Our Bold Move to Tenerife

My husband and I had a good life in La Herradura.  We rented a very quiet and central flat close to the beach, and I was happy with it. But the winter months can be a little cold and the summers too hot, so why not make it perfect by moving to a place with an eternal spring climate? 

The Canary Islands have one of the best climates in the world with a lot of sunshine. Temperatures between the seasons vary only some 6ºC and the islands’ average monthly temperatures are from 18º to 24ºC (64.4 and 75.2ºF).

My husband got a chronic irritated throat while staying in Davao and that was the reason for our escape from the Philippines. He became better after a while in La Herradura, but not fully healed. Last winter we tried out three months in El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, and his throat went almost back to normal. Both of us found the climate perfect for us and we decided to move to the largest island in the archipelago, Tenerife. El Hierro is too far from everything, but in Tenerife, you have it all within reach. The capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is normally no more than a one-hour drive from the remotest villages and the roads are good.

My husband had only been to Tenerife one time many years ago, and only in the tourist ghettos of the South. He was more familiar with Gran Canaria and La Palma, but we chose Tenerife after good research online. The Island seemed to have all the qualities we were looking for. We decided to be bold; to buy one-way tickets, rent a room for one week, rent a car for ten days, and within that time-frame find and move into a fully furnished and quiet flat for under 500 euros a month in the northern part of the island. The North is greener, the weather a little more varied and it is here you will find the best food and the authentic Tenerife lifestyle.

We left La Herradura on my birthday and flew to Barcelona to celebrate. As a member of the Writers’ Guild of Norway, my husband has access to a central flat in the city and we could use it for one week. It has always been a dream for me to visit Barcelona and we experienced it in the quiet weeks before the storm of protests for an independent Catalonia.

We arrived in Tenerife Norte airport with our four luggage, rented a car, and drove to an Airbnb room nearby we had booked in advance. We had of course checked out the rental market before we arrived, but not made any appointments. It was a little shock to discover that most of the flats we were interested in were gone, the prices on their way up and we cursed our bold optimism. Winter is coming. That means in Tenerife furnished flats for rent disappear fast, and we had no budget for a long search.  We had to find a place within a week without too many compromises, and for a while, it seemed very difficult.

But suddenly things happened fast. My husband got an email saying that a flat he wanted us to check in Icod de Los Vinos, a municipality in the northwest of Tenerife, was suddenly available. Someone had reserved it, but could not move in before December. We looked at it, liked it, and got a one-year contract with the option for renewal. A big burden was removed from our shoulders and we were luckily ahead of schedule.

Icod de Los Vinos is still a genuine town full of Latin American vibes far enough from the tourist ghettos to remain a fantastic place to live. We have lived here for a month now and really enjoy our new life.  I will write more soon about our new hometown and the fantastic nature that surrounds us. Adiós y de Buena Fe!