Tenerife in November

San Andrés

San Andrés Day, 30 November, is Tenerife's young wine festival, when the year's new wine is first served with roasted chestnuts and grilled sardines.

On the eve, 29 November, Icod de los Vinos opens its wine cellars, and people slide at speed down the steep Calle del Plano on wooden boards called tablas. The custom is thought to go back to the 16th century, when timber from a sawmill up the hill was slid down to the coast to make barrels and boats, steered and braked with branches of heather.

In Puerto de la Cruz that evening, children run through the streets dragging strings of old pots and cans, a custom known as correr el cacharro, and supper is salted fish with mojo, gofio and roasted chestnuts.

Dates for the diary

• 1 NovemberAll Saints' Day, a public holiday. In 2026 it fell on a Sunday, so the day off moved to Monday 2 November.
• 13 NovemberLa Laguna students mark the Fuga de San Diego by skipping class, a tradition that began in 1919 at the Instituto Cabrera Pinto.
• 18 NovemberThe anniversary of Chinyero, the most recent eruption on Tenerife, which began on 18 November 1909 and lasted 10 days.
• Late NovemberThe Christmas lights go on, with Santa Cruz, La Orotava and La Laguna usually among the first.
• 29 and 30 NovemberSan Andrés, see above. The guachinches, where local growers sell their own wine with home cooking, traditionally open on the 30th.

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

The bicácaro, the orange-red Canarian bellflower, starts flowering in the laurel forests of Anaga.