Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Sister cities

• Santo Domingo
• Nice
• Cádiz
• Rio de Janeiro
• Guatemala City
• Caracas
• San Antonio
• Aranda de Duero
• Santa Cruz del Norte

History

The area on which now stands the city and the municipality of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been the subject of human occupation since the time of the Guanches, approximately 2000 years ago, as attested by the archaeological sites found. The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, as Añazo or Añaza. The famous Mummy of San Andrés is one of the most important archaeological remains of the aboriginal past of the region. Besides caves with some remains of mummified animals and stones with engravings ruprestres. This area belonged to the Menceyato de Anaga (aboriginal Guanche kingdom of Anaga), one of nine in which the island was divided. On 3 May 1494 Castilian troops under the control of the conqueror Alonso Fernández de Lugo disembarked on the beaches of the present city and founded a military camp that would eventually develop into the city. From this place began the conquest of the island of Tenerife. During the foundation, Alonso Fernández de Lugo placed a large wooden cross in reference to the day of disembarkation, during the Catholic festivity of the Invention of the Cross (3 May). After the conquest and defeat of the Guanche aborigines, the capital of the island was initially established in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, which was founded in the same year of the conquest of the island in 1496. The recent discovery of abundant documentary evidence of significant corsair activity, carried out primarily by natives, residents, and those living on the island, confirms this fact. At the same time, the numerous pirate ships that frequented the Canary Islands waters used landing places along its coast. Such was the case of Valle de Salazar or San Andrés, which had acquired a reputation as a "pirate port" until the construction of its…

Most-observed species

• Canary Islands Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus canariensis (Hartwig, 1886) · Aves
  2,692
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,310
• Island Canary

  Serinus canaria (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,123
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  1,771
• African Blue Tit

  Cyanistes teneriffae (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  1,668
• Eurasian Kestrel

  Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,664
• Canary Islands Chaffinch

  Fringilla canariensis Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  1,338
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,272

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2019-01-18
  33 km NW of Agaete, Spain
• M 3.5 — 2008-05-13
  23 km E of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
• M 3.4 — 2008-03-15
  14 km NE of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
• M 2.8 — 2008-01-15
  5 km ESE of Fasnia, Spain
• M 2.7 — 2008-01-07
  28 km SE of Fasnia, Spain
• M 3 — 2007-12-27
  29 km ESE of Fasnia, Spain