Teide

The most emblematic symbol of the island of Tenerife and of all the Canary Islands is the all-mighty, majestic and splendid "Father Teide". World Heritage, Europe pride, and undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary volcanoes on the planet, our Teide is visible from almost any corner of the island.

There are no words to describe its immense beauty, its haughtiness, its vertiginous unevenness, its colossal irruption from the sea, its multifaceted faces, its accused contrasts of color, its winter whites, its brownish summers, its mustards, its beige tones, its ferric reds, its sulphurous blues, its black solid lava rivers full of obsidian, its smooth and cordate lavas, or its most frequent stony wild lavas ... The whole of Teide breathes into another world landscape, a science fiction landscape, both peaceful and stormy.

Mount Teide is more than a magical corner of Tenerife. Teide is pure magic. Magical faculties were attributed by the aborigines of the island to Echeyde, name with which they designated the volcano, and which they always considered home of the very malignant God Guayota. Magic was the profession of ice merchants who came up with their donkeys to collect the precious material to the mythical Ice Cave, before the first refrigerators arrived on the island. Magic are the sunrises and sunsets from its summit, from which one can easily appreciate five of the Canary Islands, and some say that all of them, if the weather is auspicious. Magical is to know that with its 3,718 meters of height it is the highest summit of Spain.

Even more magical is the fact that what we see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg and that under the sea, Teide rises more than 7500 meters above the ocean floor, making it the third largest volcanic structure in the world.

Such magic could only attract millions of visitors from all corners of humanity, who explore it on foot, by cable car or simply from some privileged vantage point of the National Park of the Cañadas del Teide.

For whatever reason, for its colossal size, for its geological magnificence, for its botanical richness, full of endemic plants that only grow on Teide, such as its famous Violet or its splendid Red Tajinastes.

Whether for its unparalleled beauty or for the unique sensation of making you feel at the top of the world, or simply for the quality of its silence and its starry nights, Teide will always occupy a stellar place in the memories of those who have the Fortune to enjoy it.

Our gratefulness to Rebeca Heredero who authored the photographs.