Home to the archipelago's biggest
container shipping port and a number
of oil refineries,
SANTA CRUZ
is no aesthete's delight, but its
uniquely Canarian urban vibrance is
hard to find elsewhere on the
island. From the time of the landing
of the first conquistadors, Santa
Cruz became the island's main port
and, as Tenerife became a routine
stop-off for replenishing supplies
before the final leg of the journey
to the New World, Spanish galleons
would regularly anchor here and the
town was well-fortified to protect
them. Santa Cruz continues to be a
convenient and popular port of call
for navies of the world, tankers and
Atlantic trawlers. As the island's
capital city and the administrative
and financial centre for the four
westernmost Canary Islands, it has
grown into a bustling, modern
Spanish town, a grid of narrow
shopping streets, parks and plazas,
intersected by several wide bustling
avenues.
The centre is easy to explore on
foot, and though there are few real
sights save for a couple of churches
and some good museums, the pretty
parks and plazas are pleasant to
wander around and the absence of the
resort racket makes a welcome change
from the island's other major centers.
The Town
of Santa Cruz
Despite its age and importance,
Santa Cruz itself has relatively few
sights, with most of the island's
most elegant historic buildings
being erected in La Laguna, the
capital until 1722. However, it's
easy to spend a pleasant and
worthwhile day wandering...
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