San Andrés: Beach, History and Local Tradition

San Andrés is home to Playa de Las Teresitas, a golden-sand beach lined with numerous palm trees. It can be reached on foot, by car or by boat; the beach has showers, lifeguard supervision and accessible facilities for people with disabilities.

Coast, history, festivals, nature, traditional crafts and gastronomy can be considered as separate areas of focus. You can base your own plans around these themes.

History

In 1706, Commander General Agustín de Robles y Lorenzana ordered the engineer S. M. Miguel Tiburcio Russell de Lugo to build a round tower with a loophole and ashlar masonry in the small bay formed by the Cercado and Huertas ravines. It was planned to have a diameter of 16 metres and a height of 5 metres.

Another flood on 28 October 1898 completed the collapse of the Torre de San Andrés; it has remained in its present condition ever since. By decree of 22 April 1949, the Torre de San Andrés was declared a historical-artistic monument; by decree of 19 November 1999, its boundaries were established as a BIC, an Asset of Cultural Interest.

Culture

The annual Fiestas de San Andrés and Santa Lucía combine faith, music and popular culture and attract hundreds of people. As patronal festivals of San Andrés and Santa Lucía in San Andrés, they honour San Andrés and Santa Lucía and bring together religious devotion, music, popular culture and local traditions.

The tradition of “Remendar nuestra red” (“Mending Our Net”) honours the work of female fishers and the fishing practices that have shaped San Andrés’ identity. Among the traditional crafts highlighted in the Anaga area is carpintería de ribera, or boatbuilding.

The festivals of the Virgen del Carmen in San Andrés and Igueste de San Andrés are among the manifestations of intangible cultural heritage highlighted as being of particular significance in the Anaga area.

Nature

The primary conservation objective of the Anaga coastal area is to preserve a natural habitat of community interest: sandbanks that are permanently covered by shallow seawater.

The inner boundary of the Anaga coastal area follows the coast between Punta de los Órganos and the outer end of the fishing harbour basin in Santa Cruz. There is a gap between the built-up area of San Andrés and the eastern end of the fishing harbour basin.

When several interests come together, you can consider the beach, history, festivals, nature, traditional crafts and gastronomy as separate areas of focus. You can incorporate the different access points to the beach into your plans independently of one another. Local history, festival culture, traditional crafts and the coastal area represent different ways of viewing the locality.

More local pages: Barranco Hondo, El Draguito, Santa María Del Mar, Igueste De San Andrés, Taganana, Maria Jimenez, Benijo, Cueva Bermeja.

You can sample traditional cuisine at the fishermen’s guild and in the restaurants in San Andrés.

To the main travel overview: Santa Cruz De Tenerife.