Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

🇮🇨 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a major city, capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. The urban zone of Santa Cruz extends beyond the city limits. It is the second largest city in the Canary Islands and the main city on the island of Tenerife, with nearly half of the island's population living in or around it.

Santa Cruz is located in the north-east quadrant of Tenerife, 210 km (130 mi) off the north-western coast of Africa within the Atlantic Ocean. The distance to the nearest point of mainland Spain is 1,300 km (810 mi). Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands, until 1927 when a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. The port is of great importance and is the communications hub between Europe, Africa and Americas, with cruise ships arriving from many nations. The city is the focus for domestic and inter-island communications in the Canary Islands.

The city is home to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Audience of Accounts of the Canary Islands, the Captaincy General of the Canary Islands, the Canarias Ministry of the Presidency (shared on a four-year cycle with Las Palmas), one half of the Ministries and Boards of the Canarias Government, (the other half being located in Gran Canaria), the Tenerife Provincial Courts and two courts of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. There are several faculties of the La Laguna University in Santa Cruz, including the Fine Arts School and the Naval Sciences Faculty. Its harbour is one of Spain's busiest. It is important for commercial and passenger traffic as well as for being a major stopover for cruisers en route from Europe to the Caribbean. The city also has one of the world's largest carnivals. The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife now aspires to become a World Heritage Site, and is the second largest in the world.

The varied architecture of the city stands out, highlighting the Auditorio de Tenerife (Auditorium of Tenerife), which is considered one of the greatest exponents of contemporary architecture. In the panoramic view of the city, the Torres de Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz Towers) also stand out, which with 120 meters tallest twin towers in Spain. Other outstanding places are the Plaza de España (Spain Square), which is the nerve centre of the city, and the Parque García Sanabria (García Sanabria Park), a large urban park located in the centre of the city. Outside the city but in its municipal district, Playa de Las Teresitas (Las Teresitas) and a large part of the Macizo de Anaga (Anaga Massif) stand out, declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2015. Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts the first headquarters of the Center UNESCO in the Canary Islands. In recent years the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has seen the construction of a significant number of modern structures and the city's skyline is the sixth in height across the country, behind Madrid, Benidorm, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao.

In 2012, the British newspaper The Guardian included Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the list of the five best places in the world to live, next to the Cihangir district, in Istanbul; the district of Sankt Pauli, in Hamburg, the north coast of Maui, in Hawaii and Portland, in the state of Oregon (United States). The 82% of the municipal territory of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is considered a natural area, this is due in large part to the presence of the Anaga Rural Park. This fact makes Santa Cruz the third largest municipality in Spain with the highest percentage of natural territory, after Cuenca (87%) and Cáceres (83%). The city has a status of global city (in Sufficiency category).

Guanche period, conquest and Castilian colonization The area on which now stands the city and the municipality of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been the subject of human occupation since the time of the Guanches, approximately 2000 years ago, as attested by the archaeological sites found. The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, as Añazo or Añaza. The famous Mummy of San Andrés is one of the most important archaeological remains of the aboriginal past of the region. Besides caves with some remains of mummified animals and stones with engravings ruprestres. This area belonged to the Menceyato de Anaga (aboriginal Guanche kingdom of Anaga), one of nine in which the island was divided.

On 3 May 1494 Castilian troops under the control of the conqueror Alonso Fernández de Lugo disembarked on the beaches of the present city and founded a military camp that would eventually develop into the city. From this place began the conquest of the island of Tenerife. During the foundation, Alonso Fernández de Lugo placed a large wooden cross in reference to the day of disembarkation, during the Catholic festivity of the Invention of the Cross (3 May). After the conquest and defeat of the Guanche aborigines, the capital of the island was initially established in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, which was founded in the same year of the conquest of the island in 1496.

Old Regime and Modern Stage Later, it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic, 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 18th 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 Province of Canary Islands by King Ferdinand VII.

Between 1833 and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a Royal decree ordered that the status of capital city of the Canary Islands would be shared with Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. This arrangement remains in place today.

In 1893 an outbreak of cholera-morbid spread throughout the city and neighboring municipalities. The disease was brought by an Italian ship returning from Brazil. There were 382 dead.

Between 1936 and 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, the Canary Islands were in the rear of General Francisco Franco's side. In this context, in 1936 the republican mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was arrested and murdered José Carlos Schwartz Hernández. After the war, years of great economic difficulties followed.

From 1978, with the new Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, a new stage began, always with democratically elected mayors.

In the 80s and 90s of the 20th century, the city experiences a great economic boom. The expansion of the city towards the south begins gaining ground to the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Refinery and creating new residential and urbanizable areas such as Cabo-Llanos. Since then, this area of the city is immersed in a major construction boom that has been nicknamed "Manhattanization", due to the presence of tall buildings and the layout of the streets that mimics that of American cities.

Current era: ** 21st century** Santa Cruz inaugurated the 21st century with a great expansionary and commercial boom that is especially manifested in architecture with the construction of emblematic buildings such as the Auditorio de Tenerife, the work of Santiago Calatrava or the remodeling of the Plaza de España according to the design of Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

A torrential flood took place on 31st March 2002. This was caused by a phenomenon of cold drop characterized by the repeated fall of torrential rain accompanied by lightning, which affected the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The flooding caused 8 dead, 12 missing and dozens injured.

In recent years, it has become clear that there exists a de facto union with neighbouring city San Cristóbal de La Laguna due to the rapid population growth and reduction in undeveloped space between the cities, as their suburbs merged, forming a metropolitan area including the nearby municipalities of 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 Coalition, stated several times to local media that they shared a willingness to proceed to a full political union between their municipalities, even though the decision was postponed to a date after the local elections in 2007. As of 2012 the merger is no longer part of the political agenda.

The financial crisis of 2008 would paralyze the development of the city for more than a decade.

In June 2018, the dismantling of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Refinery was announced, which will allow the expansion of the city to the south.

Metropolitan area The Santa Cruz de Tenerife-La Laguna Metropolitan Area forms the second largest city and metropolitan area of the European Union outside Europe. According to data provided by the Canary Islands Government and Cabildo de Tenerife the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is composed of the municipalities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristobal de La Laguna, El Rosario and Tegueste with a population density of 1,156.33 inhabitants/km².

According to AUDES5 this conurbation also comprises the municipalities of Tacoronte and El Sauzal, bringing the total population of the urban population would reach 581.947 (2008).

The cities of Santa Cruz and San Cristobal de La Laguna and urban are physically linked, so that together have a population of over 382,331 inhabitants, making them the largest urban area in the Canaries (independent of municipal lines).

Infrastructure As the centre of the Tenerife Metropolitan Area, Santa Cruz is the hub for the island's motorway network. The 85 km. long Autopista TF-1 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 gives access to Santa Cruz and La Laguna by three different routes.

Autopista TF-5 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; three quays host regular ferries, fast ferries, cruise ships and merchant ships.

Tenerife North Airport, formerly Los Rodeos Airport, is adjacent to Autopista TF-5 on the western outskirts of the city.

The mostly tourist Tenerife South Airport, formerly Reina Sofia Airport, ranks 7th in Spain and is located next to the Autopista TF-1, 75 km. south of Santa Cruz. There are plans to link this airport to the capital with a railway network.

The Intercambiador public transport/mass transit terminal is in the Avenida 3 de Mayo, and is the hub for all TITSA bus lines, the new Tenerife Tram service, and is a major car-parking area.

The first tram line (opened in 2007) line 1, starts at the Intercambiador, and ends at La Laguna's Avenida Trinidad, with a planned extension to Tenerife North Airport A second line between La Cuesta and Tíncer opened in 2009 (connecting with Line 1 at Hospital Universitario and El Cardonal).

Cabo-Llanos (south of downtown) is the location of new expansion. This area is undergoing a major building boom which has been nicknamed "Manhattanization", where tall, modern buildings and street layouts imitate American cities.

Economy Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the highest concentration of shops in the Canary Islands. 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 important, while industry, apart from the oil refinery and food processing, is relatively minor. Santa Cruz has regenerated many areas of the city and 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 and 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. Work to renew the man-made Las Teresitas Beach is ongoing under the direction of French architect Dominique Perrault.

Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a fishing port, commercial, passenger and sports from the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, capital of the island, located in the Atlantic Ocean. It is managed by the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

It is the first fishing port in the Canary Islands with approximately 7,500 tons of fish caught, according to the Statistical Yearbook of the State Ports 2006 (the latest of which is changing). Following this report is the largest port number of passengers recorded.

Cultural areas • Auditorio de Tenerife: the work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Is an emblematic building of Spanish architecture. The Tenerife Auditorium stands north-east of the Marine Park. Their great sailing boat simulating has become a symbol of the city, island and archipelago. The auditorium has two rooms and a chamber symphony. It is the seat of Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and it holds, among other acts, the Festival de Ópera de Tenerife, the Classical Music Festival of the Canary Islands, the Tenerife International Film Music Festival and the delivery of awards Cadena Dial. • Guimerá Theater: Opened on 25 July 1851. Great 19th century building located in the central street of Angel Guimerá, is the oldest theater in the Canary Islands. • Museum of Fine Arts: This museum has, in addition to a fund with a deposit of works from the Prado Museum. Outstanding paintings by artists such as Peter Coeck, Ribera, Madrazo and Sorolla. As a fixed background, artists such as canaries Gaspar de Quevedo, Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana, and Juan Miranda González Méndez, among others. • Museum of Nature and Man: history, through pictures and objects, the Guanches. There is a room where is the formation of the Canary Islands. Among the archaeological finds shown are several Guanche mummies, including two mummified fetuses. There are a lot of Guanche skulls and reproductions of works of Africa and the pre-Columbian America among many other samples. It is a museum of international reputation since it has participated in international meetings on archeology. • Circulo de Bellas Artes: Founded in 1926 and based in Castle Street 43, is a cultural centre that program of events, such as art exhibitions of painting and photography in the courtroom on the ground floor, directly accessible from the street. It has a cafeteria on the first floor. • Espacio Cultural El Tanque: In 1997 a former container tank at the refinery, there becomes exhibitions, dance and audio, alternative music, theater, classical music, new technologies and multimedia, among other productions. • Centro de Fotografía Isla de Tenerife: It has areas suitable for exhibition and study of traditional and contemporary photography. • The Art Room Recova: The Recova the Art Room is located in the old market town. Do not have a permanent collection, but are rotating exhibitions throughout the year. • TEA – Tenerife Espacio de las Artes: work of Herzog & de Meuron opened in 2008.