García Sanabria Park

The city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts many pleasant surprises that any visitor who spends the time to explore its lush green streets and beautiful historic corners will be able to experience and enjoy.

Most of Tenerife capital streets are almost every day in the year in bloom due to the predominant red flowered Flamboyans, or to the purple-blue Jacarandas, or to the orange Gabonese tulip trees…, and as well in architecture terms, many streets exude modernist and eclectic elements, as these were the dominant architectural trends in the period when the city experienced its first major expansion.

But one of those great open secrets of the city is the García Sanabria Park. The park, built by public subscription in the twenties of the last century, houses a wonderful collection of exotic plants brought from all five inhabited continents. These exotic collection of plants, along the nearly one hundred years of history of this magnificent Tenerife corner, have become, due to their variety and development, the base of a true magnificent botanical garden, a top world garden of free entry and public enjoyment.

This beautiful and extensive tropical garden of 67.230 square meters is considered the largest urban park of the Canary Islands and is certainly in its own right a magical corner of Tenerife, but this time, without denying its true orchard status, built by the inhabitants of the island of Tenerife.

It is essential to emphasize the height and beauty of the huge collection of palms and trees that dot this magnificent garden of Tenerife, surrounded by beautiful historic modernist homes, especially with regards to the Numancia street that serves as its outer perimeter by its West side.

This haven of peace, lung of the capital of Tenerife, is characterized by having many different areas, active meeting points of friends, families, grandparents and parents walking with their grandchildren or children, place of rest for avid readers in search of beautiful solitary corners, or of simple walkers enjoying the party colors of a park forever in bloom.

Gentle sources, hidden plazas, tunnels formed by bamboo canes, multiple statues fruit of donations from city benefactors or town art collections,… the rose gardens, recreational places for children, lily ponds ... everything finds its place in this magical corner of Tenerife. A true must to be seen and enjoyed.

It would be unfair however, to end without a special mention of the fantastic floral clock of the park, the generous donation of who was consul of Denmark on the island in 1958. Mr. Larsen, with his present, made Tenerife one of the privileged places in the world to have a floral clock, something that can only be enjoyed in Viña del Mar in Chile, Melbourne in Australia, Tehran in Iran... thus continuing a long tradition started in Les Avants (Switzerland) in 1900 and improved by John McHattie and watchmaker James Ritchie in 1903 in West Princes Street Gardens Edinburgh.