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Medano Hotel in El Medano, Tenerife - Making History

By Gail Hewitt

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Published: 08Sep2010
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The Medano Hotel was the first hotel to be built in the south of Tenerife. Here's a brief history of the establishment of this hotel, and what you can expect today.

The site where the Medano Hotel is currently located, was originally used for packing tomatoes which was the most important agricultural produce in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona - a large area which incorporated the land which is currently the location of Reina Sofia [Tenerife South] Airport.

Once the tomatoes were harvested, they were taken by truck to El Medano where they would be sorted and graded by hand by the highly skilled workforce, packed carefully into wooden crates and then loaded once again, into trucks. These trucks would then make the arduous journey to the docks at Santa Cruz de Tenerife - some 70km along narrow roads and tight corners [having first negotiated their way uphill from El Medano to Granadilla]. Once you were caught behind one of the trucks you either knew you were in for a slow trip, or if you were a local person you would be aware of the code the drivers had of using their indicators to signal to the driver behind that everything was clear for them to pass.

Don Francisco Garcia Feo - known locally as 'Don Frasco' - was the owner of the packing plant and his son Adalberto Garcia Alonso, was over in England receiving the shipped goods into Canary Wharf [so named as this was the dock into which produce from the Canary Islands was received]. He would then sell the tomatoes on to the markets at Covent Garden.

However, Don Francisco Garcia Feo had the foresight to recognize that tourism was fast becoming a growth industry in the north of the island - the only airport at this time was Los Rodeos [Tenerife North] which is located inland from Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The most popular main resort in the north was Puerto de la Cruz, and the surrounding smaller resorts or La Orotava and Los Realejos. He was also aware that the south of Tenerife had lots of potential for tourism and decided to extend the packing plant [upwards and outwards] and opened the first 3 star hotel in the south, offering silver-service.

From then onwards, the Medano Hotel was always known as a teaching, or training, hotel where members of the hotel staff received training on-the-job and became some of the most highly desirably hotel workers on the island; if you were trained at the Medano Hotel, you were highly sought after. Soon after the Medano Hotel was established, the next hotel to be built was some 20km away in Playa de las Americas on the periphery with Costa Adeje - the 4 Star Gran Tinerfe Hotel. And so, the start of tourism in the south of Tenerife had begun and today the south has become the most popular area on the island - especially since the building of Reina Sofia [Tenerife South] airport in 1979.

So what about the Medano Hotel today? Well, it is still operating as a popular 3 star hotel and although the hotel has been updated, refurbished [most recently in 2009] and extended, it still retains its original facade and is an older-style Tenerife hotel offering simple accommodation. You will notice the hotel as soon as you enter the resort of El Medano - it is the only hotel located 'on' the beach, with the sundeck built overhanging the sea by 500m2. You can laze on the sun terrace and listen to the waves below and take in view of the Montana Roja [Red Mountain] in the distance. If you decide to go swimming, you have direct access to the water below from the deck. Alternatively take a long walk along the beaches to be found either side of the Medano Hotel and you may be lucky to come across the many wind-surfers and kite-surfers who frequent the beaches [El Medano is famous for its national and international competitions].

The hotel has 5 floors and a total of 91 rooms with the majority of them having sea view [the most popular rooms are on the top floor overlooking the beach], and you can either book bed and breakfast, or half board. El Medano itself has many restaurants and bars along its promenade and seafront, so if you're not eating at the hotel, you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner in one of the international or Canarian style restaurants, take in a glass of sangria or a few night-caps and generally watch the world go by on your relaxing and laid-back holiday in Tenerife.

A unique hotel, in a unique location with a unique history.

Gail writes articles and works for Corona Holidays who specialise in Tenerife Holidays and holidays to El Medano. You can book hotels, apartments, villas and flights as well as look at information on the various Canary Islands and the resorts. Holders of both an ATOL Licence and TTA Membership therefore bookings are financially protected so you can book with confidence.

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