TENERIFE

I was here: 5 days in May 2012.
Recommended number of days: to visit the island, at least 4, to enjoy it peacefully there is no time limit.
My score: 3/5.

In 2019 alone, the Canary Islands received 15 and a half million international tourists, almost 20% of all international tourists in Spain, for an area that barely reaches 1.5% of the national territory. Of these, 6 million went to Tenerife, the most visited of the Lucky Islands, and not by chance; If we only had those 4 or 5 days to visit the Canary Islands, which would be a shame not to say an insult to this excellent Spanish archipelago, Tenerife is if not the best, by far it is the most complete.

It will not be easy, but in Tenerife we can find some small towns removed from the radar of tourists. For the rest, almost everything are cities:
- To the northeast there are two cities of size to consider, Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital, the largest city with the greatest number of amenities, shops, restaurants, and if was not for its futuristic Calatrava’s auditorium, in global terms it is nothing special in terms of beauty. More interesting is the neighboring San Cristóbal de La Laguna, whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- To the south, of smaller size but with all kinds of comforts and leisure offer, and like the previous ones with their soul sold to tourism, the municipalities of Arona and Adeje concentrate almost half of the tourists of the island, being the villages of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas the closest thing to Benidorm or Torremolinos.
- The northwest coast is dominated by Puerto de la Cruz (yes, here all the names are this sacrosanct) and La Orotava, for its services, and for being the most frequent entrance to the star of the nature of the island.
Nature:
- Teide National Park is one of the most important in Spain. It is the one that receives the most visits, and at the same time the one that less people walk, and it is that this national park is suitable for all tastes and capacities, we can spend whole days hiking through steep mountains and abrasive terrain until we can start to notice the lack of oxygen, or we can go from here to there in our car and climb to the top of the highest mountain in the country by cable car.
- There are all kinds of beaches. Those of fine yellow sand, many of them artificial, will be unfortunately full, but there are more small rocky beaches and black sand.
- Los Gigantes (Giants) Cliffs are another highlight of its orography. And in that area, we recommend the vertiginous interior roads, especially Masca and Punta de Teno, which were included in the sixth film of the Fast & Furious saga for a reason.
- For divers, in addition to the always appetizing wrecks, the almost tropical climate of the islands offers abundant marine fauna including corals, stingrays, turtles and many types of fish, and their volcanic origin ensures us caves, but what stand out are the spectacular submerged basaltic columns (only for experts), the most famous being La Rapadura.
- And although not as remarkable as in La Gomera or La Palma, it has its small section of Canarian rain forest, called Laurisilva in Anaga Rural Park.

And so, Tenerife is the most popular destination in one of the most visited regions of the 2nd country in terms of international tourists. There must be a reason.