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Santa Cruz de Tenerife

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Template:Ficha de localidad de España Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2005 population 223,148) is a city and municipaly on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the island of Tenerife (island more filled with Spain). Is the municipality of the capital autonomous most extensive of Canaries.

It is the state of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and a capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It is part of one of the two biggest metropolitan areas in the Islands with 423,198 inhabitants, and itself, the second city most populated in the archipelago, second to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with whom it shares the status of capital city. But this is the first capital, called as such in the Statute of Autonomy of Canaries.

It is home to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Canarian Ministry of Presidency (shared in a 4 years term years with Las Palmas), a half the ministries and boards of the Canarian Government, (the other half being located in Gran Canaria), the Tenerife Provincial Courts and 2 courts of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. There are also several facilities of the La Laguna University lying on Santa Cruz soil, like the Fine Arts School or the Naval Sciences Faculty. Its harbour is one of Spain's busiest and it comprises three different sectors. It is important for its commercial and passenger traffic and for being a major stopover for cruisers en route from Europe to the Caribbean.

One of the symbols more importantly of the city is the Auditorio de Tenerife (Audorium of Tenerife), the Santa Cruz Towers and Church Counterfoil of the Concepcion.

Historical population

The city as seen from San Andres´ Industrial Estate
Man-made Playa de Las Teresitas
Calatrava´s Audorium, home to the Tenerife Symphonic Orchestra

In 1990, the population slowly boomed above the 200,000 mark, falling in the late-1990s before rebounding in 2002 and head to a record level in the 2003 census. The 2004 population saw a minor slowdown only to hit a new record the next year, mostly due to booming immigration rates in the region, mainly from Latin America and Africa.

Year Population Change
1991 200,172 -
1996 203,787 -
2001 188,477 1,453.28/km²
2002 217,414 -
2003 220,022 1,461.36/km²
2004 219,466 1,457.33/km²

Communications

Santa Cruz, being the centre of the Tenerife Metropolitan Area, is the logical hub for the island's motorway network.

The 85 km. long TF1 Motorway links the south of the island including Playa de las Américas and other southern resorts and towns with its capital. The motorway itself starts near the Auditorio and allows to access Santa Cruz and La Laguna through three different ways.

TF5 Motorway links Santa Cruz with the Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava and the northern side of the island, passing right through La Laguna before entering Santa Cruz.

The Santa Cruz harbour is one of the busiest in Spain, and three different quays host regular ferries, fast ferries, cruise ships and merchant ships.

Tenerife North Airport lies on the TF5 Motorway on the outskirts of the city.

The mostly tourist Tenerife South Airport ranks 7th in Spain and is located next to the TF1 Motorway, 75 km. south of Santa Cruz. There are plans to link this airport to the capital with a railway network.

The Intercambiador is in the Avenida 3 de Mayo, hub for all TITSA bus lines and the start of the new Tenerife Tram service, and major parking places.

After 2 years of intensive effort, the Tenerife Tram service will go into service in mid-2007. The first line will start in the Intercambiador, and will end in La Laguna's Avenida Trinidad, reaching Tenerife North Airport in a next stage. Yet another line, this one from Puerto de la Cruz, is planned.

File:Santacruz highway.jpg
TF5 highway as passing by the Guajara Commercial Area and the Central Campus

Subdivisions

There are five administrative subdivisions in Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Anaga, Centro - Las Colinas, Salud - La Salle, Ofra - Costa Sur and Suroeste. You can learn more about Santa Cruz de Tenerife's subdivisions in [1] (Spanish). After recent national legislation (Major Cities Act), each district has a local citizen participation committee ("Tagoror") where representatives of the different political parties and residents' associations have some influence in municipal policies in their district.

Economy

The economy of Santa Cruz relies mainly on services. Trade, tourism, import-export, the seaport and the presence of the major political and financial institutions, as well as the most important companies, guarantee a strong economic activity and development. The building sector is also quite relevant, while industry, apart from the oil refinery and food processing, is minor. Recent years have witnessed a certain frenzy in the building sector, as in many places in Spain. The city of Santa Cruz has refurnished many of its quarters, modernised its infrastructure, built brand new areas, malls, high buildings and some charismatic structures, such as Calatrava´s Auditorio or the Congress Hall, César Manrique´s Marina or the not yet completed Óscar Domínguez Museum of Modern Art and Culture (IODACC) and the new Plaza de España layout, both by Basel-based Pritzker Prize winner studio Herzog & de Meuron. The work to renew the concept under man-made Las Teresitas Beach is due to start this year, under the direction of French architect Dominique Perrault.

Congress Centre and Marina
building development

History

The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, as Añazo. Later, it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic and the Canary Islands, a status it retains to this day. This former fishermen's village rose to prominence after a Volcano destroyed the port of Garachico in the XVIII century. Santa Cruz became the major port on the Island. It first won its independence from La Laguna and, in the 19th century, was awarded the status of Capital of the Canary Islands province by King Ferdinand VII.

In recent years, it has become clear that there exists a de facto union with neighbouring city San Cristóbal de La Laguna (141,627 inhabitants as in 2005 census) due to the rapid population growth and lack of empty space between both, forming a merged metropolitan union home to 420,198 inhabitants including nearby municipalities Tegueste, Candelaria and El Rosario. Regarding this situation, the mayor of Santa Cruz, Miguel Zerolo Aguilar and his La Laguna counterpart, Ana María Oramas Moro, both belonging to the Canarian Nationalists Party(CC), have stated several times to local media their willingness to proceed to a full political union between their municipalities, even though the decision is due to be postponed to a date after the forthcoming local elections in 2007.

Also they find in this ciudad the Torres de Santa Cruz (towers of Santa Cruz), these sky-scrapers are with 120 meters, without counting the antennas or lightning rod, the highest sky-scrapers in the city and of the Archipelago Canary, and also residentially are the highest towers in Spain, they are next to the Tenerife Auditorium, in downtown. The Tenerife Auditorium is the best modern building of Canaries.

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Due to the strategic location of Tenerife on the route between the Mediterranean and the Americas, it was attacked a number of times by the English and the Dutch. In particular, Santa Cruz Bay was the scene of two notable naval engagements involving two of the most famous British admirals.

In 1656, Admiral Robert Blake totally destroyed a Spanish silver fleet of 16 ships for the loss of one of his own, despite being under fire from shore batteries and attacking and withdrawing on the tide. 50 years later, the British under John Genings were defeated when they attacked the island on November 6, 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

In 1797 Admiral Horatio Nelson met with bloody defeat in an attempt to storm the harbour. It was at this battle that Nelson lost his right arm having been hit before he had stepped off the ship's boat. It was on Santiago's day and that is the reason for having Santiago's sword cutting the lion's head as a symbol of the British defeat.

Sites of interest

Attractions

thumb|250px|Panorámica de San Andrés desde Las Teresitas

The parliament of the Canary Islands
Fountain at the Plaza Weyler
File:SantaCruz-Air.jpg
Aerial view

Parks and Squares

  • Parque García Sanabria
  • Plaza de 25 de julio (de los Patos)
  • Plaza de España
  • Plaza de la Candelaria
  • Plaza del Príncipe
  • Plaza de Weyler

Commercial areas

Santa Cruz is popular for its wide commercial offerings, including zona Centro (Central part) - Pedestrian calle Castillo, San José, del Pilar, Viera y Clavijo Zona Rambla (Rambla area) or Rambla de Pulido, calle Ramón y Cajal, and the big shopping centres and department stores in Avenida de 3 Mayo, plus the big malls in Añaza on the southern suburbs. The most upmarket and high street shopping is located along Calle del Pilar and nearby Parque Bulevar Shopping Centre, where many designer shops can be found. International and local brands of shops and restaurants, such as Zara, Mango, H&M, Ordning&Reda, El Corte Inglés, Ikea, C&A, McDonalds and Burger King are much present on the island. Not only the wide range of shops makes the city attractive but the lower prices found in many items, such as tobacco, alcohol, electronic devices, beauty products, sunglasses or even food or coffee. They are indeed much lower than in most cities of Western Europe including Spain, due to the very special and much lighter taxation on goods enjoyed on the Canary Islands.

Nightlife

Santa Cruz is characterized for its nightlife consisting of discotheques and pubs in the Marina park named after César Manrique, Avenida 3 de mayo and Residencial Anaga, as well as pubs in La Noria street and surroundings, as well a nearby La Laguna. The city is also renowned for its massive, popular and at the same time sophisticated carnival, one of the biggest in the World, declared of International Tourist Interest after general Franco's death. It takes the city by storm in February or March every year.

Hotels

  • Hotel Mencey *****
  • Hotel Atlántida ****
  • Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz de Tenerife ****
  • Hotel Contemporáneo ***
  • Hotel Príncipe Paz ***
  • Hotel Taburiente ***
  • Hotel Pelinor **
  • Hotel Plaza ***

Sister cities

See also

References

  1. ^ The International Affairs Department (IAD)
  • “La derrota de Nelson, el manco de Tenerife” by Julio Albert Ferrero, Naval History review, 1998, Juan Arencibia, Vicente Mira Gutiérrez, Editorial Leoncio Rodríguez, Julio N. Rancel, Regional Military Museum of Canarias at Sta. Cruz de Tenerife.

Corporation (Multilingual)]

North: Atlantic Ocean
West: San Cristóbal de La Laguna Santa Cruz de Tenerife East: Atlantic Ocean
Southwest: El Rosario South: El Rosario
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