Hotels in Santiago del Teide

Santiago del Teide

Santiago del Teide is a highland town in western Tenerife and the capital of the municipality of the same name, sitting in a broad valley at about 930 metres above sea level. The municipality covers roughly 52 square kilometres and gathers nine separate settlements, which is why nine outlines of Teide appear on its flag. It was known simply as Santiago until 1916, when the name was extended to Santiago del Teide to end centuries of confusion with a village of the same name on neighbouring La Gomera. The hamlet of Arguayo keeps a pottery tradition descended from Guanche technique, still worked without a wheel and shown at the village's pottery centre. Vines were long the mainstay of El Molledo, Las Manchas, Valle de Arriba and El Retamar, and the terraces they left still shape the upper slopes. The valley is planted with almond trees, and their flowering in late winter is the event the town is best known for, drawing walkers to the trails between the villages. The 1909 eruption of Chinyero, the last volcanic eruption on Tenerife, broke out within this municipality, and its black lava field can be walked from the town. From here the land falls away westward to the coast, where the municipality reaches the sea at Los Gigantes, Puerto de Santiago and Playa de la Arena. The parish church of San Fernando Rey stands at the centre of the town, beside the old manor house of the counts who held the valley. At this altitude the air is cool and clear, the light is sharp, and the walking routes lead on towards Chinyero and the edge of Teide National Park.