Once a
sparsely
populated
rocky
shoreline,
the arid
coast
that
stretches
from
PLAYA DE
LAS
AMÉRICAS
and
LOS
CRISTIANOS
in a
contiguous
string
of
developments
is now
the
centre
of
commercial
tourism
on
Tenerife.
By
averaging
320 days
of
sunshine
a year,
this
area has
become a
package-tour
heaven
for sun
seekers,
with
vast
swathes
of land
occupied
by huge,
impersonal
hotels
and
consistently
crowded
beaches
that are
home to
two
thirds
of the
island's
visitors
and
countless
expatriate
hangers-on.
With
the
exception
of the
old
harbour
town of
Los
Cristianos,
most of
this
conurbation
has been
built
from
scratch
in the
last
thirty
years.
It must
have
taken a
considerable
leap of
imagination
to see
economic
potential
in the
barren,
baking-hot
land,
particularly
when
even the
most
basic
aspects
of the
local
environment
had to
be
adapted
for
tourism.
Not only
did
engineers
have to
pipe in
water
and
build
desalination
plants,
but they
even
shipped
in sand
from the
Sahara
to make
beaches,
constructing
huge
concrete
breakwaters
to
prevent
them
from
being
washed
away.
The vast
scale
and
complexity
of the
engineering
that
went
into
making
these
resorts
is
phenomenal,
and
given
the
speed at
which it
has been
created,
it is a
tribute
- of
sorts -
to human
achievement.
Most
visitors
spend a
good
part of
their
time on
one of
the
area's
half-dozen
beaches
, which
are
crowded
with
regimented
lines of
sunshades
and
loungers.
The
breakwaters
that
shelter
these
beaches
produce
a gently
lapping
sea
which is
perfect
for
swimming.
A range
of
water
sports
and
equipment
is also
on offer
- from
pedal
boats,
jet skis
and
motorboats
to
parascending
or being
towed on
an
inflated
banana.
The more
adventurous
might
also
like to
try
learning
to scuba
dive,
with one
of a
number
of local
dive
operations.
And
should
resort
life
become
too much
to bear,
you'll
find
that
even the
tackiest
resorts
have
their
quiet
and
exclusive
spots,
and the
well-developed
tourist
infrastructure
makes it
easy to
escape
to the
region's
quieter
parts,
making
this a
good
base
from
which to
explore
the rest
of the
island.
In
addition,
there
are a
couple
of
attractions
within
easy
reach of
the
resorts
-
Parques
Exóticas
is an
imaginatively
laid out
animal
park and
Jardines
del
Atlantico:Bananera
is, as
you
might
expect,
a Banana
farm
with
exhibitions
on the
locally
grown
fruit.
Playa
de la
Las
Américas
The
reputation
of Playa
de las
Américas
as a
concrete
jungle
of
tackiness
and
hedonism
is
second
to none
in the
Canaries.
This
three-kilometre
long
sprawl
of hotel
and
apartment
complexes,
housing
some
100,000
beds,
divides
up into
a number
of
districts
with
subtly
different
characters.
Central
Las
Américas
was
thrown
up in
the
1970s to
cash in
on the
booming
tourist
trade.
What
emerged
was a
number
of
particularly
ugly
complexes
- but
they
were
cheap
and
holidays
here
sold
well, at
least at
first.
By the
mid-1980s
the
resort's
popularity
began to
dwindle,
partly
from
competition
elsewhere
and
partly
because
many of
the
resort's
facilities
were
becoming
tatty
and
unappealing.
Despite
renovation
attempts
since,
the
bland
concrete
commercial
centres
at the
heart of
the
resort
remain -
though
they now
house
the
throbbing
nightlife
for
which
the
resort
is
notorious
and as
such
form the
main
attraction
for many
young
visitors
to the
island.
To
improve
the
resort's
image
and
finances
there
has been
some
effort
to
attract
more
affluent
tourists,
with
four-
and five-star
hotels
apearing
in the
more
salubrious
districts
on the
edges of
Playa de
las
Américas.
Just
north of
central
Las
Américas,
San
Eugenio
and its
British-dominated
northern
neighbour
Torviscas
have
successfully
become
family
destinations,
while
the new
yachting
marina
Puerto
Colon
between
the two
is
slowly
emerging
as a
trendy
stop-off
for the
yachting
set. At
the
northern
fringes
of Las
Américas
is the
soulless
but
relatively
stylish
and
rapidly
expanding
resort
of
Fañabé
- though
visitors
should
be aware
that its
beach is
still
under
construction
as are
many of
its
swanky
hotels,
which
huddle
around
empty
shopping
centres.
The
Gran
Hotel
Melia
Bahía
del
Duque
, the
most
luxurious
accommodation
on the
island,
is at
the
northern
end of
this
district.
Attempting
to
project
a
similar,
exclusive
image as
Fañabé,
Los
Moritos
, to the
south of
central
Las
Américas
and
bordering
Los
Cristianos
(leaving
it no
space to
sprawl)
is near
some of
the
least
crowded
beaches
- the
extravagant
architecture
of the
five-star
Mare
Nostrum
Resort
setting
the
local
tone.
Los
Cristianos
Though
it's
difficult
to tell
where
Los
Cristianos
finishes
and Las
Américas
begins,
the
centre
of Los
Cristianos,
nestling
beside
the
steep
bleak
Montaña
Chayofita
and the
town's
main
beach
and
harbour
is easy
to
identify.
The
atmosphere
here,
while
undeniably
touristy,
is much
less
conspicuously
synthetic
and less
tawdry
than
that of
its
sprawling
neighbour.
This is
mainly
because
it has
grown
much
more
organically
- from
fishing
village
to
port
and then,
since
the
1960s,
to an
agreeable
and
relatively
sedate
resort
attracting
families
and a
large
contingent
of
retired
folk.
Today,
it is
still
home to
many
Canarians.
The
town's
pedestrianized
centre
is
filled
with
restaurants,
shops
and
services
targeting
the many
strolling
holiday-makers.
Its
relatively
low-rise
buildings
overlook
the
harbour
and the
substantial
Playa
de Los
Cristianos
, while
high-rise
apartment
blocks
dominate
the
outskirts
of the
town,
particularly
on its
eastern
side
towards
the
footslopes
of the
barren
Montaña
Guaza
. The
town
spreads
a good
way west
of the
harbour
area,
too,
melting
with Las
Américas
along a
rather
theoretical
western
boundary
in the
middle
of the
wide
Playa de
Las
Vistas
.
