Canary Islands: Volcanic Landscapes and Island Culture
Accommodation in Canary Islands
When choosing the Canary Islands for a hotel stay, you can base your choice of island on a wide range of landscapes and cultural traditions. On Tenerife, Teide National Park stretches from Canarian pine forests at an altitude of 1,600 metres to Teide at 3,715 metres, Spain’s highest peak. Lanzarote offers a different volcanic landscape; on La Gomera, laurel forest defines an important natural area.
Volcanic Landscapes on Tenerife, Lanzarote and La Palma
The landscape of Teide National Park includes volcanoes, lava flows and the Circo de Las Cañadas caldera. The altitudes also convey the diversity of this area: the pine forests and Spain’s highest peak lie at different elevations. If you are particularly interested in volcanic formations, Lanzarote offers a distinct contrast. Timanfaya National Park lies in the west-central part of the island and encompasses black and red lapilli and sand, basaltic lava, lichens, and numerous endemic plant and animal species.
On La Palma, the Caldera de Taburiente is another distinctive natural area. The bowl-shaped caldera is eight kilometres wide and has an elevation difference of almost 2,000 metres. A network of streams and torrents is also part of the area. This brings together three clearly distinct natural features: the high-altitude areas of Teide, Timanfaya’s volcanic materials, and La Palma’s caldera and waterways.
Forests and Endemic Species
The islands’ forests also have their own distinctive features. Garajonay National Park on La Gomera preserves the best-conserved example of this ecosystem in the Canary Islands; the park also includes more than half of the archipelago’s mature laurel forests. A total of 450 vascular plant species have been recorded there, including 34 endemic to La Gomera and eight found exclusively in the national park.
Teide National Park also has notable figures for biodiversity: 44 percent of its species are Macaronesian endemics, and seven percent are found exclusively in this national park. Five islands in the Canary archipelago are designated biosphere reserves; the archipelago also has four national parks. These protected areas give a nature-focused trip a specific theme, from volcanic habitats to laurel forest.
Urban History and Living Culture
San CristĂłbal de La Laguna on Tenerife combines urban history with a distinctive layout. The city preserves 627 listed public and private buildings, including 361 dating from the 16th to the 18th century. It is considered the first example of an unfortified city with a grid plan, which directly preceded settlements in the Americas under Spanish rule. The figures and the city plan point to different aspects of the place: its preserved buildings and its historic urban form.
The cultural landscape of Risco CaĂdo and the Sacred Mountains includes several cave settlements that largely retain their original form and design. The cave sites with rock art include some bearing Libyco-Berber inscriptions. On La Gomera, Silbo Gomero is another form of cultural heritage: this whistled language is the only fully developed language of its kind in the world and is practised by a community of more than 22,000 people. Silbo Gomero has been taught in schools since 1999; the language is also used at festivals, including religious celebrations.
Activities to Help You Choose an Island
Specific activities can complement your interests in nature and culture. Windsurfing and scuba diving are possible on the beaches of the Canary Islands. Inland, varied landscapes invite you to go hiking, cycling, climbing and caving. Many walking trails also pass through places where the cultural heritage reveals more than 2,000 years of history. This can help you decide whether coastal activities, exploring inland or cultural experiences will be the focus of your trip.
If you want to include several islands, you can also take transport links into account: the seven main Canary Islands have airports and ports that provide connections between the islands. The landscape, cultural tradition or activity you want to focus on can therefore provide a practical guide to choosing your destination and the right hotel location.
Discover more destinations: La Palma, Tenerife, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Graciosa, Lanzarote.
Back to the main travel overview: Spain.
