A Walk Through Tenerife's Past

El Roque at the start of the walk

The south of Tenerife is often dismissed by many walkers in preference for the more traditionally 'pretty' areas of the island. This walk however, despite rarely being far from towns and villages, has just about everything you could ask for in a walk, mountain views, impressive barrancos, ancient trails, miradors, and many historic examples of a past way of life. The walk begins from the stunning Mirador de La Centinela above Valle San Lorenzo and descends on the old camino real to San Miguel below the slopes of the imposing Roque de Jama.

A Circular Walk from Mirador La Centinela

View from the Mirador La Centinela

The Mirador La Centinela is a spectacular restaurant/viewpoint situated around 1,800 ft above the San Lorenzo valley giving stunning views down to the coastal plain and inland to the mountains. A good circular walk starts here from in front of the restaurant and descends into the barranco below, initially on a track of volcanic cinder, before climbing up to the hamlet of La Hoya. As the path climbs to the hamlet, it passes the  Fuente de La Hoya spring that would, in the past have refreshed travellers and their animals along the way and if you look carefully, you will see water troughs carved into the volcanic rock at different heights to serve both human and animal needs.

View inland at the start of the walk

La Hoya is the site of the first settlement in the area and the route passes the picturesque Casa Vera de La Hoya rural house before arriving at the road, close to a well preserved tile kiln.  After crossing the road, the route descends into the impressive Barranco del Drago before arriving at the site of the Fuente de Tamaide on the barranco floor.

Abandoned terracing

Here, at the spring, is an old communal laundry area and after a scramble between huge boulders the route crosses a wooden walkway as it climbs out of the barranco. The walk now crosses a  quiet rural road and follows an old cobbled camino that crosses a smaller barranco before a road at Tamaide is reached and signposts lead you into the town of San Miguel, passing the Casa del Capitan . This traditional old Canarian house belonged to the Alfonso family until the end of the nineteenth century and Miguel Alfonso Martinez achieved the highest military rank in the municipality, which is where the house gets it's name. After the house was devastated by fire, it was purchased and restored by the town and now houses an historical and ethnographic museum .

Church in San Miguel

Now, you have a decision to make. From the Casa del Capitan continue along the Calle de La Iglesia to soon reach a signpost for Aldea Blanca on the right near the La Bodega Vieja restaurant. If you want to explore San Miguel or have had enough walking, you can continue along the Calle de la Iglesia into the church square where where you can take advantage of the shade and benches provided by the Indian Laurels. From here, it is a short walk up to the main road where you can catch the bus back to La Centinela. However, if you still have plenty of energy, and want to continue the walk, you will need to return to the Aldea Blanca signpost by the La Bodega Vieja restaurant following green and white signs.

View across the vineyards

This downhill route follows an old corpse road, initially on tarmac that soon gives way to a rough track by a house. There are parts of the route where the signposting leaves a little to be desired but if you keep right at all of the major intersections, you will eventually find yourself descending to Aldea Blanca. Bear left in the village to reach the church square where you can take advantage of the shaded benches before setting off on the steep climb back up to the Mirador La Centinela.

Adeje Mountains

After leaving the square, heading for the main road, the route leaves the village on a road alongside the Cafeteria Agora to a plaza on the right, where you pick up the path to La Centinela, which can be found up some steps in the right hand corner.  This follows a track around some industrial units before passing close to a riding stables and climbing steeply up to the Buzanada-Aldea Blanca road. The signs here are a little misleading, giving the impression on reaching the top of the climb that you carry straight on, where in fact you turn right along the old road to reach the main road.

Montana Cambada

The continuation is across this road and the path climbs steeply, giving excellent views across the nearby vineyards to the surrounding volcanic cones and Adeje Mountains in the background. As you climb higher, you will catch glimpses of the restaurant at the Mirador La Centinela above you, until eventually, you rejoin the path you descended on at the beginning of the walk. Just turn left here and climb back up to the Mirador where you can recover in the restaurant with a cool drink while enjoying the views down to the coast. The whole walk takes around four hours, not including breaks for refreshments and sightseeing in San Miguel, the last hour of the walk is mostly uphill so you will need to be reasonably fit. There is also no shade on the walk, apart from the plazas in San Miguel and Aldea Blanca, so plenty of water and a sun-hat are also recommended.   

Exploring San Miguel in Tenerife

Not too far from where I live in the south of Tenerife is the small hill town of San Miguel de Abona. Passing through the main street, it's easy to think that this slightly sleepy, fairly typical Canarian town has little of interest for those visiting the island but for anyone taking the time to leave the main road and investigate the narrow back streets, there is much of interest to be found. 

Salto del Pastor sculpture

Recently, in line with many other areas of the south, the walker is being catered for as numerous signposted hiking routes have sprung up, including two passing through San Miguel to Aldea Blanca. Even more recently, a town walk has been created taking the casual stroller on an interesting ramble around the back streets of the old part of the town, following newly installed information boards highlighting various points of interest to be found along the way. As you enter the town from San Lorenzo, you arrive at the Mirador de Las Palmeros, where you will find a map detailing the walk and marking points of interest. The mirador is easily identified by the unusual sculpture of a shepherd practising an ancient method of travelling quickly across steep, rugged terrain called Salto del Pastor, in which a large pole was used to negotiate steep slopes and ravines. This technique, which is believed to have been first been used by the Guanches, the islands original  inhabitants, has now been developed into a folk-sport. 

El Calvario

From the mirador, the walk heads for El Calvario, in the old part of town, where you will find the La Casa del Capitan. This traditional old Canarian house belonged to the Alfonso family until the end of the nineteenth century and Miguel Alfonso Martinez achieved the highest military rank in the municipality, which is where the house gets it's name. After the house was devastated by fire, it was purchased and restored by the town and now houses an historical and ethnographic museum. The walk heads along the Calle de La Iglesia, towards the church square, following the route of an old Camino Real, or Royal Way, that once connected the towns of Granadilla, San Miguel, Aldea Blanca and San Lorenzo with the north of the island. 

Calle de La Iglesia

This camino would have once been used by vendors selling or trading goods from village to village as well as shepherds moving their herds. The walk now passes La Vieja Bodega, where you can join El Camino de Las Lajas, a 3.5 kilometre signposted hiking route to the village of Aldea Blanca. This is another camino that besides the normal traffic of shepherds and vendors selling wares, was also used as a  'corpse road' with the dead being transported from Aldea Blanca to San Miguel for burial. As you continue along the Calle de la Iglesia, you will pass a small alleyway, which was once the site of a gofio mill and a generator, which was installed in 1922, making San Miguel the first municipality in the south of the island to have electric street lighting.  

House in the old part of San Miguel

Eventually, the walk arrives at the attractive church square shaded by Indian laurels. From here, there are superb views down across the town to the south coast and you will also find benches where you can rest in the shade and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.

Church in San Miguel

Other buildings of interest in the square include the old library and birthplace of a famous Canarian, John Bethencourt Alfonso, a doctor, historian and anthropologist, who wrote 'The History of the Guanche People'.

Part two of the 'Crater to Coast Walk - Vilaflor to La Centinela' from 'Discovering Tenerife on Foot', follows the Camino Real from the Plaza de La Iglesia through the town to La Hoya and beyond to La Centinela.