The Teno-range in the west of Tenerife and the Anaga-mountains are a famous destination for active holiday makers and those who like hiking and exploring.

The visitor finds many small original villages, which escaped from the mass tourism because of their location far away from the popular beaches and the big cities. One learns about the roots of civilization of Tenerife and can enjoy the intact landscape and meet the autochthonous people living there.

We explored the moste interesting and charming places of the island to give you some usefull tips.
One of the most beautiful beaches, called Playa de las Teresitas, is situated in the north-east of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the island. Playa de las Teresitas has been created artificially with sand from the Sahara desert, you can enjoy a safe bathing pleasure as well adequate for children.

In the south of the island of Tenerife you can find different natural sandy beaches at El Medano and artificially created ones in the tourist resorts like Las Americas and Los Cristianos.

La Tarta:

In San Lorenzo, Adeje and Arona you can find a lot of lookout points ofer a rugged area with canyons and isolated mountain paths with a magnificent panorama view over the south of the island, which is a famous sunbathing area with beaches.

The regions we mentioned for you are a paradise for nature lovers. But also climbers and mountaineers.
Under mountaineers and hikers Tenerife is a very popular destination. Guided groups and individual hikers find accommodation in mountain cottages, small mountain hotels, youth hostels.

Guided holidays for hikers can be booked in advance in internet.

The colour palette of the isle is dominated by the black lava sand, some ocher coloured sand beaches and a deep green of the varied vegetation.

The colour green of the vegetation is dominating on the three smaller Canary Islands of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.
Instead on Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote the landscape is formed by drough rocks and desert regions similar to the Sahara.
A lot of creativity from the native canarys has been necessary to make agriculture and cultivation possible.

The attraction of Tenerife is its versatility. There are lively colonial towns and romantic mountains which are crowned by a volcano, the Pico del Teide. The volcano is 3718 meters high and is Spains highest mountain.

You can get to know Tenerife on extensive walks through hidden mountain pathes. In the range of Anaga and on an exciting discoverer tours in the Teide national park or in the mountains of Teno you can discover the soul of the vulcanic island.
Where can you see such a bizarre volcanic landscape full of craters, solidified magma rivers like on Tenerife?

Within a few minutes, anyway one comes from a climatic zone by car into the next one.
So for example it can happen that you start from the Puerto de La Cruz in the north of the island with cloudy weather and you drive in direction to Bajamar or Tacoronte, only a few kilometers, and you will find sunshine there.

The complete northeast of the island of Tenerife is formed by a rugged area. The massif rises steeply up from the Atlantic, which is forming the precipitous coast. The range of Anaga is abundantly covered with vegetation for the most part and sometimes veiled by clouds.

Places you should visit are the botanic garden and the Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz, or the small idyllic mountain village Masca situated in the romantic range of Teno.

Another highlight of Tenerife are the historical centers of La Orotava and La Laguna. For who is interested in winegrowing culture, the wine museum in El Sauzal in the north of the island, would be interesting to visit.

Also battling for the coveted nomination will be the mainland cities of Cordoba, Cuenca, Cáceres, Burgos, Tarragona, Pamplona, Zaragoza, Segovia, Valencia and Alcalá de Henares.

And while Santa Cruz may not have some of the glamour of its peninsula rivals, it need not feel inferior in any way.

The stunning Auditorio rivals any concert hall anywhere in Spain for sheer architectural magnificence, while the annual carnival is hugely popular both locally and internationally.

It also has in its environs the World Heritage Site of La Laguna and the sheer natural beauty of the Anaga Mountains.

The European Capital of Culture is designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which the city has a chance to showcase its cultural life and development.

A number of European cities have used the City of Culture year to transform their cultural base and, in doing so, the way in which they are viewed internationally.

Conceived as a means of bringing citizens of the EU closer together, it was launched in 1985 and was the brainchild of the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri.

Since then, the initiative has become more and more successful, having an increasing cultural, social and economic impact on the chosen cities.

Three Spanish cities have so far been honoured – Madrid in 1992, Santiago de Compostela in 2000 and Salamanca in 2002.

Glasgow is thus far the only UK city to be honoured, though Liverpool takes the accolade in 2008.

Thousands saw it, mostly in the east and north of the island, describing a brilliant fireball that flashed across the night sky shortly after 10pm.

It happened on Sunday May 7 and hundreds of people called the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) seeking an explanation of the phenomenon.

Because it happened at a weekend there were many witnesses to the unusual event. Sunday had been a fine day on Tenerife and many people were returning to their homes from a day at the beach, in the mountains or with friends and family.

From the many hundreds of eye witness accounts, scientists were able to paint what they believe to be a fairly accurate picture of what happened.

It was around 10.30pm that radio stations on the island broke into their normal programmes to broadcast calls from witnesses who told of having seen a huge light in the sky.

Some said it had the appearance of a meteor but was much brighter, others feared it might have an aircraft crashing in flames.

That latter theory was quickly discounted by aviation authorities, confirming that no aircraft were unaccounted for. The object had not registered on air traffic control, military radar or on any of the many reconnaissance satellites that girdle the earth.

Many witnesses said it had been visible for around five seconds and looked like a comet with a long tail, others that a bright flash of light was seen as it disappeared.

A family in Tegueste reported that the final flash of light was so bright it lit up the inside of their home. An amateur astronomer in Santa Cruz reported hearing a noise, while others spoke of hearing a dull rumble in the distance.

In Puerto de la Cruz, two observers described the light as disappearing to the north. Some spoke of seeing Mount Teide lit up briefly, while in La Laguna reports described watching it disappear over the Anaga Mountains.

After studying the many reports from Tenerife and adding those from eye witnesses in the neighbouring islands of Gran Canaria and La Palma, IAC scientists concluded that it had indeed been a meteor and furthermore they had been able to plot quite accurately its progress across the night sky.

So sure were they of their findings that they were able to say with firm conviction that the meteorite had weighed around half a kilogram, that it had passed over the Atlantic Ocean, had started to burn up between the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuertaventura and travelled north west before exploding and falling into the ocean some 75 miles north of Tenerife.

Any surviving fragments might have yielded further information but they were well out of reach on the ocean floor at a depth of 3,000 metres.