Arona, Tenerife

Arona
Municipality
Los Cristianos
Flag Seal
Municipal location in Tenerife
Country	Spain
Autonomous Region	Canary Islands
Province	Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Island	Tenerife
Government
• Mayor	José Alberto González Reverón (CC)
Area
• Total	31.58 sq mi (81.79 km2)
Population  (2013)
• Total	80,987
• Density	1,880.8/sq mi (726.19/km2)
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (WEST)
Post Code	38640
Climate	Csb
Website	www.arona.org

Arona is a municipality in the southern part of the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The municipality covers an area of 81.79 square kilometres comprising 4% of the island's area. The town Arona is 59 km southwest from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the island's capital. The population in 2013 was about 81,000. It is the third largest city in Tenerife, after, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna. Arona has a pleasant climate with temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 degrees celsius. Notable places include the tourist resorts of Los Cristianos, Playa de las Americas, Costa del Silencio and Las Galletas. Arona also features Punta Salemas, the southernmost point of the island of Tenerife. The TF-1 motorway passes through the municipality.

History

The area was sparsely populated in the initial centuries since the settlement of the island. While Viera y Clavijo mentioned a small village of the same name in an early work on the islands, a church was not built until the 17th century and this church did not obtain the status of a parish church until March 1796.

The economy until the twentieth century was based on fishing and agriculture including cochineal, bananas and cattle. There was also a small quarry in the fishing village of Los Cristianos in the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the population grew slowly despite a slump in cochineal prices, a general decline in farming and the Spanish Civil War. However, the economy and population has grown rapidly in recent years as it has become a popular tourist destination. The population has grown from 13,556 in 1981 to 28,208 in 1996. The 2005 population has finally reached over 60,000. In contrast, the municipality had a population of approximately 2,000 in 1901. The tourism industry employs 60% of the workforce.

Education

Wingate School, a British international school, is in Arona.

Svenska Skolan Teneriffa, the Swedish school on Tenerife, is in Arona.

Notable areas

The Central Park of Arona (Parque Central de Arona), finished in 2004 is a city park of 4 hectares. Designed by architects and biologists, it hosts a collection of tropical palms, and a rocky section with the original endemic flora native to this part of the island.

Los Cristianos is one of the main tourist centres on the south coast of Tenerife. Originally a quaint fishing village the resort has undergone some major expansion over the last twenty years and is now a bustling resort.

Las Galletas is a fishing village situated between Los Cristianos and the Tenerife South Airport in the south. It also has some tourist facilities. It has also become a tourist resort. The beach on Playas de Las Vistas has been refurbished with sand from the sea bed turning it into one of the longest beaches on Tenerife.

Year	Municipal population
1900	1,971
1930	3,482
1950	4,690
1970	10,942
1981	13,556
1986	17,739
1991	22,721
1996	28,208
2001	43,259
2002	52,572
2003	57,445
2004	59,935
2013	80,987

External links

• Tourist information on notable areas of Tenerife including Arona
• Arona Tourist Guide (In English)