A walk through the history of Santa Cruz with 71 tasty stopovers

The capital of Tenerife celebrates this month the anniversary of its founding with the second edition of the tapas route Degusta las Fiestas de Mayo.

History can also be savored. This is demonstrated by the II Ruta Degusta las Fiestas de Mayo, organized by the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, through the Development Society of the city. This initiative, which began on May 10 and will conclude on May 31, has already achieved great success in terms of participation and public, with 71 restaurants registered and more than 16,000 users of the event’s mobile application in just two weeks.

After overcoming two years of pandemic with a hard isolation and many restrictions, it is unavoidable to meet again and recover the urban space for collective enjoyment. And even more if the proposal has as a claim a unique gastronomic zapping, at a single price of 3.50 euros with drink included, to indulge yourself to go out and share a good time around a table without the pocket suffers.

As a whole, the Santa Cruz route combines history and avant-garde cuisine. There are tapas with ingredients as emblematic of the Canary Islands as gofio, goat meat, guayonje onion, bananas or roasted leg and also many others made with foreign techniques and raw materials, demonstrating the openness to the world of the capital and its multicultural character.

528 years ago, a fleet of Castilians arrived at the city’s port. Tenerife was the last island that remained free. Upon landing on the beach, on one side of Barranco de Santos, very close to the current Castillo Street, the main commercial artery of the city center, the men commanded by Alonso Fernández de Lugo nailed a Catholic cross to take possession of the territory. That gesture, which occurred on May 3, 1494, would forever change the course of history and give rise to the name of one of the capitals of the Canary Islands.

May is the month in which Santa Cruz de Tenerife commemorates the anniversary of its founding centuries ago. In 1894, the celebration was apotheosis and there was even a Dance of the Dwarfs of La Palma. The party came after overcoming a devastating cholera pandemic that left 400 dead and three months of mandatory confinement. From then on the city officially holds the titles of “very loyal, very noble, undefeated and very beneficent” in recognition of the exemplary conduct of the population.

The 71 proposals of this tapas route, which ends on the Day of the Canary Islands, invite you to walk again through its streets full of history and admire the modern and cosmopolitan city in which it has been transformed, and which aspires to be a gastronomic reference of the Archipelago.

To get the most out of this proposal, it is highly recommended to download the webapp www.degustalasfiestasdemayo.com In addition to facilitating the location of the locals to design itineraries geolocating all establishments on a map, the platform has photos and a detailed description of each tapa, information on the hours and days when you can taste each one.

In addition, you can consult the recommendations of the thousands of users who have already downloaded it. The six best rated are: hamburger with eggplant chips from Eri & Basi Café (San Andrés); sweet potato tower, egg yolk, cod and peppers, from Bahía restaurant; prawn tapa with Indian spices and brioche bread, from Caprichos.08The sautéed mushroom with almogrote toast, from Tapea Pintxos y Copas; corn, chia and spinach arepa stuffed with almogrote and green leaves from Auyama Real Food; and the fried millet toast with avocado mojo and tuna from La Gata Flora (Our Lady of Africa Market).

Imagen | La Gata Flora