Santa Cruz de Tenerife Holidays

Santa Cruz differs a little from Tenerife's classic beach-based resorts. It’s the joint capital of the Canary Islands, and delivers a bustling city feel in place of the usual laidback vibe. The harbourside’s always buzzing, with cruise ships dropping anchor and ferries setting sail for neighbouring islands. Dig into the centre, and you’ll find museums, pretty botanical gardens and high street fashion brands balled together.

Castilian sailors set up camp in Santa Cruz in the late 15th century, and the city’s gone from strength-to-strength ever since. The Baroque and Tuscan-inspired Church of the Immaculate Conception’s one of the most eye-catching historic structures, and has a bell tower that peeks above the rooftops. Antiques are sold at vintage markets in the old town, and family-run restaurants spill out onto the cobbled pavements.

The city might have an authentic Canarian image, but it also has a slick, modern edge, too. Big-name stores populate the lively shopping streets, and a wide manmade lake sits opposite the vast port. There’s a 22,000-seater football stadium in the thick of things, and an arts centre that looks like something from Star Trek at first glance. The city’s architectural gem, though, is the Auditorio de Tenerife – a huge auditorium on the waterfront that looks like a cross between a Spartan battle helmet and an eagle’s talon.

Follow the coastline to a point just north of Santa Cruz, and you’ll come to a long beach that doesn’t fit the usual Canarian mould. The shoreline at Playa de las Teresitas is made up of sand from the Sahara Desert, which was shipped in to set this sunbathing stretch apart from its black-sand rivals. A rocky manmade reef keeps the shallows super-calm, and you’ve got palm trees and a dramatic hillside for a backdrop.