Tenerife, a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the second biggest city in the archipelago, the capital of the island and the head of the cabildo insular (island government); it is also officially co-capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands together with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The island is home to La Laguna University founded in 1792.
The area known as Las Américas-Los Cristianos comprises many world-class facilities and leisure opportunities besides sea and sand, such as quality shopping centres, golf courses ( 9 in the island), restaurants, aquaparks, animal parks, and a theatre suitable for musicals or a Congress Hall, all in a very characteristic Las Vegas-like aesthetic. In the more lush and green north of the island the main development for tourism has been in the town of Puerto de la Cruz. The town itself has kept some of its old-harbour town charm mixed with northern European influences.