Las Teresitas

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Leisure · Subcategory: Green spaces

Las Teresitas beach is located just 8 kilometres from the urban centre of Santa Cruz, near the village of San Andrés. Originally, the beach was a long stretch of coast clearly divided into three sections: Traslarena, the closest to the hamlet; Los Moros, in the middle; and the last stretch, the place where the Las Teresas ravine flows into the sea, which later gave its name to the entire beach due to the abundance there of a species of mantid insect from the Mantidae family commonly called "santateresa", "teresa" or "teresita".

The entire coastal stretch was made up of areas dotted with black volcanic sand and many pebbles, as is usual on the beaches of the Anaga massif. It was an almost virgin area; until well into the 20th century there was only one house built on the edge of the coastline, of which only some beautiful laurels that provided shade remain today.

The first serious attempt to urbanise the surroundings took place during the 1950s, encouraged by the initial boost to mass tourism in the Archipelago. It was planned to build a large tourist centre on the seafront. The idea did not prosper, despite the plan being approved in 1961 by the Ministry of Housing. In 1964, the Las Teresitas Beach Compensation Board was created with the participation of the landowners in the area and the aim of defending their interests against the declaration of a National Tourist Interest Centre by the Ministry of Tourism of the time. 

It was in the mid-1960s when new plans for Las Teresitas began to take shape. The idea now was to create a beach there completely different from the one that existed. The real change took place in 1973, when the City Council decided to fill the entire coastline that formed the old beach with "blond" sand brought from the Sahara. It was 270,000 tonnes of desert sand introduced in five million sacks transported in 23 maritime trips between the African coast and Tenerife. A breakwater and two lateral groynes were built to calm the waves and maintain the sandy substrate on the coast. The place changed its appearance noticeably. 

On 15 June 1973, the new Las Teresitas beach was opened to the public, becoming the only beach in good condition near Santa Cruz. Today it is used daily by a large number of people, both residents and visitors, and is also a special meeting place and a point of great importance for the social and leisure life of the city.

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