Hola Tenerife!

click the photo to email the photographer.

Before making the move to Tenerife, it is well worth getting to know some basic background information about the island. 

A short potted tour of the island’s history will help explain some of the cultural differences we meet day to day.  It also shows how the system of government and administration has come to evolve.  Some ways of doing things seem oddly convoluted, but understanding how they got that way can make us more tolerant and accepting.  At the very least it might lessen our frustration as we stand at the tail of a long queue to get an apparently useless piece of paper stamped.  Coming from the UK or Ireland, we can all probably think of illogical, impractical or downright stupid local or national governmental systems and decisions that we have had to accept back home.  It would be unreasonably optimistic to expect that there is anywhere else in the world that manages any better. 

Of course, one of the most absurd areas of government is its politics, whichever country you are in.  As in any country, local politics can seem inaccessible.  Randomly opening a newspaper and reading about people with strange (and often rather long) names, affiliated to political parties that we have no idea about, will often shed no light upon what is really happening.  A brief look at national and local politics should bring some clarity, and give us a framework to form opinions ready for when we exercise our right to vote. 

But politics is not the only potential area of confusion.  When we look around us at any crowd of people in Tenerife, the likelihood is that they will come from different national and genetic backgrounds: Tenerife is a melting pot of cultures.  Often, as foreigners who are not fluent in the language, we can confuse Canarian, Spanish and South American influences, lumping them all together as the same thing.  The Canaries have long been a crossroads of emigration and immigration due to their geographical position, and we are certainly not the only foreigners here.  Indeed, even Spanish from the mainland consider themselves distinct from Tinerfeños (people from Tenerife). 

Lastly, by way of introduction to Tenerife, it is important to have an understanding of the economy of the island.  The island economy has evolved over time, created by an ebb and flow of prosperity.  Within the larger economy, there is also an English speaking sub-economy which is, in some respects, remarkably autonomous. 

All these factors - history, politics, immigration and prosperity - contribute towards the character and culture of our hosts.  And, armed with such knowledge, we can better decide whether to make Tenerife our new home and understand it better when we do.
 

Geography           
Maximum Altitude    3,718 metres Pico de Teide
Length of Coastline    358 Kms.
Maximum Length    87 Kms (from Punta de la Rasca to Punta de Anaga)
Maximum Width    45 Kms. (from Punta de Teno to Punta de Abona)
Surface Area    2.034 Sq Km (27 % of the Canaries)
Total Roads    1,300 Kms.

Location               
Distance from Spanish Peninsular     1,300 Kms.
Distance from African Continent    300 Kms.
Distance from the closest island    27 Kms. (La Gomera)

Weather   
Annual Sunshine    North coast: 2.000 hrs; South Coast: 2.929 hrs
Average Temperature    North Coast 20º - South Coast 21,3º - Obsv. Teide 9,7º

Population (source:INE 2007)    865,070

Age Distribution       

less than 20    21%

20-40    35%

40-60    27%

60+    17%

Life Expectancy (source: Eurostat)
Tenerife    UK
76.53        75.7
82.84        79.5
79.67        77.7

Society  (source: Delegación del Gobierno Español año 2006)
Crime per 1000 inhabitants       
Tenerife 48.9
Spain     50.7
Europe     69

Industry  (source:INE 2007)
Farming, fishing        465,394
Energy                       1,032,062
Industry                     1,561,744
Construction            4,298,630
Tourism                  10,531,839
Other services        17,333,873
Total GDP                39,547,391