Question 1

Santa Cruz de La Palma on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Santa Cruz is easy to explore without a tour, because the old town begins a few steps from the port. A simple plan is Calle Real and Plaza de España in the morning, the balconied seafront and the Barco de la Virgen after that, and time on the town beach before heading back. Plaza de España: The church of El Salvador, the town hall and a stone fountain stand around this square, the main group of Renaissance architecture in the Canary Islands. Calle Real: Along the street stand the Palacio Sotomayor with its basalt façade and the four-story balconied Casa Principal de Salazar, and the street leads on to Plaza del Borrero and the Alameda. The seafront balconies: Avenida Marítima's colorful wooden balconies give the town one of its best-known views. The stone ship: The Barco de la Virgen, beside Plaza de la Alameda, is a replica of Columbus's Santa María that houses a naval museum. One short ride: Bus 500 runs to Los Cancajos, one of the island's two main beach resorts, if you would rather swim outside town. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match the local clocks or your phone. The Canary Islands keep Western European Time, UTC+0 and UTC+1 in summer, an hour behind mainland Spain all year. Carry ID: In Spain you must show photo ID if a police officer asks for it.

Question 2

Getting Around

Accepted Answer

The old town is best seen on foot, and the island's buses run from the stop on Avenida de los Indianos. To reach the volcanic and forest landscapes of the interior in one day, a hire car is the best option. La Palma's airport is about 8 km south of Santa Cruz. Bus 500 runs there about every 30 minutes and takes about 35 minutes. Taxis are available in Santa Cruz. The island's roads are well kept and signposted, though side roads have sharp bends and steep climbs. The Roque de los Muchachos, the island's highest point at 2,426 meters, can be reached by car most of the year, but access is restricted at night because of the observatory, and snow can close roads in winter.

Question 3

Food and Drink

Accepted Answer

La Palma's food is Canarian, with goat and almond sweets among the island's specialties. Its wines include the sweet Malvasía, and the island also makes rum. Cabrito is young goat, usually fried, while cabra is older goat, usually stewed. Bienmesabe, whose name means it tastes good to me, is a very sweet dessert of ground almonds and honey. A barraquito is espresso with sweetened condensed milk, sometimes with a shot of liqueur. The island has many vineyards, and Shakespeare mentions the sweet Malmsey of the Canary Islands. La Palma exports bananas, rum and gofio, a flour of roasted grain.

Question 4

Tipping in Spain

Accepted Answer

Tipping is not obligatory in Spain, and no service charge is added to the bill. In a mid-range restaurant, some people leave 5 to 10 percent when the service was exceptional, and a little extra is common; the currency is the euro. Some taxi drivers ask foreign passengers for a tip, especially on airport runs, but a tip is never required.

Question 5

Festivals and Traditions

Accepted Answer

Santa Cruz has a full festival calendar. Every five years the island's patron, the Virgin of the Snows, is carried down from her mountain sanctuary to the city, and every year Los Indianos turns the carnival white with talcum powder. The Bajada de la Virgen de las Nieves has been held every five years since 1680, in years ending in 0 and 5. The most recent was in 2025, and the next is due in 2030. The centerpiece is the Danza de los Enanos, in which dancers seem to shrink into dwarfs in a matter of seconds. When the Virgin reaches the Barco de la Virgen, the Dialogue between the Castle and the Ship, a verse piece first staged in 1875, is performed, as it has been at every festival since 1885. Los Indianos, on carnival Monday, began in the 1960s as a parody of emigrants who came home rich from Latin America. Crowds dress in white period clothes and throw talcum powder. On May 3, the Fiestas de la Cruz mark the city's founding, and crosses all over town are decorated with flowers and jewelry. Santa Cruz's Holy Week processions are the only ones in the islands declared a festival of regional tourist interest.

Question 6

A Brief History

Accepted Answer

Santa Cruz was founded on the day of the Holy Cross in 1493 and grew rich as a port on the route to the Americas. A pirate raid destroyed it, its citizens elected Spain's first democratic town council, and its old center has been protected since 1975. Benahoare: Before the Spanish conquest, the island's native people, the Auaritas, called La Palma Benahoare, and the site of Santa Cruz belonged to the canton of Tedote. Founding, May 3, 1493: Alonso Fernández de Lugo founded the town, first known as Villa de Apurón, at the mouth of a stream by a cave used by the chief of Tedote. A transatlantic port: In the 16th century the town's port was one of the busiest in the Spanish empire, ranked after Seville and Antwerp, and sugar from the island was shipped through it. Pirate raid, 1553: The French corsair François Le Clerc, known as Pata de Palo (Peg Leg), destroyed the town, which was rebuilt and fortified; the Castillo de Santa Catalina survives from those defenses. The court of the Indies, 1558: Philip II set up the first Juzgado de Indias here, where Spanish ships trading with the American colonies had to register. Spain's first elected council, 1773: After a lawsuit brought by the merchants Dionisio O'Daly and Anselmo Pérez de Brito against the town's perpetual councillors, Santa Cruz held the first town council elections by popular vote in Spain. Two streets of Calle Real carry their names. The 20th century: The Barco de la Virgen was built for the Bajada of 1940 and opened as a museum in 1975, the year the historic center was protected. The 2021 eruption: From September 19 to December 13, 2021, an eruption on the Cumbre Vieja ridge in the south of the island lasted 85 days and destroyed more than 3,000 buildings. To learn more ashore: The Museo Naval in the Barco de la Virgen, on Plaza de la Alameda, keeps 18th-century sea charts on parchment, and the Museo Insular occupies the former convent beside the church of San Francisco.

Question 7

Santa Cruz de La Palma with Children

Accepted Answer

Santa Cruz is an easy family port, because the old town starts a few steps from the port and the town beach runs along the seafront avenue. Add the ship-shaped museum for school-age children, and keep the island's mountain sights for families with a full day and a car. Younger children: The town beach has showers and toilets, which makes a beach hour with small children simple. School age: The Barco de la Virgen is a building in the shape of a large galleon, a copy of Columbus's Santa María, and inside is a naval museum. A beach by bus: For a change from the town beach, bus 500 goes to Los Cancajos. Teenagers: Telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, among them the Gran Telescopio Canarias, crown the island's highest point, which can be reached by car in daylight most of the year.

Question 8

Beaches

Accepted Answer

Santa Cruz has its own beach right on the seafront, and Los Cancajos, one of the island's two main beach resorts, is on bus line 500. Like all of La Palma's beaches, both have dark volcanic sand. The Playa de Santa Cruz is a black volcanic sand beach made in 2017. An earlier beach on the spot, Caleta del Varadero, had disappeared when the seafront promenade went in during 1949. You can rent an umbrella and use showers and toilets, and wind sports such as windsurfing and kitesurfing are popular there. Bus 500 for Los Cancajos leaves from the stop on Avenida de los Indianos.

Santa Cruz de la Palma, La Palma

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