El Corte Ingles Tenerife - a prestigious department store in Santa Cruz
El Corte Ingles Tenerife is a huge, prestigious department store, situated on the main Avenida Tres de Mayo in Santa Cruz.
This is one branch of a large, Spanish organisation, with stores all over Spain and its flagship branch in Madrid.
Its name meaning, in English, "The English Cut", referring to a style of clothes making, the company first started out as a tailor's shop, back in 1890. By 1940, it had become a corporation. It continuously increased in size and power over the years, including, in 1955, the takeover of the department store chain, Galerias Preciados, which was its only serious competitor.
The immense building consists of seven floors of shops, plus a basement and a penthouse restaurant.
Just to give you an idea of the variety available, here's a run-down of what you can find on each floor:
Floor 7 - Another restaurant, cafeteria, holiday goods (travel, camping, beach), garden centre, hairdressers, travel agents, insurance agents
