Los Cristianos

Los Cristianos is the southern resort that existed before the resorts. It was a fishing village with a harbour, and although tourism has long since overtaken th…Los Cristianos is the southern resort that existed before the resorts. It was a fishing village with a harbour, and although tourism has long since overtaken the fishing, the town still has a centre that grew rather than being planned, which makes it noticeably more Spanish than its neighbours along the coast.

It has two beaches. Playa de los Cristianos wraps around the harbour and is the older one; Playa de las Vistas, on the far side, is a long crescent of pale imported sand behind a breakwater and is one of the easiest swimming beaches on the island.

The harbour is the reason a lot of people pass through. It is the ferry port for La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, with the fast boat to San Sebastian taking under an hour, and it is also a base for whale watching boats and fishing charters.

The town has a long-stay winter trade that gives it a different character from the strips further north: a large population of visitors who come for a month or a season, mostly northern European, which supports the launderettes, the small supermarkets and the daytime cafes. The ground is flatter than in the newer resorts, which matters more than it sounds.