A sunrise on Teide
Tintin in Tibe… on Teide! Many people do not know this because the data, in reality, is not very important. If you like Tintin, he does have it, of course. If not, then no. One of the first places visited by the Belgian reporter was the island of Tenerife . He did not set foot on her soil, he saw her in the distance, from the ship that would take him to the Congo, in what was his second printed adventure. It happened in the thirties, when the island had just opened a primitive Los Rodeos airport and the south had not been razed by bulldozers. Well, that, that Tintin saw Tenerife in the distance, he saw Mount Teide with the snowy calvorota and it was recorded in a vignette that would be eliminated from the final version of the album. No other place in Spain ever appeared in other Tintin comics, only Tenerife. Take.
Almost, Tintin
Stairway To Heaven and other superlatives. 3,718 meters. That is what the Teide measures. Not only is it the highest mountain in Spain, but it is also located in the most visited National Park in the country, with almost three million souls dropping by there every year. That is not saying much because the vast majority make a fleeting visit, drive along **the TF-21 road that crosses it (one of the roads that has featured the most advertisements in Spain, mind you) , makes a stop at Roques de García, takes four photos and goes to catch a fart at Playa de las Américas. It's a shame. ** The Martian landscapes of Teide are up to the task –and we say this without a milligram of chauvinism in the body- of other dead/desert/lunar geographies of the globe such as the Chilean Atacama desert. Another record fact: on the southern slope is the town of Vilaflor, which is sold as the highest town in Spain because its urban layout -staggered- is about 1,400 meters above sea level. It's not true, there are higher ones, but a walk through Vilaflor is enough for half an hour of entertainment. That's enough.
The TF-21 road, television and for lazy people
A hostel without armor. Phew. Goodness. In the Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide they don't have medieval pottery and there may not be still life paintings either (last time I didn't look), although they do have a fireplace, which is logical because it is 2,152 meters high and this makes it, tachán , another superlative, the highest Parador in Spain. Those who stay in it know what they are going for because this is far from being a Gandía Shore franchise from Tenerife: What's cool here is sleeping up high, seeing a starry sky (the people of Teide Astro organize sightings that are a cannonade and even manage to excite); bundle up at night and spend a couple of days hiking or biking the marked trails.
Epic Meal Time. And eat. It's also cool to eat high up. Not because carbohydrates are enjoyed more, but because the Parador restaurant prepares the typical Tenerife stew that in a championship of gargantuan (and irresponsible) meals would fight for first place , together with the Madrilenian stew or the Lebaniego. The stew of the island has it all, everything that could be put in a saucepan, could give a good flavor to the matter and satisfy hunger: chicken, pork ribs, pumpkin, beans, sweet potatoes, noodles, chickpeas, mojo and something else . Obviously, all this is eaten after having put half a kilo of wrinkled potatoes with green and red mojo into the body, which is surely the best contribution of Canarian culture to the Solar System (that and honey rum). The Canarian gofio, which is an ultra-dense cereal puree with which it is not easy to connect, also tends to plan around. To remove hunger is perfect, yes.
Good movie, bad movie. Let it be clarinet: the Teide National Park is not only the mountain and the Roques de García (the ones with the thousand pelas bills; if you were born after Nirvana's 'Nevermind', surely you will not even remember the color of those papers). The only way to get to know it minimally is by walking it, of course . Going through TF-21 with your car, airing your hand through the window, is very nice and very comfortable, but useless if you want to test the orgasmic dimensions of this place. Here they shot a cult, crazy and sexual movie (despite the fact that not even half a chest can be seen), entitled 'A Million Years Ago', starring Raquel Welch, animated dinosaurs with 'stop motion ' and some of the most useless bearded troglodytes in the history of cinema. Essential. In 2009 the 'Clash of the Titans' team was also dropped but the movie is so bad that it's almost embarrassing to recommend it. You can see a lot of the natural park, okay? That said: walk, walk and walk. For those who do not dare with much, take path 3 through the Llano de Ucanca, which starts from the Roques de García , surrounds them and for almost five kilometers runs through a small portion of the park. It is simple, very effective, with hardly any unevenness and has a final surprise: the Cathedral, which would be something like the model that Gaudí devised before throwing up the final plans for the Sagrada Familia.
If you were born after the 'Nevermind', this probably won't ring a bell
The shadow of the pyramid is elongated. Those who are looking for heavy metal of the intense, of the epic, should climb to the top of Teide. It can be done in two ways. One, in the cable car, very comfortable, which leaves you at 3,555 meters and after a short walk of ten minutes, tread the summit. The other, the beautiful, the distressing, is to do it walking from Las Cañadas, stop at the Altavista refuge (mandatory reservation on 922 010 440), at 3,267 meters, and from there, restart the march two and a half hours before dawn to reach to the summit with the first light of dawn. The spectacle is indescribable: if there is a sea of clouds, the pyramidal shadow of the mountain will lie on them . If the day is completely clear, it will do so over the island of La Gomera. Be careful with the permits because if you get to the top outside the cable car operating hours – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – it is not necessary to request them. Those who want some kind of logistical support or, directly, a guide so as not to go bareback at night, can hit the company Patea Tus Montes, who know what the matter is.
Height scams. When there are no paper books left on earth (God forbid) there may still be a gadget from the analog age. Its about he highest telephone booth in Spain, located at 3,555 meters , at the arrival station of the cable car. Unlike WhatsApp (yes, there is coverage on the highest mountain), the cabin pilfers you as much as it can, even the changes.
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