Info about Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
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Tenerife is the largest of the seven Canary Islands which lies in the Atlantic ocean, off the westcoast of Africa. The island has a warm and mild climate all year, and has because of this received tourists from northern Europe since the 1800's.
There is a big difference in the climate of the north and the south of the island. The south is dry and sunny while the north is more humid and windy. Touristresorts can be found many places along the southern coast, and many artificial beaches have been made as there are not so many natural beaches on the island.
The island is of volcanic origin, which has resulted in a very beautiful and varied landscape. The area around the mountain Teide is a national park; Parque Nacional del Teide, and the landscape here is fantastic. It's very popular to go hiking in this area and you can also find many other places for hiking here.
The trade winds comes from northwest and drifts on towards the middle of Tenerife, leaving the areas in the northwest with more clouds than the rest of the island. The middle of Telde is often surrounded by clouds, and it's not unusual to see snow on the top of the mountain while you are taking sun on the beaches in the south.
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Tenerife and the rest of the Canary Islands are of volcanic origin. The development of the eastern islands started more than 20 million years ago, but the oldest mountain ranges of Tenerife did not arise from the Atlantic ocean untill about 8 to 12 Million years ago.
The islands were for a long time inhabitated by the guanches, which we know very little about today. It is believed that they might have been of berber origin, a people originally from the Atlas mountains in Morocco.
Allthough the islands have been known since the beginning of historical time, it was not untill 500 years ago that the conquest of the islands started. The spanish arrived in the 1400's and after many though battles from 1494 to 1496 they could finally claim Tenerife under the spanish crown.The guanches were mixed with the spanish population and are today extinct.
Many other nations tried to take the islands away from the spanish, and the last attack on Tenerife was in 1797 by the british army, led by Lord Nelson. You can find the canon that shot his arm in Museo Militar (the army museum) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, together with other weapons and memorabilias.
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Currency: Euro
Visa: No special requirements for a normal tourist stay, lasting less than 3 months
Car rental:
All drivers licenses from Europe, USA and Australia are legal.
There are a lot of car rental agencies and prices can vary a lot.
Electricity: 220 volt
Local time: GMT
Phone; area codes:
Spain: +34
Province of Tenerife: + 922
Province of Gran Canaria: + 928
General openinghours:
Monday - Friday: 09.00 - 13.00
Saturday: 09.00 - 13.00
Sunday: Closed
Openinghours can vary from city to city, and depending on what kind of place it is. Establishments in the touristresorts are normally open all day.
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Area: 2053 sq.km
Width: About 40 km at the widest
Length: About 45 km from the north to the south
Highest point: Pico del Teide (3710 m), highest mountain in Spain
Population: 600.000 people
Airports:
Reina Sofia airport - Tenerife South. Airport code: TFS.
60 km from the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the north.
Los Rodeos airport - Tenerife North. Airport code: TFN.
10 km from the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Government: Spanish autonomous region
Ethnic Groups: Spanish plus North African, Latin American
and northern European communities
Languages: Spanish
Religion: Roman Catholic
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Info about Tenerife 
