Tenerife offers the unique experience of swimming and sunbathing on a beautiful beach while being just a few miles away from snow sparkles on the crest of Mount Teide. The island’s central mountain stands at 12,200 feet, the highest in Spain, and a cable-car ride to the summit offers amazing views of the moon-like landscape of the vulcano’s slopes. It is also the largest of the seven Canary Islands, which are also main represented by Gran Canaria, La Gomera, and La Palma. The island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is a lively town geared for tourism. Its port, where once the first shots of the Spanish Civil War were fired, is today full of activity with ferries, jetfoils and freighters. The volcanic nature of the island of Tenerife meant that the land has few natural beaches. Those that exist are characterised by black sand created from the island’s volcanic rocks. The demand for tourist sun-bathing space, however, has led to the creation of resorts and man-made beaches, with golden sand having been imported in some cases.
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Arona: Arona has totally accessible beaches such as Las Vistas and Los Cristianos, thanks to the Arona Council the facilities and infrastructures have been adapted and accessibility is a major priority among Arona´s daily culture. Their barrier-free facilities and services as well as the calm waters surrounding them, make these beaches ideal to enjoy for anybody with reduced mobility. Tenerife wheelchair accessible services are common among the accommodation and excursions providers, together with the fact that Tenerife itself has built a strong awareness and a professional network around tourism without barriers for people with reduced mobility.
Mount Teide: The 3,718-metres tall volcano is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic. Although it remains active, its most recent eruption occurred back in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent on the northwestern Santiago rift. Teide was a sacred mountain for the aboriginal Guanches, so it was considered a mythological mountain, as Mount Olympus was to the ancient Greeks. According to the beliefs of the Canary Island aboriginals, Guayota, the king of evil, the devil, lived inside Teide (hell), and he kidnapped the god Magec (god of light and sun) dragging him down inside Teide. There is one completely accessible route – Roque de Caramujo Path, the Alto de Guamazo path at the Teide National Park.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Commonly known as Santa Cruz is a city and capital (jointly with Las Palmas) of the Canary Islands and of the island of Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a population of around 200.000 within its administrative limits and is the second biggest city of the Canary Islands. There are plenty of cultural attractions to visit around the city such as the Auditorio de Tenerife, the Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Nature and Man. The city’s wide promenade-style walkways, plazas, open-space gardens and parks, and museums are for the most part accessible. Tenerife’s public transportation system was the first in Spain to be certified as offering Universal Accessibility. Public buses, touristic buses and tram are accessible for wheelchair users.
Parque García Sanabria: Parque García Sanabria is a public urban park in the heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is a large garden area, combined with fountains and architectural groups creating an outdoor art gallery. Covering an expanse of 67,230 square metres (about 17 acres), the García Sanabria park houses plenty of sculptures of great artistic value. The park is listed as a Site of cultural interest by the Government of the Canary Islands.
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