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Oh, the winds of change. From wind farms to trams, three friends talk about Tenerife’s changes,
hosted by the delightful Hotel Rural Senderos de Abona in Granadilla

Marta Lorenzo Velázquez, Accountant
Born in the north, grew up in Los Cristianos where she lives with partner José and their daughter Ariadna.

José Eduardo Marta Pérez, Public Relations, International Way Holiday Marketing
From Santa Cruz, José is Marta’s partner.

Stéphan Beney, Sales Executive, Living Tenerife
Originally from France, moved to Tenerife 13 years ago. Lives in Granadilla with fiancée Natascha and three-year-old son Romeo.

What were your reasons for moving here?

Marta: My family used to live in the north and that’s where I was born. We moved to the south when I was very young because my father was offered a job here. My parents did think about moving back to the north after they retired but they changed their minds. They have a great life here.

Stéphan: I moved here because of the weather. When I first came I lived in Puerto de la Cruz. I loved it. I lived there almost a year. I thought it was going to be white beaches and coconuts! I didn’t have a clue. I just wanted to move to Tenerife and learn Spanish. So, I got to Puerto de la Cruz in April and it was raining and raining.

Marta: And all the beaches were black!

Stéphan: Yes. But I liked it so I stayed and learned Spanish.

Marta: If you come to the island and you want to learn Spanish, it’s much better to go to the north, everyone in the south speaks English.

José: I’m from Santa Cruz, the capital. People from Santa Cruz only got to the south for their holidays, to go to the beach. Personally, I like the south, especially all the different cultures. Plus my job depends on tourism.

Do those reasons still apply? What is it that keeps you here?

José: You either like Tenerife or you don’t. It’s as simple as that. I lived in Norway for a while but I came back because it was too cold! In the Canaries the way of life is very laid back. It has a lot to do with the weather. I can’t live in a place where it’s warm for just one day a year.

Marta: I don’t think it’s down to the weather. I’ve lived in various places, for example Italy where the weather is good but life is less stressful here. It’s a very relaxing place to live.

José: We have everything here. We have many different climates on one small island, beautiful beaches, the people are friendly…

Stéphan: And we have all of Europe here. Your daughter will speak Spanish and English. She’ll meet people from Germany, France … all the kids here can meet people from everywhere.

How has it changed during the time you’ve lived here?

Stéphan: I came here 13 years ago and in that time it’s changed a lot. In the south there’s a hundred times more hotels, shops, shopping centres…

Marta: I remember when I was little, Las Americas didn’t even exist and Los Cristianos was just a fishing village with a few buildings and one supermarket. There was nothing else apart from a hotel they were building when we moved there in the 70’s. To go from Los Cristianos to Santa Cruz, where the doctor was, you had to get up at six o’clock in the morning and the trip took about six hours on the old road.

Stéphan: When did they build the motorway? About 15 years ago?

Marta: Yes. First they had the road from Santa Cruz, but the dual lane motorway was built only when the airport was finished.

Stéphan: But you could drive faster from Los Cristianos to Santa Cruz then because there were ten times less cars than now! You had the motorway to yourself then.

José: Everything’s changed. There are more people so there’s more of everything else as well.

Marta: Everything used to be in Santa Cruz. The doctors, the shops. If you wanted to buy clothes, you had to go to Santa Cruz. Now you can shop anywhere. Las Américas is full of shopping centres.

Stéphan: Las Américas used to be empty roads, built and ready but with nothing on them.

José: Everyday there’s a new building or a new shopping centre.

Marta: I remember when there was the big building boom in 1987. I left for a year to live in America because I went to study in New York. That was in September 1986 and I came back in September 1987. Las Americas had been completely transformed. They’d built so many hotels.

How has the growth of tourism changed the way of life?

Marta: Tourism grew in the south so everyone came down to work because that’s where the jobs were. People who live here, live off tourism. If we don’t get our money from tourism, we can’t go out and buy things. It’s as simple as that.

Stéphan: I think that you have to adapt to Tenerife, not the other way around. You can’t change people.

Marta: No, you can’t change things. The attitude is mañana, mañana.

José: Yes. There’s no stress. The weather’s good, there’s no rush. People are relaxed.

Stéphan: Yes. There are no fights, there’s no discrimination. Everyone’s accepted, from the rich to the poor.

José: Everyone’s welcome here.

Stéphan: There’s a lot more nice places to eat in the south than there used to be. I’m French so I’ve noticed a lot more French restaurants opening.

Marta: The restaurants in the north haven’t changed. They’re all the same ones. In the north they’re stuck, while the south is changing and improving.

Are there any areas of the islands that have remained unaffected by tourism?

Marta: Tourism is developing in the north but there used to be no tourism there - apart from Puerto de la Cruz – but that is a lot less than it was 20 years ago because all the tourists started coming to the south. Mainly Spanish tourists go to Puerto de la Cruz. They’re selling a different sort of tourism in the north because they don’t have the climate of the south. Twenty years ago it was difficult because the Canaries was sold with the idea of good weather all year round. Now they’re trying to make Santa Cruz more like Las Palmas (the capital of Gran Canaria). Las Palmas gets a lot of tourism because they built it up a lot more, but that’s also because they have a lot more space to build hotels than we do in Santa Cruz.

Stéphan: The north didn’t really have beaches either.

Marta: No, they had to build an artificial beach about 25 or 30 years ago.

José: Las Teresitas beach is just nine kilometres from Santa Cruz so you don’t need to drive to the south now. When you finish work, you can go to Las Teresitas to get some sun or play sports. If the people of Santa Cruz have to drive somewhere more than 20 minutes away, they think it’s far away. It takes an hour to get to the south, which is much too far for them. So, Las Teresitas is ideal because it’s only 15 minutes away.

How has the general infrastructure changed?

Marta: We really need a public hospital in the south.
(Note: A new public hospital for the South in now under construction).

Stéphan: Twenty-five years ago there was hardly anyone in the south. Since then the population has increased so much, so quickly. It was impossible to build everything at the same time.

Marta: Yes, but everyone working in the south is paying their social security but they aren’t getting social security health services here. They have to go to the north for it.

What would you like to see changed and why?

Marta: The only things that are missing in the south are big department stores. I heard they were going to build a Corte Inglés [Spain’s biggest department store] in the south, in El Mojon.

José: Also, it’s too expensive to travel to the other islands.

Marta: Yes. I think in Mallorca and Ibiza it’s easier to travel between the islands, even to connect to the continent. It’s cheaper for someone to fly from England than for us to fly to La Palma.

Stéphan: Also, we don’t have many cultural activities here in the south like they do in the north.

Marta: It is starting to develop. Tourists say that the Canary Islands are one of the destinations with the least amount of culture compared to other places they normally go to.

Stéphan: Well, that’s because they don’t look for it. I think that most of the tourists who come here come for the sun, the beach, the pool. They used to come for the social scene but now more people are coming to play golf and those people are interested in cultural things. I’d like to see more cultural things, like cinemas, shows...

Marta: They do in Santa Cruz. They have the new auditorium.

Stéphan: Yes, we should have more of these things in the south. One thing I miss is watching films in original language. Fortunately there’s a cinema being built, which will show original language films. They should stop with the golf courses though.

José: We don’t need more hotels or golf courses. We need to develop on what we already have.

Marta: Apparently the plan is to build 19 golf courses on the island in total. There are 10 already.

Stéphan: Too many!

José: Golf courses are good because they give the island status but 10 are good, not 19.

Marta: Also, there’s been talk of getting rid of Las Verónicas. I have to say that I don’t want my daughter going there.

Stéphan: Don’t worry. By the time she’s old enough to go there she’ll be a champion golfer so there’s no way she’ll be interested in Verónicas! They have made a lot of changes to it though. The other day I was in Jazzisimo’s for example, which is a very nice place. I hope it’ll all go in that direction in the future. One thing I would like to see an improvement in are the roads. Also, I hope they do the tram from La Laguna to Santa Cruz and the train to the south, so that if you want to go to Santa Cruz you don’t have to go on the motorway.

Marta: There used to be a tram in Santa Cruz many years ago.

Stéphan: Really?

José: Yes. 50 years ago and now we’re building a new one.

Stéphan: I didn’t know that. I think the train will be similar to the one in Bordeaux. I was in France last winter and I went to see it. It’s really nice, very clean and very comfortable. I don’t really like public transport but this was perfect.

Marta: I think the train will get rid of the traffic. There are so many people who come from the north to work. With the train there won’t be much as much traffic.

Stéphan: It will improve the quality of life for many people. Also it will be fantastic for Santa Cruz because more people will go shopping there. Tourists who come to the island and know that the prices are cheaper here than Spain and a lot of places in Europe, will be able to go on shopping trips to the capital. Also, it’ll be great for going out in Santa Cruz and going to the carnival without having to drive back at six in the morning.

All: Definitely.

Stéphan: One thing I think that’s missing in Tenerife, which doesn’t make sense as there’s sun all year round, is that there are hardly any solar panels. In Germany there’s ten times more solar panels than here. Why don’t they push it and save money for everyone?

Marta: The government does give grants for people to use solar panels.

Stéphan: Yes, but they don’t promote it, they don’t push it.

Marta: It’s not just solar energy, it’s wind energy too.

Stéphan. Yes. It’s free, clean energy. We’re lucky not to have much pollution here. We should try to keep it that way.

This article has been supplied by kind permission of Living Tenerife Magazine. Read more articles like this on Island Life, Golf and Property Tenerife.

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