"A spectacular welcome for anyone approaching from the sea."
Santa Cruz, the penultimate port of call during this World Cruise and the capital of the largest island in the Canary Archipelago - Tenerife.
Very shortly we will again be back at our starting point in the UK where, after travelling for 3 months continually in a more or less westerly direction, we will have proven that the earth is indeed round. Apologies to the flat earth society.
Founded in 1494 by the Castilians, Santa Cruz was a key port on the way to the Americas. On his way to the New World, Christopher Columbus refueled here with water and other supplies and it was one of Magellan's first ports of call during the first ever circumnavigation of the world in 1519.
More recently it has become a magnet for tourism, fly/stay vacations and cruise ship calls.
In 2023 some 13.9 million tourists visited the 7 islands of Gran Canaria and 40% of the jobs on the islands are related to tourism. Unfortunately for us on the beautiful Queen Victoria, we have been alarmed at reports of recent riots about the amount of increased tourism to the Islands culminating in a number of protests held throughout Gran Canaria and Europe in general for that matter.
Trapped between the sea and the sheer craggy mountains of the island, the dramatic colourful town of Santa Cruz, presents a spectacular welcome for anyone approaching from the sea.
Whilst the lowrise apartments behind the port give it a slightly modern look, it's the UNESCO Old Town just off to one side, that provides the biggest attraction. Full of old Spanish architecture, bell towers, municipal buildings and churches, there is little in the way of modernity blighting the landscape, but what modern architecture there is, is the most outstanding of them all, the “Auditoria De Tenerife”.
Designed by Santiago Clatrava, and set between the old city and the Atlantic Ocean, the one billion dollar auditorium was finished in 2003 - albeit four times over budget and mired in a number of controversial decisions - but it has become a symbol of the city for its free form style which seems to defy gravity. Similar in lines to the Sydney Opera House, it was also covered in white tiles which unfortunately, also similar to its Australian counterpart, are beginning to fail and fall off.
The previously lauded architect who had been given numerous accolades and awards for the building, is now exiled in Spain and being sued by the city for the building’s failures. Once standing proud on the waterfront, and now forlorn, neglected, empty, tired, an ironic example of modern building practices languishing next to the multitude of antique and yet still stable buildings of the past that stand around it.
In contrast, a stone's throw away stands the Mercato, a beautiful old colonnaded spanish market, full of fresh meat, vegetables and fish - bursting at its seams with locals doing their shopping and bartering. Further behind the city is the Parque Garcia Sanabria. Inaugurated in 1926, it is the largest urban park in the Canary Islands and is full of local and Spanish sculptures including a famous Henry Moore piece called El Guerrero De Goslar. The Warrior of Goslar.
Representing a fallen hero with his head at one end and his shield at his feet, it lies overlooking the park and a city that follows the theme of public art where heroes are commemorated. On the waterfront the large "Monument a los Caidos" (Monument to the Fallen) stands beside a large concave water feature. The two knights standing guard lean on their swords, reminiscent of the depictions of the Knights Templar and are dedicated to all those lost in wars fighting on behalf of Santa Cruz including the 1930s Spanish Civil War.
The theme of this city with its protesters and commemoration to protests, underlines the tenacity and resolve of its residents. They may project a laid-back manner, but underlying it is an undercurrent of a fighting mans’ spirit.
Despite our fears, we were lucky with the protesters and the lack thereof, as it was a public holiday and they were more concerned with sheltering from the summer heat in the many air conditioned bars and cafes that line the cobbled and tree-lined laneways. There was nothing for it but to join them in a relaxing mojito before we rejoined the ship and pointed our nose out into the Atlantic to begin the overnight sail to Madeira and the last port on this World Cruise. (ROSS THORBY)
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