Tenerife, an island and a volcano 1946

A fascinating video from back in the days when the world was still in black and white and development on the island was very conspicuous by it's total absence. The year is 1946, which was 10 years into the Dictatorship of Franco, when we probably imagine a Spain closed off to the outside world, but here we are told that "foreigners" (i.e. tourists) "have a predilection for Santa Cruz", whose benign climate doesn't know cold in winter.

The commentary says Santa Cruz, but the old port of Puerto de la Cruz is clearly identifiable as we fly into the island at the start of the film. We then touch down at Los Rodeos airfield, which was a field - with grass - its passenger terminal having been opened that year. Santa Cruz has many buildings still recognisable today. Interesting to see the folk dancing, as the costumes appear to be the same as they are today, apparently dispelling a myth that they were only "invented" in the 1950s. We then see the Instituto in La Laguna and travel on towards a sparcely populated Orotava Valley, to Puerto de la Cruz and the Jardín Botánico (Botanical Gardens), before going up to Las Cañadas del Teide, finally flying away over the peak of the volcano. Of course nothing of the south of the island is shown, as there was nothing there at the time, beyond a few tiny fishing villages.