88 tenerife

Tuesday 3 March 2015

This next card is from Tenerife, a Spanish island located about 300 km from the African coast.

As Patricia wrote on the card, Tenerife is very popular among tourists, there are about 5 million visiting the island each year! They come mostly for the wonderful landscapes, beaches, native flora and wildlife. The island is also home to Spain's highest peak (and world's third largest island volcano), El Teide, which is 3718m an was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2007.

It is also interesting, and a bit surprising, that the island has nearly the same flag as Scotland. They both show the St Andrew's Cross on the blue field, an there is only a slight difference in the shade of blue. There are different theories explaining this fact, one saying that the flag was chosen to show respect to the Scottish sailors in the Battle of Santa Cruz, and another claiming that those who chose the design belonged to the Masonic Grand Lodge of Scotland.

It's also worth to visit the island for the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, festival popular not only among locals, but also many foreign tourists. It is considered the second most popular carnival after the one in Rio de Janeiro. The carnival is celebrated in many locations, but mostly around city of Santa Cruz. There are contests, shows of street musicians (murgas), groups of minstrels (rondallas de Tenerife) and masquerades (comparsas). Have a look here, to learn more about the festival.

Thank you Patricia!