Tenerife

The island of Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and is in the middle of the seven islands, which make up the chain. The islands are situated in the Atlantic Ocean some 240 kilometres from the North African mainland, and they lie just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. They are part of Spain although they are some 1,400 kilometres from the Spanish mainland. The flight to Tenerife from the United Kingdom takes about four and a half hours, but it is not necessary to alter a watch as the Canaries are in the same time band as the UK.

Due to its location, Tenerife has a very equitable climate, the average temperature, in the south of the island, ranges between 18 degrees in the winter months and 25 degrees in the summer, making it ideal for both summer and winter holidays. The presence of Mount Teide, at 3,718 metres the highest point in all of Spain, in the middle of the island does affect the climate in that the north of the island is a little cooler with more rain, although for a true comparison it should be pointed out that, at the Reina Sofia airport in the south of the island, the average number of days, each year, when the rainfall exceeds one millimetre is nil. In the winter months it is possible to sunbathe on the beaches, whilst looking at the snow covered peak of El Teide.

Tenerife has many beaches, some with black volcanic sand but many with golden sand imported from Africa. The interior of the island is very rugged, but in its own way very beautiful. The main occupation of the island is tourism, which is very well catered for, with numerous restaurants and bars catering for all tastes. The holiday accommodation ranges from exclusive five star hotels to one key self catering apartments, and there are many sporting facilities, especially for golf. The island is also well known, of course, for tomatoes and bananas.