About Tenerife

Costa del Silencio and Las Galletas

The first area in the south of Tenerife to be developed specifically for tourism was the Ten-Bel complex on the edge of the fishing village of Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio. This was a Belgian-Tinerfeno project which, like so many others in Tenerife, almost collapsed due to the unforeseen lengthy beaurocratic processes here, otherwise known as the manana syndrome. Fortunately it did survive and has served the area very well for some thirty years or so, now becoming a little jaded compared to the ever increasing numbers of new hotels being opened, it is nevertheless a very good design concept being low rise blocks of apartments set in spacious well maintained garden areas with many different swimming pools, restaurants and entertainment areas.

Las Galletas accommodation is dominated by the need to serve the tourist industry; apartments in Costa del Silencio are available by the thousand in many different sizes and price ranges, depending upon age, position, views etc. Las Galletas hotels vary from the older, smaller original buildings to the more modern larger scale edifices geared to package holiday tourism. My favourite Costa del Silencio hotels are situated right on the beachfront giving wonderful unobstructed panoramic views of the harbour and sea; for those that don’t like hotels but prefer to ‘do their own thing’ there are apartments in Costa del Silencio that offer the same type of views. Whichever type of holiday accommodation you prefer there is a wide and varied selection available in a multitude of styles and prices collectively known as Costa del Silencio accommodation.

Las Galletas itself was, as usual in the south of Tenerife, a small fishing village, in this case surrounded by banana plantations in the surrounding arid desert like plains of this part of the island. Until recently there was no marina but there was a small natural harbour with a stony beach from which the local fishermen would sell the days catch to the local housewives or the occasional tourist brave enough to attempt to do business. Watching the local women buy to see how much the fish cost was no guide as there was one price for locals and a completely different one for foreigners!

There is one small sandy beach in Las Galletas (black sand) but there are also other rocky ones and some points around the coast with steps down to platforms from which to dive into the crystal clear water.

As in many parts of the coast of Tenerife, Las Galletas has its share of diving centres offering the experienced diver as well as the complete novice the chance to view life underwater in all year round warm clear water. If you’ve never tried this before then I would recommend that you put this at the top of your ‘must do’ list; most diving schools offer try dives in swimming pools so that the whole lesson can be meticulously supervised and be completely safe.

The latest project to have recently been given the green light is the new golf complex, it seems that every municipality in Tenerife wants a golf course, the island government decided a few years ago to encourage the development of golf courses as a method of attracting good quality tourism to the island. The golf course itself will no doubt be surrounded by hotels, apartments and villas for sale as the developers attempt to cover the cost of building the golf course. This will further increase the size of that little village of Las Galletas in Tenerife to another town of villages with no boundaries.

Las Galletas properties will become very popular with holiday-makers wishing to have their own little place in the sun; of course finding the right property in Las Galletas is vitally important and to this end the assistance of qualified Las Galletas estate agents can be of enormous value, especially taking into consideration the different laws in Spain and of course the language. Many Costa del Silencio estate agents speak several different languages in order to offer their services to the variety of nationalities looking for that special Costa del Silencio property to become their home from home in the sun. Costa del Silencio properties come in a huge variety of sizes, prices and standards; if one is considering using a property in Las Galletas for both a holiday home and letting to other holiday-makers then position as in any property purchase is vitally important. One’s Las Galletas estate agent can advise on the type of property and location to suit one’s needs as well as one’s pocket. If by now you’ve made the decision and taken the plunge to join the thousands of other foreigners owning properties in Costa del Silencio it only remains for me to say welcome on behalf of us all and I hope that you get many years of enjoyment from your Las Galletas property.