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With
over a
hundred
years
pedigree
in the
field,
PUERTO
DE LA
CRUZ
does
resort
tourism
well.
The
bustling,
former
harbour
town,
which
still
acts as
a focal
point
for the
business
communities
in the
Orotava
valley,
was
historically
much
favoured
by
British
traders
who
erected
the
imposing
Grand
Hotel
Taoro
here in
1889.
The
hotel
itself
helped
to
define
Puerto
de la
Cruz as
a
tourist
destination.
In the
1890s it
became a
fashionable
spa town
and
since
then it
has been
a
preferred
haunt
for
wintering
European
royalty
and
dignitaries
such as
Winston
Churchill
and
Bertrand
Russell.
Despite
the
influx
of
various
high-rise
complexes
and the
associated
tackiness
of mass
tourism,
Puerto
has
managed
to
retain
something
of the
style
and
flair of
a
cosmopolitan
spa as
well as
keep the
feel of
a small,
friendly
and busy
Spanish
town. It
has
maintained
an
individuality
and
character
that the
southern
resorts
lack.
Particularly
popular
with a
more
mature
holidaying
clientele,
much in
evidence
promenading
and
pottering
happily
there,
Puerto
boasts
the
highest
rate of
return
visits
of any
resort
in the
world.
The
Town
The
centre
of
Puerto
de la
Cruz is
focused
around
the
small
Plaza
del
Charco
, in the
heart of
a
pedestrian
district
and
beside a
now
little-used
small
harbour.
From
here the
pedestrian
area
spreads
west
into
Ranilla
, a
quaint
old
fishing
quarter
and east
along
the
seafront
and
through
the
town's
shopping
district,
to a
charmless
jumble
of high-rise
hotels,
bars,
discos
and
international
restaurants
at the
eastern
end of
town.
While
the
centre
of town
is
always a
pleasant
place
for
strolling
aimlessly,
there
are
actually
few real
sights
here -
Puerto's
main
attractions
are its
beaches
,
lido
and the
nearby
Loro
Parque
zoo
.
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