Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Canarias
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay.
Living in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz is the largest city on Tenerife and one of the two capitals of the Canaries — a cosmopolitan port city of 211,000 open to the sea, with an arcaded historic core, a big palm-filled park dotted with modern sculpture, and a working maritime and industrial waterfront. Its climate is superb and steady: winters around 19°C, summers near 29°C, little rain and lots of sun. Most residents are Spanish-born, with a very large Venezuelan community and a notable German one. It has hospitals of its own, a beach nearby, La Laguna half an hour up the hill and the northern airport about the same.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's Spainability Scores — by who's moving
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities. Each score is Santa Cruz de Tenerife's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 71% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick for a retiring couple — a hospital in town and 19.4°C average winters.
- Winter average temp 19.4°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- Surgical wait (region) 106 days
- Registered long-let rent €7.8/m²·mo
Higher than 68% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick for American retirees — a hospital in town and 19.4°C average winters.
- Winter average temp 19.4°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- U.S.-born residents 1.32 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €7.8/m²·mo
Higher than 52% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — 3 km from the sea and 211,498 people.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 98%
- Drive to nearest airport 27 min
- Registered long-let rent €7.8/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.1°C
Higher than 41% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — 3 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.1°C
- Rainy days a year 29 days
- Winter average temp 19.4°C
Higher than 37% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — 3 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Schools in town 117
- PISA maths (region) 447
- Registered long-let rent €7.8/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
Higher than 23% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
The largest city on Tenerife, cosmopolitan and open to the sea, modernizing every day as a dynamic place to stay. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — 3 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Registered long-let rent €7.8/m²·mo
- Net income per person €15,110
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.1°C
What is the climate like in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's reported winter average is 19.4°C, while July–August highs reach 29.1°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 19.4°C top 1% of 8,131 towns 11.6°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 29.1°C top 34% of 8,131 towns 1.1°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 29 days top 1% of 8,088 towns 58% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 8.2 h/day top 9% of 3,829 towns 13% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- no local data
- River-flood depth (T=100, town centre) estimated
- 0 m top 1% of 8,129 towns 0.04 m below the Spanish average (0.04 m)
- River-flood risk score estimated
- 0 top 1% of 8,129 towns about the Spanish average (0)
- Wildfire burn rate (2010–23)
- 0.12 ha/km² bottom 43% of 8,132 towns 2.18 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 5 bottom 21% of 8,132 towns 1 below the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 30.9% bottom 1% of 8,130 towns 8% above the Spanish average (22.9%)
The year, month by month
AEMET 30-year climate normals — what a January or an August actually feels like, not the annual average.
How good is healthcare in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's nearest health centre is 69 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 0 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 69 km bottom 2% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 106 days #12 of 17 regions, +3 days vs national about the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife has 117 schools in town; the nearest international school is 6 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 117 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 6 km top 4% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 447 #17 of 17 regions, −32 vs national 34 below the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's reported home price is €2,335/m², while registered long-let rent is €7.8/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €2,335/m² appraisal (valor tasado) bottom 40% of 306 towns 6% more than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €7.8/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €6.02/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €10.1/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- 4.01% bottom 39% of 306 towns
- Net income per person
- €15,110 top 39% of 8,059 towns 4% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 27.4% top 41% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Spanish is the only region-wide official language in the Canary Islands, and Spanish-medium teaching is the public-school default. Individual bilingual and international programmes can use other languages, so check the specific school. See the the Canary Islands region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's reported population is 211,498.
Who lives here
- Population
- 211,498
- Born in Spain
- 81.2% 7.6% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 2.2% 1.6% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.32 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a reported 27 min drive from the nearest airport, with 97% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 27 min top 6% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 97% top 19% of 8,132 towns 18% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 98% top 26% of 8,132 towns 15% above the Spanish average (83%)
Numbers: Spainability town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma and the Catastro. Registered long-let rent is SERPAVI declared-contract data; its p25–p75 values show the observed band. Registered-rent yield is gross, excludes costs and is never imputed. Percentile chips count only the municipalities that report the figure — the "of n" says how many. Region-ranked figures (PISA, surgical waits) compare Spain's 17 comunidades autónomas. A blank means no municipal-level figure is published — not a zero.
How does Santa Cruz de Tenerife fit you?
These are the town's numbers. Whether it's your town depends on what you're optimising for — winter sun or mild summers, a city or a village, short medical waits, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores Santa Cruz de Tenerife against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 31 min from San Cristóbal de La Laguna, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Santa Cruz de Tenerife for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request recent comparable sales before relying on the appraisal figure.
- Test fibre speed at the exact address, not the town average.
- Visit local schools and confirm places for incoming families.
- Confirm health-centre registration and opening hours in person.
- Ask about summer rental crowds and parking near the coast.
Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.