Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2002 population 217,415) is a Spanish city on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

It is the capital of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and a co-capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.

The city is a seaport and a tropical resort, offering its impressive scenery and mild sub-tropical climate to visitors.

The port also exports products of the Canaries such as vegetables, tobacco, and bananas. The oil refinery, inaugurated in November 28th 1930, and other industries were constructed to attempt to diversify the economy.

The city's airport was the site of the Tenerife disaster, the worst aircraft accident in history.

Navel history

Santa Cruz Bay was the scene of two notable naval engagements involving two of the most famous British admirals.

In 1656, Admiral Robert Blake totally destroyed a Spanish silver fleet of 16 ships for the loss of one of his own, despite being under fire from shore batteries and attacking and withdrawing on the tide. 140 years later, Lord Nelson was to be less successful, losing his arm in a failed attempt to capture a treasure ship within the same bay.