious
districts on the edges of Playa de
las Americas. Just north of central
Las Americas, San Eugenio
and its British-dominated northern
neighbour Torviscas have
successfully become family
destinations, while the new yachting
marina Puerto Colon between
the two is slowly emerging as a
trendy stop-off for the yachting
set. At the northern fringes of Las Americas
is the soulless but
relatively stylish and rapidly
expanding resort of Fañabé
- though visitors should be aware
that its beach is still under
construction as are many of its
swanky hotels, which huddle around
empty shopping centres. The Gran
Hotel Melia Bahía del Duque ,
the most luxurious accommodation on
the island, is at the northern end
of this district.
Attempting to project a similar,
exclusive image as Fañabé, Los
Moritos , to the south of
central Las Americas and bordering
Los Cristianos (leaving it no space
to sprawl) is near some of the least
crowded beaches - the extravagant
architecture of the five-star Mare
Nostrum Resort setting the local
tone.
