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Santa Cruz, the island’s capital, has always been one
of
our favourite places. So many little treats lie in store which are hard to
find in tourist areas, like the churros com chocolate. It is
one of those great calorific pleasures in life, sitting outside a
Churreria Chocolateria dunking churros into a cup of rich,
thick, steaming hot chocolate. It is fun to see the churros
being made too, watching the pancake mixture extruded like a fluted
sausage into hot fat and seconds later it is on your plate ready for
dunking! All work and no play has made it seem as though the capital is
unfriendly to visitors but change is most definitely in the air. New on the skyline is a giant wave washed up from the sea, frozen in ice and covering an equally white dome. It is the new auditorium, Tenerife Auditorio. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, this eye-catching piece of dynamic architecture throws down a gauntlet and challenges for identity amongst the world’s most recognised cities. Will it do for Santa Cruz what the Acropolis does for Athens, the Statue of Liberty for New York or the Opera House for Sydney? Only time will tell. The auditorium has been a long time in the womb. Back in 1974 it was nothing more than a spark in father’s eye but ten years later, the seeds were firmly planted. Work started in 1997 and the hall was inaugurated on September 26th 2003 with Prince Felipe as the guest of honour. It is true to say that in the construction of this building, every conceivable corner was cut, just as Santiago Calatrava demanded. This contemporary design is an assembly of curves with barely a straight line in sight. There is as much to admire inside as there is out. The main hall with its fluted ceiling seats over 1700 people without losing its intimacy and the acoustics are brilliant, everything that modern knowledge and science can deliver. There is a smaller Chamber Music Auditorium seating 410 and three smaller halls. In keeping with the clear, sweeping lines, this concrete structure has been clad almost entirely with white ceramic to create a clean appearance. The one part showing raw concrete is the underside of the giant ‘wave’ which arches over the building leaving visitors gazing upward wondering when it will be finished. Also unfinished but part of the plan, is the underground car park. This structure, this emblem, this hope for the future is now the home of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. With concerts taking place in the evening visitors have a great chance to enjoy Santa Cruz throughout the day. Lying just to the south and adjacent to the auditorium is the César Manrique Maritime Park. César Manrique is best known for his wonderful creations on his native Lanzarote where he found the dark volcanic landscape such an inspiration. Gleaming snow white pools filled with blue water blended into lava beds were his trademark. He brought his creations to Tenerife and the two outstanding examples are the Maritime Park here in Santa Cruz and the Martianez Lido in Puerto de la Cruz. So if you are content to laze beneath the palms by the opal blue waters with an occasional swim, there is no better place. Perhaps there is a better place, if your preference is for real beaches. Santa Cruz has Las Teresitas Beach, just about the finest beach on the island. In a scenic setting backed by the mountains of the Anaga Peninsula, it is found in San Andreas, just to the north of the capital. Man-made with sand brought from the Sahara and shaded by Canarian palms, it is an important playground for the people of Santa Cruz. It is where they go to jog, exercise, swim and relax. At present it remains very natural, just the beach and plenty of car parking space. The city has a long-standing wish to develop this area but has met with considerable local opposition to the idea of high rise development. Local wishes have been respected to a point but there is a momentum for change in Santa Cruz which will not be denied. The beach will effectively be developed into a garden village under the direction of the French architect, Dominique Perrault. He plans to snugly isolate the beach with a huge palm grove and an integrated promenade. Hidden behind will be a shopping plaza and a cultural centre. The centre will house the Tenerife Fishing Museum and sports facilities. These grand plans are expected to reach fruition late next year. Improvements are the talk of the town just now as Santa Cruz struggles for reinvention. Ambitions are riding high and nothing but the best will be good enough. The award winning team of Herzog and De Mauron, designers of London’s Tate Modern Art Gallery, have been employed to design a new cultural and contemporary arts centre, the Oscar Dominguez Centre, which will open later in 2004. They are also in charge of a project to pedestrianise and massively expand the existing Plaza de España to link the Auditorium area with the town. The main road will take less prominence and much of the ugly port area will be replaced by a gleaming new marina and additional parking. Reinvention knows no bounds, there is yet one more dream, a Metro connecting the capital first to La Laguna and eventually all the way south to Las Americas. Back to the here and now, Santa Cruz does not fare badly for attractions. It offers the best shopping on the island and is a balm for visitors who cannot get through a holiday without a serious dose of shopping therapy. For a touch of local colour, the best place to start is the African Market. It lies a short walk inland from the bus station. The bus station in Santa Cruz is well located and convenient for the new Auditorium, the César Manrique Maritime Park and the best shopping. If you are up for the churros com chocolate, then dive into one of the cafés by the African Market. This is the place to buy flowers, fruit and vegetables, speciality cheeses, maize for gofio, fish, meat, herbs and spices, everything that brings a Canarian kitchen to life. Venture this way on a Sunday morning and you will find yourself amidst the chaos and bustle of a huge flea market, the biggest on the island Also on the not to be missed list is the historic old centre. It starts in the Plaza de España near the sea front which is the setting for the annual Shrove Tuesday carnival. A pedestrianised shopping precinct now awaits, grandly proclaimed as one of the largest outdoor shopping centres in Europe. The quickest way to get an overview of the old centre, cast a eye over the architecture and decide where you might like to visit in leisure, is to take a tour on the tourist train. It starts in the centre, departs hourly and meanders around the old centre on a 45 minute journey. Sometimes it is good to have a brief escape from the noise and bustle of the city. One of our favourite places, when there is a coffee and cake in the offing, is to head to the Plaza del Principe de Asturias inland and off to the right. If we feel in need of an even more restful ambience then we head a little further out, along Calle de El Pilar from the Plaza, to Parque García Sanabria where the terrazas are great for a drink amongst the greenery. Conveniently on hand here in Santa Cruz is the perfect antidote from an overdose of shopping therapy, the Archaeological Museum. Here is a chance to quietly fill the cup of culture to overflowing and there is a mystery to solve too, the origins of the Guanches, the original inhabitants of Tenerife. This museum is strong on Guanche history and culture but it still leaves many unanswered questions, does the stone with Berber writing suggest the Guanches were from Saharan Africa or does their practice of embalming the dead, considered together with the pyramids at Güímar, suggest links with Egypt? Return to Contents |
 New Auditorium
Concert Hall
Teresitas Beach
Teide National Park
César Manrique Maritime Park When the day is all but spent and you are wandering back towards the Auditorio to take in a concert, leave a little time to look around by the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. The church with its tall bell tower is one of the most striking in the capital and, curiously, it bears a very fine, traditional Canarian wooden balcony. The nearby streets are filled with carefully preserved traditional colonial houses. Why wait for any new signs to be erected, real or imaginary, announcing they are now ready for visitors? Santa Cruz provides the best insight into the life and traditions of the ordinary people on Tenerife and there is so much to enjoy. It also has vision, a dream of renaissance, with so many plans to make it a better place. It already has life, colour, culture, energy and a new home for the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra so enjoy it now and come back again and remember how it was.
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