A Brief History of Tenerife

The island of Tenerife evolved through a series of volcanic eruptions more than 3 million years ago. The top of the volcano itself did not explode, but instead collapsed in on itself forming one of the greatest collapsed craters in the world (more than 17km long). The volcano (Teide) on Tenerife last erupted in 1909, and is currently dormant. The original settlers of Tenerife were the Guanches, since then some 500 years ago the Spanish invaded and eventually conquered the Island. For many years the invasion was not talked of, and Guanche name was not mentioned, however now this has changed and locals are proud of their Guanche background and surname. In recent years the Island has realised the importance of it’s history and has opened a National Museum of History to visitors and citizens. Due to the volcanic nature of the Island, the land is very fertile which gives rise to some excellent farming potential, with farmers producing excellent crops of bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, avacados, pineapple and mangoes as well as many other tropical fruits.