Arona

Arona is a Spanish municipality belonging to the island of Tenerife, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands.

The administrative capital is in the town of Arona, located 630 m above sea level. no. m.

Although the municipal capital is located in the midlands, Valle de San Lorenzo has greater economic and population importance, with an agricultural activity for export, and especially the coastal sector. The tourist towns —Playa de Las Américas, Los Cristianos, Costa del Silencio, Palm-Mar— have substantially transformed the coastal area, and are also the embarkation point for the island of La Gomera.

Arona, with 82,982 inhabitants in January 2022, is the third most populous municipality on the island of Tenerife, after Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna, experiencing great demographic growth in recent years which, Following the same dynamic would allow it to challenge San Cristóbal de La Laguna for second place in the insular area. Together with the neighboring municipalities of Adeje and San Miguel de Abona, it forms the so-called Tenerife South Metropolitan Area with 194,774 inhabitants (2019).

Toponymy

The term by which the municipality is known comes from its administrative capital, being of Guanche origin.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield of the municipality was approved by the Government of the Canary Islands by Order of November 25, 1986, its description being the following: «Divided shield; 1st, gules, the gold staff of San Antonio Abad, with his silver tie 2nd, gold, the sinople seedbed, terraced. At the bell, Corona Real closed."

The crosier represents the patron saint of the municipality, while the seedbed alludes to the native tree Pistacia atlantica, of which the town of Arona preserved a hundred-year-old specimen.

Flag

The flag of Arona was approved by the Government of the Canary Islands by Order of July 17, 1998, and consists of a «rectangular cloth, of silk, taffeta, satin, wool or synthetic fiber, depending on the case, whose length is times and a half greater than its width; composed of three horizontal stripes of equal size. The first or superior, red; the central green, and the lower sea blue. If the Flag bears a shield, it must be placed in the center of its cloth, preferably on both sides."

Geography

It is located in the extreme south of the island, bordering the municipalities of San Miguel de Abona, Vilaflor de Chasna and Adeje.

With an area of 81.79 km², it is the 10th largest municipality on the island of Tenerife and the 16th in the province.

The maximum altitude of Arona is reached at 950 m s. no. m.

Marking the southern end of the island, with Punta Salema, it is a strip of land that is delimited to the west by the Barranco del Rey, which descends at its limit with Adeje. On the contrary, its border to the east with San Miguel is a practically straight line, as it is to the north, which zigzags around the 900 meter altitude, on its border with Vilaflor.

Orography

Devoid of peaks, Arona is a space that gently descends towards the coast and where some more outstanding reliefs are interspersed such as the mountains of Guaza and Cho, the rocks of Jama, Vento, Chijafe and Igara, or the small volcanic cones of Chayofita Mountain, Mojón del Rey, Big Mountain and Las Tabaibas Mountain. On the coast, small cliffs and a low coast alternate, both rocky and with small sandy beaches.

Hydrography

The municipal territory is crossed by numerous ravines and ravines, the largest being the Las Galletas ravine, the Chiñeja ravine, the Vargas or Mojón ravine, and the Rey ravine, the border between Arona and Adeje.

Climate

Average climatic parameters of Arona (1982-2012)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	16.7	17.0	18.2	18.9	20.1	22.2	24.8	26.0	24.6	22.7	19.6	17.5	20.7
Average temperature (°C)	13.5	13.8	14.7	15.3	16.4	18.5	20.8	21.6	20.9	19.1	16.5	14.4	17.1
Temp. medium (°C)	10.4	10.6	11.2	11.7	12.8	14.8	16.9	17.3	17.2	15.5	13.5	11.4	13.6
Total precipitation (mm)	64	49	45	23	12	4	1	2	10	41	79	83	413
Source: Climate-data.org

Flora

The plant formations of the municipality are the characteristics of the Canarian basal floor, as Arona lacks summits.

The coastal strip between Las Galletas and Los Cristianos preserves halophytic communities of sea thyme Frankenia ericifolia and sea grape Zygophyllum fontanesii, as well as extensive areas dominated by sweet tabaibal of Euphorbia balsamifera interspersed with teasels Euphorbia canariensis. The rocky areas immediately to the coast are covered with grasslands and sedges of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, as well as with gorse Launaea arborescens and salty whites Schizogyne sericea. The inland areas, more transformed by agricultural activities, are made up of substitution communities, highlighting the Euphorbia lamarckii bitter tabaibales and the Opuntia spp. Jaguarzales of Cistus monspeliensis also develop above 500 meters of altitude. In some ravines of the municipality, communities of balos Plocama pendula grow, while in the Roque de Jama specimens of wild olive Olea cerasiformis and Canarian juniper Juniperus turbinata are preserved. i>.

Geology

Geological materials corresponding to the different volcanic series that have formed the island appear throughout this area. From the Old series to recent volcanism, there are excellent examples of salic pyroclastic flows, those vast expanses covered with a light-colored rock that define a large part of the landscape of southern Tenerife. Some volcanic domes stand out, formed by very viscous lavas rich in silica, formed under the surface and exposed by erosion, in the case of the different rocks that dot the landscape —Jama, Vento, Montaña Chijafe, Malpaso— or built on the surface, case of the extrusive dome that is the Montaña de Guaza.

Protected spaces

In Arona there are protected spaces such as the natural monument of Montaña de Guaza, the special natural reserve of Malpaís de La Rasca and a large part of the natural monument of Roque de Jama, all of them included in the Canarian Network of Protected Natural Spaces.

In addition, both the area of the Roque de Jama natural monument and the special nature reserve of Malpaís de La Rasca are included in the Natura 2000 Network as Special Conservation Areas, to which are added the marine SACs of the Teno Strip -Rasca and Sebadales in the south of Tenerife. Likewise, Montaña de Guaza and Malpaís de la Rasca are also areas of special protection for birds.

History

Guanche period: before the 15th century

The territory of the modern municipality of Arona was included for the most part in the kingdom or Guanche faction of Abona. The Malpaís de la Rasca region was subject to intense use as a grazing area, as well as exploitation of coastal resources. Likewise, the unique rocks in the middle area of the municipality were places of worship.

The historian and doctor from Tenerife Juan Bethencourt Alfonso records an oral tradition about the arrival on the beach of Los Cristianos of some two hundred men who were left ashore by various ships. Many of these individuals had had their tongues cut out, and among them were priests of the Christian cult called by the Guanches "Babylons".

European Conquest and Colonization: 15th and 16th Centuries

Once the conquest officially ended with the surrender of the menceyes in May 1496, the conquistadors carried out pacification campaigns throughout the summer of that year. Since Abona had become a refuge for Guanche rebels fleeing from the subdued war parties, Alonso Fernández de Lugo sent a small armed group to the old kingdom led by Jorge Grimón, a Flemish veteran of the conquest of Granada. These expedition members disembarked on September 29 on the beach of Los Cristianos and, thanks to the muskets they carried, they soon reduced the Guanches who had become strong in the area known as Los Mogotes.

From the very beginning, the natural cove of Los Cristianos became an important port for loading and unloading products from the south and southwest of the island, already appearing in official documents in 1511.

Old Regime: 17th and 18th centuries

It is considered that the nucleus of Arona began to emerge from 1625, when Antón Domínguez el Viejo and his son came into possession of the lands from Los Cristianos to Los Quemados, who founded the hermitage of San Antonio Abad, around which the nucleus began to be developed.

The territory of Arona was from the outset under the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Vilaflor.

In 1643 an invasion of Barbary pirates took place through the port of Los Cristianos, being rejected on the slopes of the Chayofita Mountain. This area suffered attacks by English pirates again in 1746, preventing the country's militia from disembarking.

The hermitage of San Antonio was erected as a parish by order of separation of March 30, 1796, separating from the main church of Vilaflor. In 1798, the nucleus also achieved civil segregation, constituting the first town hall of Arona.

Modern period: 19th and 20th centuries

In 1812 the constitutional city councils were created with the proclamation of the Constitution of Cádiz, constituting Arona as a municipality. This was definitively consolidated in 1836 after suffering the political ups and downs of the first half of the xix century between constitutional and absolutist governments.

Pascual Madoz, in his Dictionary, says of Arona around the middle of the xix century:

ARONA: place with city council on the island of Tenerife (...). SITUTED in a valley, at the foot of the mountain called Meseta de Escalona, where the winds of the breeze fight; its CLIMA is healthy. The population consists of payments called Las Casas, Vento, Sabinita, Junco, Valle de Ahijadero, Cabo and Malpaís; most CASAS are low and made of dry stone. It has a parish church under the abbreviation of San Antonio abad, served by a priest, 1 sacristan, 1 sochantre and 2 monacillos, the priest is of entry and is provided by S. M. or the diocesan, prior opposition in general contest, and 1 hermit dedicated to San Lorenzo. There are some enrollments from the Santa Cruz district. Confine the TÉRMINO for the N. with that of Charna [sic] and Adeje, for the E. with that of San Miguel, and for the S. and O. with the sea. Its TERRENO is the best that lies to the S. of the island, and the widest point of it from the peak of Teide to the Ocean, and very fertile when they favor the rains of the winter; it is scarce of water, without it all passing more than a small and insignificant stream that barely carries the sufficient flow for the assortment of the neighbors. The CAMINOS are plains in general; it lacks another INDUSTRIA than the agricultural and also TRADE, despite having in its jurisdiction a long coast and a small port called the Christians; and the quarry of the same name, from which many slabs are drawn for paving, stone of sillery and also those called distilling, of which a general use is made on the island to purify. PRODUCE: wheat, barley, barrel, figs and chochinillas. POPULATION: 356 neighbors, 1,516 souls...

Pascual Madoz, 1849.

In 1941, the general highway from the South reached the town of Arona, a road that came to replace the old royal roads. This work is coupled with other infrastructure that will enable the maximum development of export agriculture in the area: the construction in this decade of the South Canal that transferred water from the municipalities of Fasnia and Arico to the rest of the south of the island.

In the 1960s there was a spectacular urban development in the coastal sectors of Arona —Los Cristianos, Las Galletas, Las Américas—, motivated by the so-called tourist boom that affected the Canary Islands thanks to its location in the south of the island, which favors the "sun and beach" climate desired by European tourists.

21st century

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of Arona between 1900 and 2021

Official regular residents according to ISTAC population censuses.

Its population, sensitive to the problems arising from the drop in cochineal prices, the collapse of agriculture, the effects of the First World War and the Spanish Civil War, which caused emigration, has multiplied by nine in a century, giving an idea of the importance of the development achieved by this southern municipality.

As of January 1, 2022, Arona had a total of 82,982 inhabitants, ranking 3rd in number of inhabitants, both on the island of Tenerife and in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and 5th in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.

The population density was 1012.07 inhabitants/km².

By sexes, there were 42,033 men and 40,744 women.

From the analysis of the population pyramid it can be deduced that:

• The population between 0 and 14 years was 14 % (11 332 people) of the total.
• The population aged 15 to 64 was 74 % (61 277 pers).
• The population aged over 65 was 12 % (10 168 pers.) remaining.

Regarding the place of birth, 49% (40,415 people) of the population of the municipality were of foreign origin, especially from Italy, Cuba, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Colombia. For their part, 40% (33,403 people) were born in the Canary Islands, of which 56% (18,760 people) had been born in the municipality itself, and 34% (11,308 people) in another municipality. from the island and 10% (3,335 people) came from another island in the archipelago. The rest of the population was made up of 11% (8,959 people) of peninsular Spaniards.

Foreign population by nationality (2020)

Position	Nationality	Population
1. a	Italy	7410
2. a	United Kingdom	3550
3. a	China	1900
4. a	Cuba	1658
5. a	Morocco	1489
6. a	Venezuela	1476
7. a	Belgium	1147
8. a	Romania	1145
9. a	Colombia	1112
10. a	Germany	956

Administration and politics

City Hall

The municipality is governed by its city council, made up of 25 councillors. In the last elections, held in May 2019, the results were as follows: PSOE, 14 councilors (absolute majority, which is located from 13 councilors); CC, 4 councilors; PP, 3 councilors; Citizens x Arona, 2 councillors; Sí Se Puede-Podemos, 1 councilor and Ciudadanos, 1 councilor. All of this meant the revalidation of the Mayor's Office by the Socialist Party, which it had acceded to in 2015 after several years of nationalist hegemony.

List of mayors since the 1979 democratic elections

Mayor.	Start of mandate	End of mandate	Party
Luciano Reverón Reverón	1979	1980			Union de Centro Democrático (UCD)
Inocencio Salazar Beltrán	1980	1981			Union de Centro Democrático (UCD)
Leocadio Toledo Tejera	1981	1983			Union de Centro Democrático (UCD)
Manuel Barrios Rodríguez	1983	1995			Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE)
Mario Spreáfico García	1995	1997			Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Antonio Miguel Delgado Díaz	1997	1999			ATI - MEI
Antonio Miguel Delgado Díaz	1999	2003			Coalition Canaria (CC)
José Alberto González Reverón	2003	2011			Coalition Canaria (CC)
Francisco José Niño Rodríguez	2011	2015			Coalition Canaria (CC)
José Julián Mena Pérez	2015	-			Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE)

After the 1983 elections, a pact government was formed between the PSOE, AP, PCC and ATI.

In 1991 the PSOE formed an alliance with the CDS and the PP.

In 1995 a coalition was formed between ATI-MEI, CDS, ICAN and PP.

Territorial organization

The municipality is included in the Comarca de Abona.

The municipality of Arona is divided into three zones, made up of several unique population entities divided into smaller nuclei.

Economy

The service sector forms the basis of the wealth of this southern municipality, which has managed to exploit the characteristics of its climate —warm, dry and with permanent sun— to create an important tourist enclave. More than 60% of its population works in this sector.

Intense agricultural activity is concentrated in the San Lorenzo Valley. There bananas are cultivated in increasing areas, destined for the peninsular markets. Along with the banana plantation, but without reaching its importance, land is dedicated to the production of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and flowers —in a greenhouse— destined for export to European countries. The farms are not usually excessively large, the largest being those located towards the coast. The medium-sized ones are located in the center of the municipality, while the small ones occupy the higher areas.

Livestock is in sharp decline, as the difficulties derived from water scarcity are compounded by the attraction of more comfortable earnings in the service sector.

• The Spanish SEAT car brand, has given the name of Arona to the new SUV model that has been presented in 2017, which can be an acicate for the locality.

Services

Education

Regarding infant and primary education:

Regarding secondary education and vocational training:

La Reina Park (unfinished)

Regarding language teaching:

• E.O.I. The Christians

Health

Citizen security

Transportation

Roads

The main communication routes through which the municipality is accessed are the Autopista del Sur TF-1 highway and the general highway of the South TF-28. Likewise, there are other secondary roads that link the different population entities with each other or with other municipalities:

Public transport

The municipality has taxi ranks and a bus station —guaguas— in Los Cristianos, being connected by the following TITSA lines:

Port of Los Cristianos

The port area of Los Cristianos ranks first in Spain in terms of passenger traffic thanks to its connections with the ports of San Sebastián de La Gomera, La Estaca and Santa Cruz de La Palma. To this is added the various boats that are dedicated to the practice of tourist excursions in nearby areas such as the cliffs of Los Gigantes, Masca or, visits to the cetaceans that live in the vicinity of this port.

Heritage

The municipality has several heritage elements declared of Cultural Interest:

Culture

Cultural events

Since the summer of 2005, the Aguaviva Canarias music festival has been held in the municipality.

Parties

In the municipality of Arona, various festivals are celebrated, with local holidays being Shrove Tuesday and October 6, the festival of the Santísimo Cristo de la Salud.

Among the various festivals that are celebrated on the first Sunday of October and the following Monday, those of Cristo de la Salud and Ntra. Sra. del Rosario attract many people from all over the south.

Sports

In Arona there are various associations and entities dedicated to promoting sport. Below is a brief list of the equipment that the municipality has:

• Athletics: C.A. Arona.
• Basketball: A.D. Valle Sur Fátima, C.B. Cookies.
• Balonmano: C.D. Balonmano Arona, C.D. Bamloc.
• Boxing: Povedano Boxing Club.
• Cycling: C.C. Bicisport Tenerife, C.C. Chindia, C.D. Tandem Cycloturist.
• Football: C.D Buzanada, C.D. Furia Arona, C.D. 'I'Gara Cabo Blanco, C.D. Marino, C.D. San Lorenzo Constancia, U. D. Ibarra.
• Football Room: Club of Football Room Costa Sur
• Hockey Line: Tenerife Guanches Hockey Club
• Judo y Deportes Asociados: Club de Judo Yogo.
• Swimming: C.N. The Christians.
• Skating: C.D. Magma Skating, C.D. Rolling Bielman.
• Taekwondo: C.T. Samguk, C.D. Sun Intercontinental School.
• You have: Tennisquick Sports Club Christians.
• Volleyball: C.V. Arona Tenerife Sur

From the town hall, at the Arona Sports Gala (held every November since 1995) the different teams and athletes who have performed outstandingly, both regionally and nationally, in the last competitive season and thus how to recognize the young promises of the municipality.

It is worth noting the Alevín 7-a-side International Soccer Tournament that has been held every Christmas at the Antonio Domínguez Alfonso Stadium since 1996, the most recent edition being in 2018. The winner of the latter was Valencia C. F., followed by Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid C.F.

Since October 2018, an informative program has been broadcast monthly on the city council's social networks (YouTube and Facebook) where the latest sports news in the municipality is released.

Outstanding athletes born in the municipality: Javier Cueto (Tennis), Jesús Domínguez Martín 'Grillo' (swimmer), Bruno González (soccer player), Óscar Jiménez (Beach Volleyball), Alejandro Huerta (Beach Volleyball), David Paniagua (Tennis).

Sports facilities

A large part of the socio-sporting activities take place at the Jesús Domínguez 'Grillo' and in the Antonio Domínguez Alfonso Stadium, located in the towns of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Américas respectively. The municipality also has different pavilions located in: Arona (town), Las Galletas and El Fraile.

As for soccer fields, there are 8 and they are the following: Anexo Antonio Domínguez Municipal Field (Playa de Las Américas), Clementina Bello Municipal Field (Buzanada), Dionisio González Municipal Field (El Fraile), El Culantro Municipal Field (San Lorenzo Valley), Fernando Pérez Municipal Field (Arona Casco), Los Salones Municipal Field (Cabo Blanco), Villa Isabel Municipal Field (El Fraile), Antonio Domínguez Alfonso Stadium (Playa de Las Américas).

Religion

parish church of San Antonio Abad, in the hull of Arona

The majority of the believing population of the municipality professes the Catholic religion, the parishioners being divided into nine parishes belonging to the archpriesthood of Granadilla of the diocese of Tenerife:

The municipality also has temples of other Christian denominations, such as the Evangelical Christian Church, the Temple of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Christian Fellowship Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church Day, the Evangelist church of the Light of the World, the Christian Center of the Assemblies of God, the Fuente Viva Pentecostal church, the Christian Church of the South of Tenerife or the Swedish church.

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  Rasca Lighthouse

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  Cookies

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  Central Park of Arona

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  Las Arenitas beach and cliffs of Los Mogotes

Twinned cities

• San Cristobal de La Laguna
• Arona