In 2023, a wildfire devastated an area covering 14000 hectares along Tenerife’s cumbre, spreading further down northern slopes than southern ones. Where it can be difficult to visualise a number, official maps made it abundantly clear how much of the island was affected. Wildfires are, unfortunately, not uncommon in places with warm climates. We’ve witnessed plenty...
On Fuerteventura, the Barbary Ground squirrels have become almost as big a tourist attraction as the island itself. But they’re an invasive species.
Think you know what a barraquito is on Tenerife? Ordering Tenerife’s speciality coffee might not be as straightforward as you think.
Ever since we launched our Real Tenerife Town & City Guides, the one for Santa Cruz has niggled; it hasn’t felt quite right. We were satisfied the main route covered all the things we felt were most interesting in the centre of Tenerife’s capital. But the secondary route was more like a mini-me version of the primary route. It did have a few differences, but was...
The hill town of Santiago del Teide is, to put it bluntly, a mess. Despite nestling in one of Tenerife’s most picturesque valleys, it is not a particularly nice environment. Not at the moment anyway. And that’s because of the Anillo Insular. The Anillo Insular The Anillo Insular is a ring road linking the south and north of Tenerife via the west of the island rather...
‘That’s not Mexico,’ I exclaimed. The location at the start of BBC’s Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue was instantly identifiable. ‘That’s Abades on Tenerife.’ When I Googled it, AI disagreed, insisting only Gran Canaria appeared in the series, Jardín Canario de Viera y Clavijo to be exact. Not for the first time, nor the last, AI was wrong. The leper village that...
For the last few years, The Real Tenerife website has been virtually rotting on the vine. We didn’t outright abandon it, but we certainly neglected it. There were several reasons for this. One was we left Tenerife for Portugal in 2017. Another was that we grew so weary of other writers using our experiences and knowledge as a resource without crediting us (it brings...
Camel Spit and Cork Trees: A Year of Slow Travel Through Portugal Want to know what happens after the end of The Banana Road? Camel Spit & Cork Trees takes up the story from the moment Andy and Jack step on the ferry to mainland Spain. It is a travelogue and memoir which is partly about learning to live as a foreigner in Portugal and partly about delving under...
By the Time Dawn Breaks: A Tale of Mystery and Magic From the Canary Islands Two friends on holiday on Fuerteventura become lost in the hills, unaware a violent storm is heading their way. Life in a sleepy Canarian town on La Palma is thrown into turmoil during the visit of an obnoxious American author. Descending into one of Lanzarote’s unexplored volcanic tunnels...
The Banana Road: It’s Tenerife But Not As You Know It When Andy and Jack walk away from their successful careers, leaving family, friends and Manchester to move to the Canary Islands, they hope to find a new adventure and quality time together in the sun. What they do not expect to encounter is the intriguing, often amusing and sometimes downright bizarre cast of...