Description

Shepherd Entertainment gives you the history of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands and takes you on a tour of the city's sites and attractions, such as Spain Square and the Perez Galdos Theater.

Transcript

The Canary Isles belong to Spain consists of seven bigger and six small islands spreading over a more than 7500 square kilometer area in the Atlantic Ocean. Due to their location, the islands have always been an important stage of shipping traffic between Africa, Europe and America. The biggest island is Tenerife. Its capital city, Santa. Cruz takes turn as capital of the isles with Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. In the bed of the Santos Creek, water trickles only two months of the year. In fact, lack of water is one of the major problems of the islands which is being solved by building reservoirs. That’s why local people endeavor to beautify their towns by landscaping and planting alleys deserve credit. The biggest square of Santa Cruz, the Plaza de Espana has also been beautifully parked. The huge group of statues dominating the square commemorates the victims and heroes of the Spanish civil war. The famous sculptor, Juan Nevados made the artwork to the order of General Franco. Its main character is an angel symbolizing freedom and a monk drawing the attention of divine powers to the war dead. The monument is guarded by naked giants leaning against their swords. The beginning of the walking street that starts from the square stands the famous statue of --, the triumph of the Virgin of Candelaria which was created by the famous master in 1788. The blessed virgin holds an infant in her right and a candle symbolizing light in her left hand. This is the center of the city, the parliament as well as the Iglesia dela Conception which is the oldest church of the city is very close from here. The Perez Galdos theater with its perfect acoustics functions as an opera house and a concert hall. The classical building is decorated with Andalucían motifs. The biggest hall of the city is the fruit and flower market named after the African hour lady. A flea market is held in front of the marketplace every weekend that could be interesting also for foreign visitors. Facades of old houses are decorated with carved wooden galleries which are particularly characteristic of the architecture of the island. The capital city is proud of its exotic, exuberant green parks of which the most beautiful may be the botanical garden named after the former mayor Garcia Sanabria. The flora of the winding promenades is like a jungle, a wide range of plants from palms to blooming tropical bushes live here. Floral clocks and fountains are a frequent ornamentation here.