Forget the fact that Tenerife is a subtropical island off the coast of Africa. Forget the fact that the sun is shining, there are palm trees and you’re wearing T-shirt and shorts. There’s plenty of festive fun to be had during Christmas on Tenerife.
If you happen to be on holiday on Tenerife you can escape the frantic Christmas crowds at home but still enjoy a magical Christmas atmosphere. Here are our top 10 things to do at Christmas on Tenerife.
Pig out on Turrón
This scrumptious cake borne from a grand romantic gesture is only found on supermarket shelves on Tenerife at Christmas (well…until stocks run out). It is sinfully good especially when paired with a cup of coffee. There are oodles of different varieties to choose from, but the original almond, sugar, honey and egg yema tostada is still the best.
Slip on some Sexy Red Underwear
Apparently it’s good luck to see in the New Year wearing red underwear (it doesn’t say anywhere it has to be sexy, but ‘slip on some plain red underwear’ just doesn’t sound the same). Two conditions for guaranteeing good luck for the coming year is that the red underwear has to be new and also that it’s a present. Who knows how many people follow this tradition; it’s a difficult one to research – ‘excuse me, what colour is your underwear?’ is more likely to result in a slap than an answer.
Enjoy a Sparkling Christmas
The Christmas street decorations in some of Tenerife’s towns make a visit after dark an enchanting experience. Some of the resorts put on decent displays but to walk the cobbled historic streets in la Laguna and La Orotava after dark evokes warm and fuzzy memories of childhood Christmases.
Singalong-a-Christmas
There’s usually a popular musical at the Tenerife Auditorium Adán Martín and this year it’s The Sound of Music. Actually it’s the Spanish version Sonrisas y Lagrimas, so the music might sound familiar but the words might not; somehow ‘Doh a cierva’ just wouldn’t seem right. Possibly a better option is the free open air Christmas Day classical concert in Santa Cruz.
Eat Early on Christmas Eve
This applies more if you’re in a traditional town on Tenerife where every Canarian restaurant shuts early on Christmas Eve so that families can enjoy their big Christmas dinner together.
Of course if you’re one of those people who eat their dinner in the middle of the afternoon (around 6pm) then it won’t be a problem.
Forget Santa Claus and Cheer on the Three Kings
There’s no big portly guy squeezing down chimneys here. Tenerife’s version, like the rest of Spain, is the Tres Reyes (Three Kings) who pay a visit to Tenerife’s towns on the evening of the 5th January to bestow gifts on the children. Lots of towns on Tenerife have Tres Reyes parades, in some the kings arrive on camels. The tradition makes a lot more sense than the whole Santa Claus deal.
Let Them Eat Cake
It’s traditional to eat Roscón de Reyes (the Kings’ Cake) on Tres Reyes (6th January) but you can buy these throughout the Christmas period on Tenerife. Riscón de Reyes is a wreath shaped bready cake topped by candied fruit. It used to be traditional to put a dried bean and a figurine in the cake mix. Whoever got the figure was made honorary king for the day and the person who got the bean had to fork out for the cake (approx €8). Last time I tried Roscón de Reyes I got the bean, so I haven’t bothered since (you can take the boy out of Scotland but…).
Build a Snowman
Honestly, this is a popular local tradition if we get enough of the white stuff on Mount Teide. But on Tenerife there’s a bit of a difference. You build the snowman on the bonnet of your car and then try to make it to the coast before the snowman completely melts…and without crashing because you can’t see as you’ve got a snowman on your bonnet.
Check out the Beléns
These nativity scenes found everywhere on Tenerife (town halls, shop windows, hotels) can be incredibly detailed with intricate moving parts. Adults and children love them, especially when they spot el caganer – the guy who always gets ‘caught short’ out in the open.
Sunbathe on Christmas Day
If you haven’t done it before, there’s something bizarre about lounging about on the beach in your swimwear on Christmas Day, especially if there’s snow on Mount Teide and it’s a white Christmas on Tenerife.
Well that’s Christmas over for another year. Your belt buckle needs loosening, your wallet has become a black hole and the only turkey you want to see in the next twelve months is the one where people wear a fez, drink mint tea and beat your bare feet with bats if you try to smuggle hashish.
Except that here in Tenerife it isn’t over. In fact it’s only just begun. In this topsy turvy land, Christmas begins with a big feast on Christmas Eve and ends two weeks later when the Tres Reyes (Three Kings) hit town and children wake up on 6th January to find if they’ve been good enough to warrant any pressies.
The good news for visitors looking for Tenerife deals is that they get to enjoy two Christmases…and the icing on the Christmas cake is that the second one comes stress-free.
The question is though, where are the best places to partake of some intoxicatingly sparkly Christmas spirit?
Here’s Tenerife Magazine’s photo guide to the four most Christmassy towns on Tenerife
Christmas in Puerto de la Cruz
In fourth place is Puerto de la Cruz. In truth, the Christmas decorations are a little disappointing this year in Tenerife’s first tourist resort. There’s a distinct lack of colour about the town, possibly because the giant wheel at the funfair nicked all the best lightbulbs. However, there’s still enough magic about to bring on some Christmas cheer.
Plaza Europa in front of the town hall: Gold, gold and more gold – clearly the colour theme in Puerto de la Cruz this year.
Thank goodness for the funfair and an injection of much needed colour.
Christmas in La Laguna
In third place is La Laguna. There’s a distinct Dickensian feel to the decorations in La Laguna helped by cobbled streets, historic buildings, Victorian style street lights and vendors selling hot toffee and baked potatoes from little carts.
Plaza del Adelantado, La Laguna: Pretty, if a bit understated.
This is much better: Street vendors and coloured sparkly balls – now we’re getting there.
Christmas in Santa Cruz
In second place is the island’s capital, Santa Cruz. Plaza España is remarkably understated, but the streets between Plaza de la Candelaria and Plaza del Príncipe are enchanting festive grottos featuring trees festooned with multi-coloured twinkling lights. The big bonus in Santa Cruz is that throughout the Christmas period, live music in the streets provides that special finishing touch. At any one time choir singing, jazz and even a Beatles tribute act add a musical soundtrack to the city’s festive scene.
The Circulo de Amistad building knows exactly how to dress for Christmas.
I bet you can’t walk down this street without humming Winter Wonderland – even if you are sweating at the time.
The Noria district: Palm trees and Christmas lights.
Christmas in La Orotava
The classiest town on Tenerife has come up trumps by also having the classiest Christmas decorations. For providing a healthy dose of good old-fashioned Christmas atmosphere, La Orotava wins by a nose. The life-sized belén in front of the town hall is hard to beat, but Plaza de la Constitución manages it with a gingerbread house bandstand, illuminated Christmas parcels and a tree-covered walkway with dripping icicles. A visit to the town is the perfect antidote for eliminating any Scrooge-like tendencies.
A life-size nativity scene outside La Orotava’s Town Hall. Can you get any more Christmassy?
….well, this might just about trump it.
The Iglesia de la Concepción at dusk adds the perfect finishing touch to the nativity scene.
If you think that Tenerife at Christmas has as much festive atmosphere as a British seaside resort in August then you don’t know Tenerife. There are positively oodles of Christmas events taking place all over the island.
Here are our top Ten-erife tips to ensure you have yourself a merry little Christmas.
1: I Like the Bright Lights
There’s nothing quite like ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ – inducing Christmas street lights to get the old festive juices going and have you pining for a cup of mulled wine. Santa Cruz has 130,000 sparkly bulbs to turn the streets into a winter wonderland (albeit a warm one). Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava and La Laguna are looking pretty magical too.
2: Silent Night, Holy Night
Brass Bands, choir singers with the voices of angels and sweet gospel sounds; Tenerife’s got them all. Christmas concert harmonies are almost guaranteed to bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. Most traditional towns hold Christmas concerts, but look out for the Gospel concert in Los Cristianos on the 13th and The London BBC Symphony Choir at La Laguna on the 11th December.
3: All the Fun of the Fair.
Forget the London Eye and check out the Puerto Eye. A dazzling kaleidoscope of neon colours on a giant wheel has transformed the Puerto de la Cruz skyline for the festive season. Add the smell of hot dogs, screams from the white knuckle rides and ear-splitting klaxon noises and you’ve got the recipe for some Christmas fun at the fair.
4: Not so Model Behaviour
A visit to a belén is a must on Tenerife at Christmas. The best of them are incredibly detailed model biblical scenes but, as TM’s El Caganer article pointed out, there’s always someone who tries to sour the party atmosphere. Look out for the guy with the unique approach to putting manure on the plants.
5: Spend, Spend, Spend
You’ve completely run out of ideas for presents and Christmas is only a couple of days away. Fear not, the Santa Cruz traditional Christmas market doesn’t even set up on Avenida Marítima until 6pm on the 21st December.
6: Go to a Pantomine
Actually I’m not sure there is one, but there is the stage show of Mamma Mia at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz (28th December until 4th January) and you don’t get much closer to panto than that.
7: Attend the Misa del Gallo (Midnight Mass)
Can you get any more festive than getting hammered, attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and having a fit of the giggles? Well maybe by forgetting the ‘getting hammered’ and giggling bit. The Iglesia de la Peña de Francia in Puerto de la Cruz is the place for an emotional service.
8: Sledge Down Teide
This one requires snow on the mountain, but White Christmases on Tenerife aren’t uncommon. The big problem is getting to the white stuff as every Canario on the island will be heading there as well.
9: I Could Crush a Grape
It’s a good idea as it makes eating twelve of them as the bells ring out on New Year’s Eve a bit easier (it’s a luck thing). Slip on some red underwear (for luck again – I’m not sure whose), grab a bottle or two of cava and head to the town plaza as that’s where the big end of year party takes place.
10: What Do You Mean it isn’t Over Yet?
Christmas part two takes place on the 5th January when The Three Kings hit towns all over the island festooned with presents; in some places arriving on camels. If you’ve got children they’ll love the idea of a second Christmas Day. If you haven’t, stay home and open a bag of bah humbugs.
Forget colourful decorations and chubby Santa Claus figures hanging from window ledges, there’s one sure sign in Tenerife that Christmas is closing in with the speed of a runaway bullet train – a whole aisle appears in supermarkets filled with boxes of a peculiarly Spanish Christmas speciality, turrón.
Usually made from a base of almonds and honey mixed to form a solid rectangular cake, turrón has the appearance of a very humble speciality. But its origins are mysterious and there are even fanciful tales about how it came to be a Spanish Christmas treat. It also tastes great.
One version suggests that it was the Ancient Greeks who first made turrón. Its dense mix of dried nuts and honey packed into cake form was used as nutritional food for Olympian athletes. It was the first energy bar.
Another story attributes its invention to nomadic Arabs. The cake was energy boosting, easy to carry and didn’t go off and stink out the Bedouin tent in hot temperatures. A bit like the Elven lembas bread in Lord of the Rings.
However the best and most fanciful story, so the one we’re going with, involves the tale of a Spanish king in Jijona who married a Scandinavian princess.
The princess was so terribly homesick for her snow covered Scandinavia that the king ordered thousands of almond trees to be planted around his castle.
In winter, when they blossomed, the landscape was transformed into a sea of white, just like snow, and hey presto the princess was happy as Larry again.
The townspeople collected the nuts from the almond trees and made a cake from them… just in time for Christmas.
Doesn’t that just make you want to rush out and buy some? Problem is the choice is overwhelming. There’s coconut, chocolate, roasted apple, pineapple, cream, truffle, whisky and even Irish coffee flavoured turrón.
Why not start out by trying the basic turrón yema tostada which is probably close to the original almond, sugar, honey and egg mixture and is still my favourite of them all. After that experiment with other flavours.
But take my advice, try turrón sooner rather than later. Like the blossoms on the almond trees which produce its main ingredient, turrón is a transient treat only here to be enjoyed for a very short time.
