Finding a home in Tenerife

Where in Tenerife?

Most British and Irish choose the south to make their home, although this was not always the case.  There was a time when the north was the sought after end of the island.  Choosing the region in which you are going to live depends firstly on your personal situation.  If, for example, work and schools are a factor, then their locations may limit your choices.  There are three regions that have substantial British communities.  In the north, Puerto de la Cruz; in the south west Playa San Juan and Los Gigantes and in the south the largest English speaking population on the island is based around Las Americas and Los Cristianos.

Tenerife’s weather has always defined the settlement of populations, both expatriate and otherwise.  It was the north that was originally settled by the Spanish, when the island was a trading stop over from the New World.  With fertile land and regular rainfall, the lush farmlands resupplied ships and supported a burgeoning population.  The original settlers were not sun seeking tourists, but real people who survived and prospered. They are still alive in the architecture they leave and in the faces of their descendants. The character of the towns in the north hint at a bygone era of gentility, as beautiful old mansions and traditional Canarian houses rub shoulders with the newer apartment blocks that have sprung up around them.  The British relationship with the northern town of Puerto de la Cruz has been a long one, dating back to the 1890’s.  In recent years, the town has been more popular with German tourists, although there is still a substantial British resident community.  The area offers education, a British library and a range of clubs and associations for the English speaker.  Though the climate is wetter and cooler, this can suit a fairer skin well.  Another advantage is that the range of property is much wider, with many older properties on the market, which can have great appeal.  The area surrounding Puerto de la Cruz is verdant and beautiful, and although this can seem like an idyllic setting, employment can be more difficult to find unless you have a good grounding in Spanish.  With fewer British tourists, the local economy has less need for speakers of the language.  Indeed, the economy of the north, around Puerto de la Cruz in general has not experienced the growth that the south has seen, so opportunities may be more limited.  A side effect of this is that property prices, in the main, are slightly lower than they are in the south.

The south west, on the other hand, has become increasingly settled by expatriates, particularly along the coast between Playa San Juan and Los Gigantes.  One of the main reasons why people choose an area to settle is familiarity.  An erstwhile tourist who may have spent several holidays in an area is more likely to consider settling there than anywhere else.  From the point when it was established as a tourist destination in the seventies, Los Gigantes has become increasingly popular as an area to live.  It offers a more reserved, smaller and less brash location to set up home than the Americas areas, but has less to offer a Brit or Irish expat in terms of the comforts of home.  There are no British schools and though there are smaller supermarkets selling British products, you will still find yourself driving half an hour up the road in order to restock on some provisions.  Property types available will be predominately of relatively new construction, unless you live in one of the many villages that are set back from the main coastal road.

The most populous zone of English speaking settlement is undoubtedly the south of Tenerife.  With its centre in the merged resorts of Los Cristianos and Las Americas, it radiates out to the surrounding towns and villages, encompassing the municipalities of Adeje, Arona, San Miguel and Granadilla.  There are all sorts of styles of property available, from luxurious villas and apartments to traditional Canarian houses and homes of all shapes and sizes to suit every budget.  Although the distances from one place to another may not be far, the popularity of the areas can lead to traffic delays.  Perhaps these may not be on the scale that we may have been accustomed to in the UK, but when you have become used to everywhere being within ten minutes of your door, a thirty minute queue can take on more epic proportions. 

The south has also been changing fast, with enormous improvements to its infrastructure.  This facelift has been designed to attract a higher quality (richer) type of tourist.  Hotels have been refurbished, beach promenades refurbished, roundabouts redesigned and glamorous shops have moved in to make brisk trade.  To anyone who has not visited the area since its package holiday heyday in the nineties, many areas are barely recognisable.  The momentum of change continues as theme parks open, more golf courses are planned and there is definitely an air of boomtown prosperity.  Many of the south’s businesses are British and Irish owned, which allows for more employment possibilities if your Spanish is not up to par.

With such an alluring economic background, a choice of private and public schools, both brimming with British and Irish students, it is hardly a surprise that so many of the millions of tourists want to stay and make a life.

The right area

Homing in on the area that suits your needs should start with a couple of check lists. The first is a list of those things that you actually need to be local to you.  Your budget, health, schools, shops, public transport and work will all gradually start to define possibilities.  A second ‘wish-list’ of the things that you would like will then help to refine your search.  Sea views, proximity to the beach or a golf course on your doorstep may all be desirable, but not critical.  With these lists you will have at least worked out your half of the equation.  The other half depends on how closely the areas within the region you have chosen match up to your lists.

Life in a small village will offer a very different experience from life in the middle of a major resort, and both have their advantages and disadvantages.  Just outside the major resorts are suburban areas, and dotted along the coast are smaller resorts which are predominately residential, and these too have a different character.

We all start out as visitors to Tenerife, so we tend to know the resorts best.  There are many residents who live in these busy holiday destinations who absolutely love it, and would be horrified at the idea of living anywhere else.  There are others for whom life in a resort would be a nightmare.  Tourists naturally try to get the most out of their short time away from home, and are determined to do so regardless of the hour.  They tend to leave their inhibitions and consideration for their neighbours behind them.  Within any resort, there are complexes that are designed for tourists and licensed for their occupation.  In theory, all other complexes should be exclusively residential.  However, because many of the homes in residential complexes will have been bought by people who do not live in Tenerife, the distinction can be quite grey.  They will tend to be more occupied during the holiday periods, and less so at other times.  These residential apartments should not be rented to tourists for short stays, but they can be rented to friends and family.  Needless to say, many of these homes are still rented by the week to owners who apparently have large families and a very wide circle of friends.  The end result, in certain complexes, is that they are little different from licensed tourist complexes, albeit with fewer facilities. 

Some communities can be much stricter and vigilant about tourist lettings, although even with the best will, on a larger complex, enforcing such rules can be almost impossible.   Pets can also be frowned upon by communities, and although they cannot ban you from keeping a pet in your home, they can prohibit pets from communal areas, paths and gardens.  That means that you have to carry your pet from your front door to the street.  No problem if your pooch is conveniently handbag sized, but struggling up the stairs with a bemused Irish wolfhound may soon become a bane.  Other disadvantages of living in a tourist town are similar to living in any other built up area.  Parking can be difficult, properties smaller and pleasant views can be obstructed or non-existent.  On the other hand, townies will be keen to extol virtues of urban living such as proximity to beaches, shops, amenities, restaurants and nightlife.  They will counter the parking problems with low taxi fares and the ability to walk to everywhere they need to get to.  Certainly, if you also work in the area, the convenience value may be hard to beat.  If you are used to living in the centre of a busy city, then the downsides of living in one of the resort towns will hardly faze you.  If you enjoy the convenience of town, but prefer to keep it at arm’s length, then the suburban areas may suit you best.

Because many of the resorts are long in shape, following the coast, suburbs can still be very close to town.  For example, the large resort that comprises Los Cristianos and Las Americas is bordered by the sea on one side and the motorway on the other.  Except in a couple of spots where the resort has encroached, the motorway provides the border between suburb and resort.  It is just a ten minute walk from one to the other, although the journey back home will tend to be uphill.  Like any suburban area, there are more houses available, and because of the gradient, many of the homes will enjoy beautiful sea views.  Most of these areas tend to be more recently built, and complexes will have pools.  Prices may not be that different from the actual town but the combination of quieter surroundings and more spacious accommodation is an attractive draw for residents. 

The best of both worlds can also be found in some of the smaller coastal towns.  Some of these also offer tourist accommodation, but the type of holidaymaker will tend not to be quite so rowdy.  Inhabitants of the larger resorts may consider these towns slightly too quiet, even slightly cut off. But though they are quieter than the large resorts, they can be quite self-contained with local shops, bars and restaurants.  Prices of apartments and townhouses will be lower than the more crowded areas, and they will tend to also have more villas. After you have lived in one of these towns for a while, you will start to appreciate that they can have much more of a community feeling and the local shops can be as much of a place to meet and share gossip as any of the bars. 

But if you really hanker after a sense of community and want to get the real Canarian experience, there is no replacement for living in the villages.  Expatriates who live in the small pueblitos that dot the hills will be fiercely protective of their adopted homes.  They offer a much more relaxed pace of life, and seem like ghost towns during the siesta period.  In contrast, during a local fiesta, the whole population will fill the square with music and dancing until the early hours.  It is an enormous tribute to the Tinerfeños that they are so welcoming and willing to accept foreigners into their villages, and with a willingness to learn some Spanish, integration is richly rewarding and very possible.  As they are at a higher altitude, they are pleasantly cooler in the summer, but the price they pay is that they are chillier in winter, and heaters are wheeled out for a couple of months a year.  Villages and their outlying areas probably have the widest range of properties to choose from, including older homes and farms with sizeable holdings.  Because inland Tenerife is mountainous, views can be staggeringly beautiful and the countryside can be greener and less barren the higher you are.  The downside of villages is that they are more isolated, but if you are looking for a quiet life, this could be ideal.