La Palma 3.0

It rained again a bit in the night and I was glad I had not opened all my hatches (windows). It also rained as we were having breakfast and as we went to return the car.

I went to register at the office and spoke to the man there. He said that it does not rain a lot?!! It had rained everyday we have been here.  He was born here and went to university to become a Captain of cargo ships etc. He has now returned to raise his family here and he loves the Island. He said most of the tourists he described them as eco tourists – who come due to the nature etc.

We went to the tourist office and once we confirmed what we wanted to do as we set off to explore the capital Santa Cruz on foot.

La Palma became officially part of the Spanish empire in 1463 and over the next century Sant Cruz and the Island grew in importance due to the sugar, honey and sweet malvasia (wine) which became major exports as well as the Canarian pine which provided timber for shipbuilding. In the late 16 c Santa Cruz become the third most important port in the Spanish empire after Seville and Antwerp. The sugar, shipbuilding and cochineal (a red beetle used to make dye) kept the Island prosperous for many hundreds of years but the 20c saw poverty and decline with mass migration to Venezuela, Uruguay and Cuba. Its main source of income is bananas and tourism.  In terms of shipbuilding the Canadian pine (which we saw a lot of on our journey to the Roque) had a sap-filled wood which seemed impervious to termites making construction here reliable and long lasting until the introduction of steam.

 Santa Cruz is described as one of the prettiest towns in the Canaries and we could see why. It is compact and strung along the shore flaked by beautiful fertile fields. The city centre is very beautiful and the main part revolves around two main parallel streets.

We walked first along the Avenda Maritima – which the long road which runs along the beach and front. There are a series of old wooden houses (some as old as 16c) on the front with balconies with flower boxes displaying a lovely array of flowers. Many of them now have restaurants, cafés or shops on the ground floor. We had a coffee whilst exploring the front overlooking the black sand beach.

We then went to the Naval Museum which was contained within a replica size wooden ship the Santa Maria which Columbus used to sail to discover America in 1462. It was just placed in a street on its plinth and then you went inside which held the museum. It gave some history of shipbuilding in Santa Cruz and models of ships, tools used and manuscripts, maps etc. You went upstairs and on to the deck of the ship which you could walk around on and get a feel for. This ship is 36m long and his other two ships which accompanied him the “Pinta” and “Nina were only21m -only 2m more than Stormbird. 

From this museum we went to the Island Museum which is housed in a former 16c monastery aside an old church. This was less good and more religious, but the buildings and interior were architecturally charming. From there went down the two main streets one of which is called Calle O’Daly named after an Irish banana merchant who made his home here. These streets have a lot more of the old wooden balcony houses and at one we could see inside which had a central open area. The streets were picturesque and full of charm. We had a beer and a sandwich and watched the world go by. Plaza de Espana nearby has buildings which are apparently the most perfect examples of Renaissance Architecture in the Canaries.

We returned to the boat to do some admin and jobs and relaxed. We are heading on to El Hierro tomorrow which will be interesting, the last of the Canary Islands to explore. After an aperitif we returned into town in search of a good restaurant and with a desire to have some fish. We walked a bit round the backstreets and then moved on to the front where we found a nice restaurant and had calamari as a starter and a whole fresh fish (not sure what it was – but it may have been a Durade) between us. This was washed down with a recommended La Palma white wine which was very drinkable. Finally on the way back we had an ice cream for dessert.

It had been a good few days and it is as described a beautiful Island.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions – do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com