The Barranco del Infierno is a popular and faily easy hike along a gorge. There are no rivers on Tenerife, but water drains away to the sea after rain fall down one of the islands many barrancos (gullies). This particular barranco got its name during the Spanish Civil War, as it was the site of many executions.

The Barranco del Infierno is closed to the public as it is considered to be unsafe

La Orotava is a town founded in the 16^th century and is the craft centre of Tenerife. The town is located in the Orotava valley overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal town of Puerto de la Cruz. The town has some of the best preserved historical architecture in the Canary Islands, with fine examples of Spanish colonial buildings dating back to the 16th century. La Orotava’s importance grew when wealthy families from La Laguna moved to the area and built mansions and churches in the 18th century. There are many historic places to see in La Orotava.

Getting to La Orotava is easy, just catch a bus. From the bus station at La Orotava follow the signs to the old town.

The old town of La Orotava is an amazing area with narrow hilly streets lined with beautiful 17th and 18th century buildings. Many of the buildings have the traditional teak balconies and internal court yards where the buildings have overlooking teak terraces with palms in the centre of the shaded court yard.

The main square at the Plaza de la Constitución, here there is an amazing view down the Orotava valley to the coast. Here also is the casa da la Cultura San Augustine a monastery church dating back to 1694. There is also a nice café, Bar Parada, in the square where you can relax and enjoy a coffee or a glass of wine or beer.

Just along the Plaza from the café located above the plaza is the brightly painted Liceo de Taoro which is a mansion built in the 19th century and is now a luxury private club and casino. For a small fee you can become a member for the day and enjoy a drink.

The town hall is a 19^th century building, painted pink, set in a square lined with beautiful old buildings and tall palm trees. From here you should walk up the narrow hilly street to the Calle San Francisco where the highlight of La Orotava is located, Los Casas de los Balcones (The Houses of the Balconies).

These are two magnificent 17^th century houses that have been joined together and you get a real feel of the Spanish colonial times. The exterior of the buildings have a series of impressive carved teak balconies. Inside there is court yard with palms and ferns with overhanging balconies and a small museum where you can see hoe the families that lived here existed.

There is shop here selling embroidery and traditional items and a fine wine shop at the rear of the courtyard.

Opposite Los Casas de los Balcones is casa del Turista which was built in 1590 and was once a convent. Here there is a coffee shop and gift and craft shop. The Casa del Turista has a car park and the terrace has fantastic views over the Orotava valley to the sea.

Just up the hill is the Plaza San Francisco where there are the remains of an old gofio mill and a fine specimen of a dragon tree.

Where is La Orotava

La Oratava is situated in the north of Tenerife in the La Orotava valley above the seaside resort of Puerto de la Cruz. La Orotava is approximately 105km by road from the southern resort of Playa de las Americas and the journey takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Tenerife Airport Departures

Live up to the minute Tenerife South Airport Departures Board Flight Information direct from Tenerife Airport. Below is accurate live Tenerife Airport Departures Board Information from the departures hall at Reina Sofia airport in south Tenerife. This live feed from Tenerife departures board has up to date flight departure information from Tenerife Sur Reina Sofia Airport.

The deparure board shows flight information including the flight number, airline, flight destination, departure time and current flight status of outbound flights.

Watch our real time live Tenerife aircraft movement radar where you can actually watch live aircraft movement inbound and outbound from the Canary Islands moving on a map along with the flight details transmited from transpnders on the airplanes.

Tenerife South Airport TFS Departures

Todays Tenerife south airport departures live flight updates

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

Also available on our website is the Tenerife Airport arrivals board.

Tenerife Airport Arrivals

Tenerife airport arrivals board flight information direct from the airport. This is the most accurate Tenerife south arrivals board information available anywhere. This live feed has up to date fight arrival information from Tenerife south Airport arrivals hall. The flights are shown as 'En Route' or 'Landed' with the expected arrival time and if the flight is delayed.

Clicking on the filght number will show further information about the flight arrivals time.

We also have a live aircraft movement radar showing the air traffic inbound and outbound from the Canary Islands on a map, where you can actually watch the live movement of aircraft in real time, along with the flight details being transmitted by the aircraft transponders.

If you need the times of flight departures today then the Tenerife Airport departures board for all flights departing from Tenerife today is available.

Tenerife South Airport TFS Arrivals

Todays Tenerife south airport arrivals live flight updates

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

Tenerife has two modern international airports, one in the south of Tenerife (TFS) and another in the north of Tenerife (TFN), linking the island to the main cities in Europe. There are direct flights with regular charter and scheduled flights from 198 European cities.

The average flight time to Tenerife from the UK is approximately four hours, depending on headwinds.

Tenerife South Airport

The airport in the south of Tenerife handles the vast majority of international flights and almost all of the flights from the UK. Tenerife Sur airports proper name is Reina Sofia airport and is located on the south coast in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona and was opened on 6 November 1978, by Queen Sofía of Spain.

The south airport handled over 7 million passengers in 2010. The airport was constructed due to problems with the airport in the north with bad weather conditions that persisted because of its location at altitude. This was exemplified when the world’s worst aviation distarer happened at Tenerife North in 1977 when two Boing 747’s collided on the runway in fog.

Significant improvements are being carried out to the airport terminals to keep up with the increasing air traffic demand. The airport currently offers over 100 connecting flight routes and its busiest day is on Fridays.

Tenerife south airport is about 60km from the capital Santa Cruz. The TF1 motorway that connects the south of Tenerife with Santa Cruz and the north of Tenerife passes the airport and it is about 25 minutes’ drive to Plays de las Americas from Tenerife Sur airport.

 

View the Tenerife airport arrivals board at Reina Sofia and the Tenerife south airport departures board.

There are a number of shops and café/bars and restaurants

Buses run from the airport to the south resorts and to Santa Cruz.

Route 111: Santa Cruz and Playa de las Americas

Route 343: Puerto de la Cruz and Costa Adeje

There are also taxis available from outside the terminal to the east of the building.

The airport also has a fee paying public car park and a passenger drop off point. Car hire is available from inside the terminal from several car hire companies.

Tenerife North Airport

Tenerife North airport handles flights from Spain mainland, Europe, North America and the other Canary Islands the busiest route being from Madrid. The airports proper name is Los Rodos airport and is located in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 11km from Santa Cruz at an altitude of 600 meters and handled over 4 million passengers in 2010. Los Rodos has been in operation since 1930 and is where General Franco left the island to begin the Spanish civil war in 1936.

 

Los Rodeos airport is also the site of the worst aviation disaster in history when two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided on the runway during fog in 1977 with the loss of 583 lives.

There is a selection of cafes and bars, a handful of shops and a VIP lounge in the terminal building.

The airport is accessed via the TF5 motorway that links Santa Cruz with Puerto de la Cruz.

Busses operate from the airport regularly, bus routes operating are:

Route 102 between Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz,

Route 107 between Santa Cruz and Buenavista

Route 108 between Santa Cruz and Icod de los Vinos

Route 340 between Puerto de la Cruz and Adejar in the south

Taxis are available from a taxi range outside the terminal building.

Car parking is available opposite the terminal building.

 

 

James Blunt is to play at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, on 28th July 2011 as part of his world tour. Ticket prices €40 - €50 are available from the box office at the Auditorio or online at generaltickets.com

Starting your holidays on the right foot is something to be desired as the stress levels when trying to get to the airport on time to catch your holiday flight can raise dramatically. Getting to the airport can be a bit tricky and expensive, some airports do not have train stations and taxis are expensive and can sometimes be unreliable. You could get someone to drop you off but you don’t like to ask or your flight may be at an inconvenient time.

Driving yourself to the airport keeps you in control of the travel timing and is cheaper than a 2 way taxis journey unless you live very close to the airport. Airport parking can be the cheapest and is certainly the most convenient and stress free start to your holiday. By pre booking your airport parking you will get substantial discount on the parking fees than if you just turn up. Not only that, but you guarantee a parking space; you don’t want to be turned away because the car park is full when you are trying to catch a flight.

Most airports have pre-booking car parking facilities where you can leave your car in a secure place and provide 24 hour bus shuttles to and from the terminal buildings. You can book your airport parking online here and start your holiday trouble free.

UK Airport Parking

 

Michael Bolton the American singer-songwriter is to play aconcert in tenerife on 8th July 2011 at Golf Costa Adeje. Ticket information to be released soon, check here at canaryfestival.com

Craig David is headlining at the I Love Music Festival among the spectacular scenery of the Tropicana Gardens, Costa Adeje, and Tenerife on 23^rd April. This is the biggest dance festival of the year so far in Tenerife. The open air event starts at 3pm and goes on until midnight. After the main event the After I Love Music party stats which will continue until 6am.

The event includes a red carpet covered 2500 m2 dance floor, 50,000 watts sound system, giant screens. Laser cannons, Pyrotechnic smoke pipes and leisure and catering facilities.

Ticket Price is € 51,00

Population: 906,854 (1^st January 2010)

The population of Tenerife is mainly of Spanish descent, but there are many British and German residents, as well as South Americans mainly from Cuba and Venezuela who are returning emigrants.

Tenerinos are fiercely patriotic and regard themselves as Canarian and not from Spain, or ‘peninsular’ as they call mainland Spain.

 

Size: 785.47 mi2

 

Capital: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, population 226.232

 

Currency: Euro

The euro was introduced as currency in January 2002 replacing the Spanish peseta which had been the official currency since 1869.

 

Time Zone: GMT

 

Language: Spanish

The official language of Tenerife is Castilian Spanish, but words are pronounced like Spanish spoken in Andalucía and South America. The ‘c’ and ‘z’ sounds are pronounced with an ‘s’ sound rather than  ‘th’, and consonants are often omitted from the end of words, for example, ‘gracias’ is often pronounced ‘gracia’.

Some other words are taken from South American Spanish such as the Cuban word for auto bus ‘gua gua’, pronounced ‘wah wah’.

 

Flag And Patron Saint: Tenerife shares the same patron saint, and the flag of Saint Andrew with Scotland.

Flag of Tenerife

Religion: Roman Catholic

The Spanish conquest introduced Catholicism to the Canary Islands and the native Guanche people where quickly converted.

It is still the official religion of Tenerife although weekly church attendance is low. Most Tenerfenos go to church only for baptisms, weddings and funerals and there is a lot of support on religious fiestas.

There are also a few churches of other denominations including synagogues and a mosque.

 

Economy: Tourism, Agriculture and Fishing, Industry and Commerce

The economy of Tenerife is a mixture of tourism, agriculture and manufacturing. Over 10 million foreign tourist visit Tenerife every year, mainly from the UK, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and mainland Spain.

The agriculture sector grows crops including bananas, tomatoes, and tobacco, citrus and exotic fruits. Animal farming is quite rare apart from a few sheep, goats and cattle.

Manufacturing account for only 9% of Tenerife’s annual GDP and unemployment is quite high and average wages are one of the lowest in the EU.

 

Tourism: Approximately 5 million visitors a year. The figures below are the offical number of tourists to Tenerife over the last five years.

2008 = 5.292.327
2009 = 4.707.782
2010 = 4.831.325
2011 = 5.160.203
2012 = 4.900.817

 

Number of visitors from UK, 2011=1.658.315, 2012=1.568.713

 

Climate: Summer average daytime temperatures 26° - 28°C. Winter average daytime temperatures 20° - 22°C

 

 

Airports: There are two airports on Tenerife, one in the south of the island and the older airport in the north. All charter flights from the UK arrive at the south airport, Reina Sophia. The north airport, Los Rodeos, services mainly flights from the Spanish mainland and South America.

 

Tenerife Sur TFS (south) Reina Sophia. 7,359,150 passengers , 51,858 aircraft movements (stats from 2010). Tenerife Norte TFN (North) Los Rodeos, 4,051,155 passengers, 61,607 aircraft movements (stats from 2010)

 

Flying Time from UK: Tenerife is approximatley 4 hours flying time from the UK. It does vary depending on wind direction and the departure airport from the UK.

 

Where is Tenerife: Tenerife is an island in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to the Canary Island archipelago. The Canary Islands are located 300km off the north coast of Africa west of the Sahara desert.

 

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