Tenerife [antikvár]

T'Andrew Sanger's Tenerifeif., T.The CanariesThere are 13 islands altogether in the volcanic Canary Islands archipelago, seven of them populated (the other six are tiny). Home to the native Guanches from about 500 BC, the Canary Islands were claimed by the Spanish in the 15th century. Though distant from the mainland, they remain administratively part of Spain.Above: forest near Vilaflor, which means the 'flower town' 6A layer of tourism clings to the surface of Tenerife, That's not all bad - it's a prosperous tradition that dates back to the mid-19th century. Most visitors stay in sun-baked southern parts of the island where locals have rarely lived, and then usually remain there throughout their visit. But tourism, if outwardly benign, is never harmless: Europe's most popular winter sun destination has suffered from ill-judged development and unseen damage to the environment.For me, the challenge is to get beneath that surface. Peel back the layer of tourism and you'll discover that Tenerife is not just a holiday isle, it's colonial Spain: a reminder of the conquistadores, an immediate sense of Spain's enterprise, power and wealth centuries ago. The Canaries feel close to the colonies in Latin America, where so many Tinerfenos went to live.Yet here too is the Spain of today. Take a side turn, explore the villages, get into the hills, or the backstreets of Santa Cruz or La Laguna, and holiday land seems to vanish like morning mist. Here are the real bars and restaurantes, the plazas and glazed tiles and the sounds and the people of the Iberian peninsula.However, that too can be peeled back to reveal another level. Leave the villages and backstreets behind, walk alone in the balmy, luxuriant hills, or in the desolate Canadas. The Guanches are long gone, but there's an air of mystery about Tenerife that these native islanders bequeathed. Through them, I see that Tenerife belongs neither to the tourists nor to the Spanish, but to the Atlantic, to Africa, and to the snow-capped volcano that gave the island its Guanche name.