San Andrés

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1497

The coastal village of San Andrés is located just under 10 kilometres from the centre of Santa Cruz, in the area already dominated by the Anaga massif. It was a place inhabited since aboriginal times and later valued during colonisation because it had good land and abundant water flowing through its two ravines.

The first owner of the area was the Genoese Mateo Viña, to whom, as early as 1497, the Adelantado granted the entire area to be developed. However, Viña never lived in the valley, as his interests were focused on his estate in Daute, near the prosperous port of Garachico. Lope de Salazar, the Elder, conqueror of the Island, obtained in February 1498 the entire valley of Las Higueras, shared with his brother Sancho and other family members. Since then, the place was also known as the Salazar valley. Another large property was that of the Párraga family. The disagreements and lawsuits between these two families were resolved through marriage ties.

The place had a chapel dedicated to San Andrés from before 1562, the year it was rebuilt. It was later expanded between 1660 and 1670, and established as a chapel of ease by Bishop Guillén, who visited it in 1747. The image of the saint, a small 17th-century carving, has been recently restored.

The village’s prosperity initially came from sugar cane cultivation. Later, the economic activity focused on vineyards, potatoes, wheat, maize, vegetable garden crops (beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, onions, etc.) and, especially, fishing. It was a self-sufficient economy, as the village could only be reached by sea or via a path starting from Santa Cruz, following the coast and climbing steep cliffs, a route often made impassable by landslides and rockfalls.

In 1779, the village of San Andrés had 77 houses and in 1802, 426 inhabitants. From the beginning, it enjoyed administrative and judicial independence, having its own local mayor. It had a constitutional town council from 1813 until the return of absolutism under Fernando VII, and regained this status during the Liberal Triennium (1820-23). In the mid-19th century, it voluntarily requested annexation to Santa Cruz due to lack of resources for administrative expenses and basic services: channeling the ravine to prevent flooding during heavy rains, establishing a cemetery, a school, etc.

Conditions in San Andrés improved greatly with the opening of a proper road connecting it to Santa Cruz. The predominance of fishing and agricultural activities in the neighbourhood gradually declined throughout the 20th century, without disappearing, in favour of port work and navigation-related jobs.

In 1957, a community of property owners sought to take advantage of the rapid development of tourism on the island and the excellent conditions of its beach: Las Teresitas. With the help of the Cabildo and the Town Hall, two very important improvements were made for the development of the area: on the one hand, direct communication from the capital via a dual carriageway; and on the other, the enhancement of the beach with sand transported from Africa. Both solutions were carried out in the 1970s.

Today, with its breakwater protecting the village from the cyclical surges of the sea and the channelling of waters flowing through its ravines, the village has transformed into a pleasant place combining leisure, recreation and tourism activities on its magnificent beach.

San Andrés is one of the starting points for accessing the attractive Anaga Rural Park.

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