Introducing Los Cristianos, Playa de Las Américas & Costa Adeje

Don’t forget to wear your shades when you first hit Tenerife’s southwestern tip. You’ll need them, not just against the blinding sunshine, but also the accompanying dazzle of neon signs, shimmering white sand and lobster-pink northern Europeans. Large multipool resorts with all-you-can-eat buffets have turned what was a sleepy fishing coast into a mega-moneymaking resort. The beaches are admittedly fabulous: sweeping and desert-white, thanks to sand imported from the Sahara.

The nightlife is for those with high energy and high spirits and there is a predictably dizzying array of restaurants. Where else can you eat in an ‘authentic Mexican Cantina’ for lunch, a ‘real Parisian café’ for dinner and have a drink in a blarney-themed Irish pub afterwards? Of course, all that variety leaves little room for Spanish culture to shine through. To see the true Spain, head inland or use Los Cristianos’ commercial port to hop over to one of the small western islands. Here in the south, golden tans and golden beaches reign.