Los Realejos
Encyclopedia
| Los Realejos | |
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| Autonomous region: | Canary Islands Canary Islands The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union... |
| Province: | Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province) Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife also Province of Santa Cruz is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of about half of the Atlantic archipelago, including the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Palma, and... |
| Island: | Tenerife Tenerife Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the... |
| Area Area Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat... : |
57.08 km² some reads 57.56 km² |
| Population Population A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals... : |
37,559 (2009) |
| Population density Population density Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans... : |
618.83/km² |
| Elevation Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface .... : Lowest: Centre: Highest: highest part |
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| Postal code: | E-38410 |
| Location Geographic coordinate system A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position... : |
28.35/28°21' N lat. 16.6/16°36' W long. |
| Municipal code: | E-38021 |
| Demonym in Spanish: | Realejero |
| Car designation: | TF |
Los Realejos is a medium-sized town in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, located on the north side of the island of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
(which forms part of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
) and part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province)
Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife also Province of Santa Cruz is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of about half of the Atlantic archipelago, including the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Palma, and...
. It is located W of Puerto de la Cruz and La Orotava, about 42 km SSW of the island's capital, N of Los Cristianos and Las Américas of Arona and about 80 km north of Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport , previously known as Tenerife South-Reina Sofia Airport, is one of two international airports located on the island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands . Between its opening and the end of 2006, a total of 173,912,207 passengers passed through the airport...
. The inhabitants are known in Spanish as realejeros
The population is 37,559 (ISTAC, 2009), its density is 650.0/km² and the area is 57.08 km². The elevation is 420 m. Los Realejos has the westernmost terminus of the TF5 superhighway and is linked with the old highway linking Icod de los Vinos and the capital and north of the TF1 superhighway. Farmlands are in the valley areas and within the Atlantic, the mountain and the hills are to the south and are mainly covered with forests.
The town is split into two distinct zones:
- Realejo Alto (High or Upper Realejo)
- Realejo Bajo (Low or Lower Realejo)
These zones (zonas) are both geographic (geográficas) -- split by a large deep water gully (Barranco) -- and historical (históricas) -- during the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
conquest (conquista) of the island(s) the local Guanches
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
had a camp in the high town area, and the low town area was occupied by the Spanish. Also each zone has its own Baroque church, both of which were built shortly after the success of the Spanish conquest. The municipality was founded as Realejo de Arriba.
The municipality stretches from the La Orotava Valley up to the Teide
Teide
Mount Teide , is a volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Its summit is the highest point in Spain, the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic, and it is the third highest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor, after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea located in...
mountains.
The area governed by the local council also includes other smaller villages such as Palo Blanco, Cruz Santa, Mocan, Icod de Alto, Tigaiga and others. Although recently, as a result of population growth and construction, these have merged into what seems to be one town.
The municipality of Los Realejos also includes a few beaches of note, Playa del Socorro being the most popular with both local and tourists. Also worthy of mention are Playa de Castro and Playa de Fajana, although these are both slightly less accessible than Socorro.
Historical population
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 29,829 | - |
| 1996 | 32,599 | |
| 2001 | 33,438 | 586.63/km² |
| 2002 | 35,299 | - |
| 2003 | 35,799 | 627.17/km² |
| 2004 | 35,756 | 618.83/km² |
| 2009 | 37,559 | 650.00/km² |
Until 2004, the population trend was slowly booming before it went to a small decline.
Natives of Los Realejos
- José Viera y Clavijo (December 28, 1731, Las Palmas de Gran CanariaLas Palmas de Gran CanariaLas Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
- February 21, 1813), a writer, botanist and a historian.
Other
Los Realejos has schools, a few lyceums, a gymnasia, churches, a post office and a few squares plazaPlaza
Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...
s. It is also the home of English language newspaper the Tenerife News
Tenerife News
The Tenerife News is a fortnightly English language newspaper published by Seven Island Media Group S.L. Printed in tabloid format, the paper focuses on local news concerning the Canary Island of Tenerife, but also includes coverage of Spanish Politics and International Affairs, sports and leisure...
.
- Map and aerial photos
- Street map: Street map from Mapquest, MapPoint or Google
- Satellite images: Google
- Coordinates: 28°21′0"N 16°36′0"W