Ten Highs and Lows of Living on Tenerife

After 13 years of living on Tenerife, it’s fair to say that the highs have outweighed the lows by quite some considerable margin, otherwise we wouldn’t still be living here. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

For anyone thinking of making a new life for themselves in Tenerife, some of our experiences might be of interest, particularly if you’re not coming out for a sunshine retirement but rather in the hope of making a living. This is a purely personal point of view and one based on being self employed and living in the north of the island. My opinions may not reflect those of others, they’re not meant to, they’re mine 🙂

Downside of living on Tenerife:

Tenerife South Airport

Distance from the EU mainland
Sooner or later, the claustrophobia of small island living gets to everyone and when that happens, the need to escape to somewhere different is hampered by the distance from mainland Europe. Wherever we want to go, unless it’s one of the other islands or to the African continent, it’s a 3hr to 4hr flight away. We’re also restricted as to where we can fly direct, particularly in summer when the number and range of flights diminishes.

And it isn’t just travel that makes our remote location challenging. Trying to buy things online is more restricted with many places not delivering to the Canary Islands, or if they do, at inflated p&p costs. Those postal costs apply both ways. We had to stop selling printed books of one of our guides when the cost of postage doubled overnight, completely wiping out any profit.

Lack of business acumen
When it comes to trying to run a business or being self-employed, Tenerife would try the patience of a Saint. It’s hard to credit in this day and age but many businesses still do not have a website. Some think having a Facebook page is enough, and some don’t have any web presence at all. Trying to get an email answered on this island is like waiting for the first snowfall on Teide, it may or may not happen. Communications here are still primarily undertaken face to face or over the phone, and if your Spanish (or rather, Canario) isn’t top notch, you’ll struggle with phone conversations.

If you do persevere and get a business together, you’ll find the tax and national insurance systems baffling at best and economically crippling at worst and you’ll spend half your precious productivity time chasing invoices from people who may never pay.

The yin and yang of this state of affairs is that there are lots of opportunities to fill gaps in the market, to provide a better service than already exists or to launch new concepts.

Broaadband router

Broadband is rubbish
Considering Tenerife promotes itself as the IT hub between Europe, Africa and the Americas, you’ll find yourself paying more, for less, than anywhere else in Europe. Broadband speeds in the home are adequate at best with the advertised speed of 6MB being standard although you rarely find that speed actually getting streamed. At weekends the broadband gets inexplicably even slower. Perhaps all the engineers are at the beach.

Everything takes time
Nothing happens fast here. The mañana culture is alive and well in the Canary Islands and coupled with a love of bureaucracy means sometimes, just living here is a full time job.

The lack of IT know-how means that the online facilities you take for granted in other countries, like notifying a change of circumstances, have to be done in person. At the Correos (Post Office), everything except postcards has to be weighed and stamped. As lots of people go to the Correos to pay their bills, that means posting something can take anything up to 40 minutes waiting to be served.

If you have to go to the bank for any reason (usually to pay a tax bill) it’s another long wait. Although online banking is common, few people use it and prefer to stand in line to deal with a person.

New trends pass us by
Depending on whether or not you buy into UK TV when you’re here, and we don’t, you might find yourself in a cultural Black Hole. And whilst I’m perfectly happy that I wouldn’t recognise most so-called celebs if they sat next to me on the bus (who is Kim Kardashian?), and have no idea who’s in the finals of The Great British Bake-Off or Strictly Come Dancing, I am bothered about missing cultural, music and foodie trends, and we have to rely on research, family and friends to keep us in the cultural loop.

 

Best bits of living on Tenerife

Lago Martianez, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife

The weather
Coming from the UK, you never really get used to knowing you are going to have at least six months of summer heat and probably more like eight. Here in the north we’re lucky enough to also get a half decent amount of rain a couple of months a year, so we get the best of all worlds, great summers, spring-like winters and lush landscapes.

It rarely gets really cold, even in winter. You’ll never see a ground frost at coastal level, and even in January and February, we still have mainly sunny, sunbathing days. What that also means is that you have almost zero heating bills which makes a huge difference to the cost of living here.

Space
You don’t have to travel far on Tenerife to find yourself in the midst of stunning landscapes with wide open spaces all around you. We complain constantly that Tenerife is allowing itself to become over developed but there is still lots of room to breathe and vast areas where you can walk for hours without seeing another soul or hearing the sound of a road.

When screen time has been clocking up, the only salvation for us is to pull on the hiking boots and head for the hills to remind ourselves that there’s still a lot of unspoilt beauty on this island…for now.

living on Tenerife, Banana plantation, Tenerife

Safety
I don’t think you can put too high a price on being able to walk down the street and feel completely safe, regardless of whether you’re a woman on her own, you’re in the middle of the town or the middle of nowhere, and no matter what time of day or night it is. I have never felt anything other than completely safe on this island.

Crime is not non-existent but it’s mainly petty theft, and the closest we’ve ever seen to civil unrest (not wishing to tempt providence in any way!) was at the Tenerife vs Las Palmas football fixture and involved a cuddly toy being set alight. Long may it continue to be so.

Friendly
Tenerife Amable may have been a marketing campaign but it also happens to be true. No matter how annoying the Tinerfeños can be (and they can be annoying, like when they’re cutting you up in the car, or taking forever to complete the most minor transaction at the Correos or the supermarket, or talking incessantly on the phone when they’re supposed to be serving you) one flash of that genuine smile and you’re completely disarmed. Smiling is their default expression and it’s a lovely thing to have around you.

Exotic fruits

Fresh produce
Supermarket shelves are brimming with loose fruit and vegetables, a tide of varying sizes, colours and shapes that ebbs and flows with different varieties according to the season.

The range of tropical fruits is giddy-inducing at times and we have fresh, exotic varieties at our fingertips for very little money. Every decent supermarket also has a comprehensive fishmongers with a bewildering assortment of freshly caught fish and seafood. The meat counters have entire skinned rabbits and piglets alongside more familiar cuts of beef, pork and lamb. To sanitized UK shopper eyes, it’s not always what you want to see but it’s honest and real and fresh and local.

About Andy 46 Articles
Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites and travel guides. Author of the Pocket Rough Guide Tenerife & La Gomera, and co-author of The Real Tenerife and Walk This Way Tenerife, Andy is an award-winning member of the British Guild of Travel Writers; former Tenerife destination expert for The Telegraph and has been widely published in the UK travel media including The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Easyjet Traveller and DK Guides.

33 Comments

  1. Your articles always give a real insight to life on the islands. Your book is great as it does reveal the true Tenerife. Our friends from England bought a copy and when we went to take them out and show them the “real” Tenerife, they had already been to all the places we thought of, we then found they had read your book!!! ?

  2. I love your site and have been visiting Tenerife since my parents first took me there in the early 80’s, there were only a handful of hotels in Americas then and a large open area separated them from Torres Del Sol on the edge of Cristianos.

    I noted your comments regarding language, did you guys have a grasp of Spanish before you moved there? How much does Canario differ?

    • Thanks Adrian. For a year before moving we took Spanish lessons once a week at the Cervantes Institute in Manchester; a great place as it was also a centre for Spanish residents in the city. We were taught by a woman from Barcelona and then another from Madrid, learning to lisp our words. Then we arrived in Tenerife (we’d only visited once previously and not for very long) to find the local language sounded quite different from the one we’d been taught the basics of. The first request for a Therbetha was met with a loud “QUE?”. Simplistically put, Canarian Spanish is more like South American Spanish than Castilian. Learning some Spanish beforehand definitely helped us get by though.

      • Hi, we learned canario when we moved over here’ just buy eating out reading menus, trying to pronounce the names properly, and interacting with local trying only to speak in canario. Canario language is more cuban than mainland as many cuban’s settled there many many years ago. i found this out from a government official who explained everything about the history of tenerife to us.
        tenerife isn’t that hard to live and not much different to the UK. THE WEATHER is great all year round, roads are clean, hospitals are great, i find our internet very fast where we are in Los Gigantis.
        i say go for it. plan, research, and do not hesitate. the UK has become a dump, education, health is rubbish, the place is dirty, i was always sick when i lived there, but been 100% well since been here!! the medicines are much better and effective too. Doctors really care! I can go on and on! I’ve lived all over the world and can honestly say its the best place I’ve ever lived. Chow!

        We are filming in tenerife over christmas.
        watch our Youtube channel CodnerTwins like subscribe and comment.

  3. Hi Andy, interesting read. I currently live in Barcelona and things are not much different here (in terms of getting replies to emails or bank/postal queues). I think Spanish people simply do not like online, period. Recently I had to change address and I needed a cita previa in some places (like the car rego place) to do so. Amazing.
    Although I have lived here for 8 years, I am thinking to leave as I am getting increasingly fed up with the local nationalism and institutionalised discrimination of the Spanish language. Would you say this is better on Tenerife or are people and the ayuntamiento also reluctant to speak Spanish there? How about integration into the local community? In Barcelona they just treat you as one of many foreigners and mostly ignore you (despite living here for 8 years I only have non-Catalan friends). Is this better on Tenerife? I am autonomo so can work and live anywhere and Northern Tenerife was one of the candidates. After your pro/con list would you recommend it? As far as culture goes, Barcelona also feels pretty lame (only artists who write or perform in Catalan get subsidies) and in terms of music they are decades behind London or Berlin it seems. I do not expect this to be better on Tenerife but how about other events like talks, exhibitions, perhaps the odd classical concert? Thanks.

  4. Hi Oliver, that’s an interesting and challenging set of questions you pose 🙂 Bear in mind I can only answer from my personal experience but that said…
    Living in the north of Tenerife, we could not have got by if we didn’t speak Spanish. The ayuntamiento, banks, medical centre etc all speak only Spanish. Our experience in the tourist resorts of the south is very different – there, when we speak Spanish they respond in English. However, even in the south, head away from the coast and into the hills and again, you’ll mainly find only Spanish spoken.
    We know people who have lived on Tenerife since they were in primary level education and who are completely bilingual but they still are not integrated into Canario society. We do have Canarian friends but apart from one, I wouldn’t say we were fully integrated into their lives, on the other hand, they don’t treat us as just another couple of extranjeros so maybe you will find it better.
    Tenerife actually does okay in terms of exhibitions and talks and we do have the Tenerife Auditorium (https://auditoriodetenerife.com/es/) which stages a full programme of concerts ranging from classical to rock.
    Finally – would I recommend it? Yes, for all the reasons I outlined above but with the strong proviso of the negatives for self-employed. As you undoubtedly already know, the Spanish tax system is prohibitive towards self-employment and you’ll find little difference between Barcelona and Tenerife in that respect. With hindsight, I would also recommend limiting the time you stay on the island; it’s very easy to live in that eternal sunshine and get sucked into the easy lifestyle but I think that unless you’re retiring there, the rest of the world will pass you by while you do 🙂

    • Thanks very much for this quick reply. So if everything happens in Spanish on Tenerife then that is already a step up from Barcelona 😉 Here, the local CAP only answers the phone in Catalan, work contracts are only issued in Catalan (even from government research institutes), tax forms are usually only obtainable in Catalan as the Spanish ones are “out of print”, etc. So being able to just focus on Spanish will be a relief. I am just worried that life may be a little too slow for me on Tenerife. Might just give it a try for a few months and see. Surely it is also a matter of habit. I was thinking about the Tacoronte/El Sausal area as I have seen some nice places there. Would you say that it has mostly local residents in that area or is it more touristic/seasonal?
      As far as autonomos go, I think Spain is better than its reputation. It is true that it used to be hard in the beginning when your income was low and you had to pay 250 Euros in social security. But with the new €50 flat fee in the first year (which I am still in), it is much easier and certainly better than most countries in Europe. Of course, once you pass the 2 year initial period you have to pay the full fee of €270 which can be steep but hopefully the income will have gone up a bit after 2 years.
      I used to work in France for a while and there the social security was much more expensive. Of course you also do get something in return but still …
      Anyway, thanks again and maybe we’ll meet one day on Tenerife, not that big a place it seems.

  5. hi Andy – great article, thank you. i am looking to make the gradual transition from Jersey in the channel islands to Tenerife, where i bought a studio several years ago. Im looking to nip across and start building a client base maybe one week a month and gradually phase across as finances allow. Do you know how easy it is for a local to offer me temporary employment? im a therapist, specialising in medically undiagnosable pain syndromes. Thx for your time, and hope to be joining you in the sun shortly! My place is in Costa adeje down south. take care, chris

    • Hi Chris – I’m afraid I’m not qualified to offer advice on employment prospects or the legalities of temporary contracts having only ever been self-employed. My advice would be to go to an official source for an answer. Perhaps on your next visit you can seek out an abogado (lawyer) locally – someone who specialises in employment law and can give you accurate advice. It’s not as expensive as you might expect and it’s an investment worth making if you’re planning your new life on the island. It certainly sounds like you’ve got a plan and I wish you every success and happiness in your new life.
      Andy 🙂

  6. Hi Andy, We are on holiday at the moment in Adeje. We have been to other Canary Islands, but we fell in love with Tenerife! We own a holiday home in Alcossebre (1 hour north of Valencia) since 2003. We love it very much, but it is totally deserted in winter and house is not equipped for winter living. We are wondering where to look in Tenerife to live permanently. We are a couple in mid 50s and would not be working. Our friends moved back to UK and said that there is more to life than sunshine! Also other friends are looking in Puerto del Sol in Mallorca. Any advice on places to life in Tenerife would be welcome. Thanks, Julie.

    • Hi Julie, that’s a tough ask because everyone is different in respect of what they want from their new home. Tenerife is a fabulous place to live and has something to offer most people but you need to really think about what you want your life to be like when you move. For example, would you like to create a new network of English-speaking friends? If so, you might want to think about moving to where the majority of ex pats live ie the south of the island. Do you intend to learn, or do you already speak Spanish? The answer to that will determine whether you choose to live in or near resort areas where English is widely spoken, or in rural areas where it isn’t. Do you want to be near restaurants/nightlife/out-of-town shopping/a golf course? All of those factors need to be considered. We loved living in the north of Tenerife and would never even consider living in the south but we know many people for whom the exact opposite is true! Sorry I can’t give you a ready-made recommendation, I’m afraid you’ll need to do some thinking and then some research. Hopefully this website will help you find some answers. Wherever you choose, I hope you’ll be ridiculously happy! Andy 🙂

  7. Hi Andy, I’m from Tenerife and same to the UK to study when I was 23, stayed here as found my husband and have been living here in the UK for 22 years. We are seriously thinking of moving to Tenerife, we have 2 children aged 11 &7. I’m just worried about life in general as going from a big country to a small island will be a big change, also the Spanish way of education (great for me when I was there) but not sure if the kids would like it. I’m thinking the opportunities they have here, they won’t have there. Having said of all this, I’m fed up of the UK and miss my family and friends like crazy and I think kids grow up completely differently there in the Canaries. Also the big plus is that hubby could work from Tenerife and gets to keep his UK job. I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance. Thanks a lot

    • Hi Vimi, we don’t have children so I’m afraid I can’t speak to the merits or downfalls of the education system in the Canaries but I suspect you’re right when you say they won’t have the same opportunities as they’ve got there in the UK. It seems to me that families on Tenerife have a greater shared interest in spending quality time together; time on the beach rather then in front of a Playstation, and in the plaza with their friends rather than in the bedroom alone. I guess you need to decide as a family if the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

    • Hi Malcolm, yep, there are plenty of places to rent property long term. If you Google, you’ll find plenty of agents – idealista, thinkspain, morfittpropertiestenerife etc

  8. My husband and I are 70 and 71..we are so tired of the awful weather here in N.Ireland in the winter months and are considering moving to Tenerife.I lived there for 10 years with my first husband in 1990-1997….. Unfortunately he was an alcoholic and we had a bar in Los Gigantes…..I left in 1997.
    Now 30 years later, happily remarried and retired from work, we are thinking of moving.
    Can you give us advice ?
    We would be very grateful..
    Siobhan

    • Hi Siobhan, You haven’t really told me what you’d like advice on. Can you tell me what it is you think I can help you with?
      Andy

  9. Hi. Thank you for the article. Can you say something about sports activities? For spectators, I have seen that Puerto de la Cruz has a baseball team in the Spanish League. Is there other baseball? There must also be football.

    And for personal recreation, safe bicycling routes? I currently play ice hockey, but I would guess that is not a thing on Tenerife.
    I doubt I would ever move, but I have been contemplating a 1 month visit next winter, by which time I will be 65.

  10. Hi interesting article, what are the standard costs of living in Tenerife ie,local taxes, broadband, etc. Could you live there on less than €2,000 euros a month? We are retired so on fixed income

    • Let’s put it this way, €2000 a month would be considered a high income in the Canary Islands. But it also depends on a number of other factors – whether that includes rent, where anyone is looking to live – as well as personal lifestyles.

  11. Hi there, Thank you so much for this insightful review. I have been thinking of moving to Tenerife for some time for many reasons which consist of the following assumptions:
    Better weather, nicer place to bring up kids, warmer and friendlier people, housing market is more affordable and overall less expensive to live. I am married and have 3 young children. I currently live in Canada and I own a successful Lebanese fast food restaurants. I am interested in knowing a little more about the success of the fast food industry in Tenerife or something similar to what I do for a living here. I also like to know the cost of British private schools.

    Any input in that regard is greatly appriciated.

    • Hi Sam, that’s a very specialist question. We don’t have children so have no idea what the cost of schooling would be. As for the fast food industry, it’s very popular, but mostly in a localised way – i.e. there are far more local fast food outlets than internationally known brand names. You’d also have to consider what market you were aiming at – residents or locals, and that would be dependant on where you planned to open. Tenerife’s traditional side and its tourist side are very different worlds with little in common. Saying that. Lebanese food is popular with Canarios, there are some excellent Lebanese restaurants in non-touristy locations.

  12. Hi i m 79 years old and would like to move to Tenerife mainly for the weather lots of sunshine iam not well off a pension of 800 pounds a month would it be possible to survive on that kind of money obviosly i would need to rent somewhere to live possibly outside the main towns. thanks Robert

    • Hi Robert, I think you need to do a list of pros and cons and then decide what’s best for you. On the plus side, that sunshine is priceless, as are those mild winters which mean you’re not paying out anything like the money on heating that you do in the UK. On the negative side, your pension will go up or down in line with fluctuations in the exchange rate between sterling and the euro so you need to ensure you don’t over-commit yourself financially. 800 pounds is not an insignificant income in the Canary Islands where, last time I looked, the average income was around the €1000 mark. If that’s the average, there must be a lot of people living on far less than that and generally speaking, the cost of living is much lower. As a result of Brexit you will also have to apply for residency and there will be criteria to meet in order to be allowed to stay beyond 3 months. I suspect you will have to show that you can support yourself financially and that you are covered for health purposes but that’s just my guess – do please check all that information with official sources before committing to anything. Whatever you decide to do I really hope you manage to pursue your dream – I don’t know anyone who regretted doing that. Good luck!

      • To add to this, there was a period of time last year when I was making around 5-600 euros a month self-employed and honestly we lived like kings. Prices are cheap here compared to the UK. Beer 60cents, packet of olives 30 cents, freshly baked loaf of bread 40cents. Good quality bottle of wine 3 euros. Even on 600 euros of net income we could keep a car and eat out at least once a week.
        Keep in mind around 20% of Spain is unemployed, so prices of essentials are kept low.
        So anyone who has a stable income either through dividends or pension will really enjoy here. If you need to look for a job, it will be tough (next to impossible now). After travelling the world I think this place is the best I have ever been to, although I will agree with the notion you ought to take a trip abroad every once in a while.

  13. Hi Andy!

    I enjoyed reading your website content about Ten Highs and Lows of Living on Tenerife and I decided to mention it on our blog.

    I will keep an eye on any future updates to share your content and link it to our followers.

    Greetings,
    Roy Schijvens

  14. Hi Andy,

    Thank you for your article. I am hopeful to make a visit to Tenerife with my family in the next year or so. My maiden name is Tacoronte, so of course that is the primary reason we would like to visit.
    I am not sure where or how to start planning. When is the best time of year to visit, how do we find the best places to stay, and things to do. I really want to learn as much as I can about any family history as well. Any recommendations, websites, or information you can share would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you,
    Lisa Pacheco

    • Hi Lisa,
      All the information you need can be found on this website and in our guides. You’ll find descriptions of towns and villages, places to visit, things to do and see etc. Tenerife Turismo are also good sources of information. If you’re looking for family connections I would suggest the local ayuntamientos would be your best starting point. Every municipality has its own ayuntamiento website, some a lot better than others, but they are a good contact source and should be able to point you in the right direction.
      Good luck!
      Andy

    • That’s a big question. The answer depends on what you’re looking for, and where. You’re probably better asking on a Tenerife forum. But it all depends on personal circumstances.

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