landmark
Loro Parque
Tenerife's acclaimed zoo and aquarium home to the world's largest collection of parrots and diverse marine life.
31 km · about 35 min drive
Canary Islands, Spain · Europe
Santa Cruz de Tenerife sits on the route: 15 minutes from La Laguna, 44km from Teide National Park.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a city located in Canary Islands, Spain. With a population of 211,359, it is an important destination in Europe.
On a road trip, Santa Cruz de Tenerife sits in Spain, where you drive on the right. It's in the Atlantic/Canary time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Santa Cruz de Tenerife to your route.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spanish: [ˈsanta ˈkɾuθ ðe teneˈɾife] ; locally [ˈsanta ˈkɾus ðe teneˈɾife]), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has aRead more
population of 211,436 (2024) within its administrative limits. The urban zone of Santa Cruz extends beyond the city limits with a population of 507,306 and 538,000 within urban area. 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 northeast quadrant of Tenerife, 210 kilometres (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 kilometres (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 the archipelago was split into the current two provinces. 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 or the Masonic Temple, in neo-Egyptian style, a unique building in the country. In the panoramic view of the city, the Torres de Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz Towers) also stand out, with the tallest twin towers in Spain at 120 meters (390 ft) high. Other outstanding places are the Plaza de España (Spain Square), which is the nerve center of the city, and the Parque García Sanabria (García Sanabria Park), a large urban park located at the center 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 Oregon. 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%).
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife offers many attractions including tourist sites, museums, parks, and local restaurants. Explore famous landmarks, scenic roads, and natural wonders on our interactive map and plan your visit.
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife is located in Canary Islands, Spain, Europe. The coordinates are 28.4682 latitude, -16.2546 longitude.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife has a population of approximately 211,359 people, making it a city in Spain.
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Essential numbers in Spain
Guardia Civil (traffic police): 062. Two warning triangles required in vehicles.
Full driving guide for Spain2 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
Tenerife's acclaimed zoo and aquarium home to the world's largest collection of parrots and diverse marine life.
31 km · about 35 min drive
national park
Spain's highest peak and the world's third-largest volcano, rising from a vast volcanic caldera on Tenerife.
44 km · about 50 min drive
April to October
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