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A brief history of Tenerife

Known to the Romans as Nivaria (from the Latin nix, nivis, "snow"), a reference to the snows atop the volcano known as El Teide, Tenerife bears a name that is also a reference to this volcano, and was used for the island by the Guanches of the neighboring island of La Palma, “Tene” signifying “mountain” and “ife” white (the “r” was added by the Spanish). To the natives of Tenerife, the island was known as Chenech, Chinech or Achinech. As the legend goes, many islands, among them Tenerife, were the uppermost peaks of Atlantis, a continent that sank under the ocean in a catastrophic event which left only the highest mountains above sea level.

It is also believed that nearly 3 million years ago the island known today as Tenerife was three separate islands with three mountain ranges: the Anaga, Teno and Valle San Lorenzo. Then, as the consequence of a remarkable volcanic process, they melted together forming the island of Tenerife.

Tenerife at the time of its conquest was composed of nine distinct menceyatos, as the small kingdoms of the Guanches were known. Though the Spanish forces under the Adelantado ("military governor") Alonso Fernández de Lugo, suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Guanches in the First Battle of Acentejo in 1494, the Guanches, eventually overcome by superior technology and diseases to which they were not immune, surrendered to the Crown of Castile on December 25, 1495.

The current weather in Tenerife is shown below.

Tenerife / Sur Reina Weather Forecast, Spain

Tenerife Cities and Resorts

Tenerife has two fairly distinct climatic zones. The North which includes Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital city of the island, La Laguna, La Orotava and Puerto de La Cruz and the South which includes the areas of El Médano, Golf del Sur, Palm Mar, Los Cristianos, Playa de Las Americas, Costa Adeje, Callao Salvaje, Playa San Juan and Los Gigantes.

It is fair to say that the drier and warmer southern areas are now the most popular tourist destinations, although this was not always the case, with Puerto de La Cruz and Santa Cruz being the original destinations of choice for visitors to the island.

In fact, the south was very much unspoiled and undeveloped until the early 1970's when one of the first hotels appeared in the then tiny and sleepy fishing village of Los Cristianos.That Hotel, the Hotel Reveron Plaza still stands and remains a popular base for many visitors due to it's location on the church square at the heart of Los Cristianos.

You can see some interesting photos HERE of how Tenerife has developed and changed over the years.

Over the last 10 or 15 years, Los Cristianos has gradually expanded to join with the neighbouring Playa de Las Americas, thought to be so named as it was a stop off point for ships travelling to the Americas in centuries past. In turn, Playa de Las Americas has spread ever westwards along the coast, with new coastal resorts appearing over the years. Torviscas, Fañabe, Puerto Colon, Playa del Duque to name but a few of the new areas to be generated for the holiday sector over the years.