Fun Facts about TenerifeFun facts! To most of you, Tenerife is a holiday destination, or a place to which you've emigrated, that has brilliant weather, cheap cost of living, loads of entertainment and things to do and a profusion of beaches and other holiday paraphernalia. But there's more to this island and sometimes it may surprise you.
Keep your eye on this page, as I'll keep trying to update and add to it. The Tenerife flag: why is it the same as Scotland's? The Nelson arm mystery: did it end up in Gran Canaria? The Dragon Tree: what is it and why is it there? Was Tenerife Atlantis? You decide. Will Teide erupt? We're about due! San Borondon - the eighth Canary Island? A Tenerife village called "The Overcoats"? What's all that about? The myth of the Garden of the Hesperides. It's not boring, promise. Tenerife UFOs - why so many? (If they exist at all.) The Spanish "Lisp" How did it originate and why don't they use it in Tenerife? Astronomical Fun Fact: There is a mountain range on the Moon called 'Mounts Tenerife', because it was first observed by an astronomer whilst at the summit of Mount Teide. The little badge you see on the bumpers of taxis that says "SP" doesn't indicate "Spain", as most people (including me) assumed. It stands for "servicio publico". The beer "Dorada" (pronounced "do-RAH-dah", not "doraydo"), is a beer native to Tenerife and is brewed exclusively on the island. Apart from a small presence on neighbouring island Gran Canaria, it cannot be found anywhere else in the world. 
In the 16th century, the Canaries were overrun with pirates far more than the Caribbean. Instead of the fictional "Captain Jack Sparrow", there was the real life Captain John Hawkins. Even the legendary eighth Canary Island, San Borondon was brought into the picture, with the pirates claiming that that was where they hid their ships. This was directly reflected in the "Isla de Muerte", featured in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films.
In the U.S. state of Louisiana, just east of New Orleans, there is a large community of people descended from Canary Island inhabitants. It is called St. Bernard Parish and its members continue to speak the Canarian dialect of Spanish. The Canarian word for "potato" is "papa". Elsewhere in the Spanish speaking world, "potato" is "patata", whereas "papa" means "Pope"! So, when you're tucking into your carne con papas, you'll be eating MEAT WITH POPES! Santa Cruz is not only the capital of Tenerife. It is, jointly with Las Palmas, the capital of the Canary Islands.
That scourge of Tenerife, the cockroach, can live on for two weeks if its head is cut off. It only eventually dies because, without a head, it can't eat. Tenacious little beggars, aren't they?
The village of Vilaflor is almost the highest in Spain, at 3800 feet. The village that holds the title is Trevelez, on the mainland, in a valley of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at almost 5000 feet. The municipality of Vilaflor, however, is the highest administrative region in Spain. So there. The maze of underground passages beneath Icod de los Vinos, covering over 10 miles, forms one of the longest volcanic tunnels in the world. There seems to be a fireworks display every two minutes in Tenerife. This is taken to the extreme every May 3rd, in the village of Los Realejos. Two streets compete for the best display. Each street uses a rival firework manufacturer and the display ends up lasting over three hours and burns about 6000 kilos of explosives! They don't mess about, do they? The ancient Tenerife people, the Guanches, worshipped the god Achamán. His chief adversary was Guayota, king of the evil genies and they believed that he lived inside the Teide volcano, which was the gateway to hell. Guayota was represented in their mythology as a huge, black dog. At 2 kilometers, the beach at El Médano is the longest in Tenerife. A couple of questions no-one knows the answers to: In Tenerife and the rest of Spain, they consider Tuesday the 13th to be unlucky, not Friday. The national anthem of Spain (and, therefore, Tenerife) is the only one in the world that doesn't have any words. It is always played as an instrumental.
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