Modern Tenerife
From Agricultural Land to Tourism Giant
The transformation of Tenerife in the 20th century is breathtaking. As late as the 1950s, the south was a barren, waterless semi-desert where hardly anyone lived. The few tourists who came visited Puerto de la Cruz in the north. Then came mass tourism:
- 1960s: Construction of the Reina Sofía Airport in the south (opened in 1978, but development began earlier). The first hotels were built in Playa de las Américas.
- 1970s–80s: Tourism boom. In just two decades, the south was transformed from a desert into a tourism metropolis. Hotels, apartment complexes, roads, water pipelines — everything was built from scratch. Tourism overtook agriculture as the most important economic sector.
- 1990s: Quality initiative. Tenerife tried to move away from the image of cheap holidays. Costa Adeje was developed as a high-end alternative to Playa de las Américas. The Teide became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
- 2000s–today: Tenerife welcomes over 6 million tourists annually — more than any other Canary Island. Tourism accounts for directly and indirectly over 35% of GDP. The island balances between economic dependence on tourism and the desire to preserve nature and identity.
Challenges Today
Tenerife faces a dilemma familiar to many Mediterranean and Atlantic islands: overtourism. Rental prices in Santa Cruz and La Laguna have exploded due to vacation rentals, young Canarians can hardly afford apartments, and some natural areas (Masca, Teide) have reached their capacity limits. At the same time, tourism is the most important employer. The discussion about what sustainable tourism might look like shapes the political debate on the island.
