Tenerife in January
The coolest month of the year, which here still means days in the low twenties on the south coast, with the Three Kings to start it off.
The weather
- Average high
- 22°C
- Average low
- 15°C
- Rain
- 17 mm, about 2 days
- Sunshine
- About 6 hours a day
Tenerife South airport, AEMET averages 1981 to 2010.
January is the coolest month on the coast. In the south the average high is about 22 degrees and nights drop to about 15, which is mild by any UK standard.
It's one of the best months for snow on Teide. Frost and snow are common at the summit in winter, and on some days you can be in the snow in the morning and on a south coast beach in the afternoon.
The sea is cooling towards its late-winter low of about 18 degrees. Santa Cruz and the north get more rain than the south, and winter is when calima is most likely: hazy, dusty air blown over from the Sahara, which can hang around for a few days.
The Three Kings
Christmas in Tenerife carries on into January. On 5 January the Three Kings arrive by helicopter at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium in Santa Cruz, then parade through the city to the Plaza de la Candelaria. Spanish children traditionally get their presents the next morning.
La Orotava's nativity scene, in its town hall square, stays up until the Three Kings parade.
Dates for the diary
- 1 JanuaryNew Year's Day, a public holiday. A swim in the sea is a local tradition.
- 5 JanuaryThe Three Kings parades. In the village of Tejina, the Auto de los Reyes Magos, a play about the Three Kings, has been performed that night since the early 20th century.
- 6 JanuaryEpiphany, a public holiday across Spain.
- 18 JanuaryLa Guancha celebrates its patron, the Virgen de la Esperanza.
- 22 JanuaryTeide National Park's birthday. It was created on 22 January 1954.
- 27 JanuarySanta Cruz marks the day it was named capital of the Canary Islands.
- During JanuaryBuenavista del Norte celebrates San Antonio Abad with a cattle-pulling contest, a baile de magos country dance and a pilgrimage.
- January and FebruaryThe Canary Islands International Music Festival, a classical festival held every year since 1985, mainly in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.
Times and details can change from year to year, so check with the town hall before you set off. A public holiday that falls on a Sunday can sometimes move to the Monday.
Out and about
In the laurel forests of Anaga, the bicácaro is in flower. It's a climbing Canarian bellflower with orange-red bells, and it blooms from November to May.
It's guachinche season too. These simple places, where local growers sell their own wine with home cooking, open from San Andrés Day at the end of November and close when the wine runs out.
Deckchair FM plays from Tenerife all day, every day.
Easy listening around the clock, with the island's weather and a bit of Tenerife life from our presenters.
