Southern Tenerife: where to buy a second home or spend a holiday

Tenerife is the largest and most popular destination of the Canary Islands for holiday home buyers and tourists. Every year, about five million foreign citizens head there for its amazing climate: in summer, temperatures range from 24−26°C and 18−20°C in winter — not to mention that the sun shines for more than 300 days a year. The island has two international airports, twelve Blue Flag beaches, three Michelin-star restaurants, nine golf courses and a volcano. The El Teide volcano is the highest peak in Spain and Tenerife's main landmark. It is now also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The northern half of the island is greener, cooler and gets more rain, while the southern coast is sunny, dry, hot and scattered with popular beach resorts, which is why it is so popular with foreign buyers.

Property for sale in Tenerife 431 listings on Tranio

From 865,000 €

Prestigious apartments in a new residential complex on the first line from the ocean in Playa San Juan, Tenerife, Spain

Completion in: 2025.III Total of 160 apartments

2,190,000 €

Three-storey villa with a pool, an orchard and a beautiful sea view in Roque del Conde, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 507 m² Land area: 1,627 m²

3,500,000 €

Exceptional villa with a pool and a lush garden in Abama, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 629 m² 5 bedrooms

990,000 €

Two-storey villa with a pool, a garden and beautiful views in Icod de los Vinos, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 380 m² Land area: 1,801 m²

550,000 €

Furnished apartment with panoramic ocean views, El Duque, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 109 m² 1 bedroom

1,995,000 €

Stylish villa with a pool, a garden, a garage, sea and lake views in Guia de Isora, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 205 m² 3 bedrooms

695,000 €

Duplex furnished apartment with sea views in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 140 m² 4 bedrooms

750,000 €

Two-storey townhouse with a swimming pool and beautiful views in Madroñal, Tenerife, Spain

Total area 169 m² 4 bedrooms

Popular places in southern Tenerife

Puerto de Santiago

Puerto de Santiago is a small fishing village just 25m above sea level. Although the resort is expanding and attracting more tourists, it still has a quiet atmosphere. There are no high buildings; instead the town is lined rows of small neat white houses with terracotta roofs heading down to the ocean. Puerto de Santiago also has a small port and a black volcanic sand beach.

It is a popular destination for people who want to relax in the sun, making it a good choice for family holidays or retirement. The resort has everything you could need to live: shops (including a big supermarket), restaurants and cafés. The bigger resorts of Los Gigantes and Playa de la Arena resorts are just 10–15 min away.

In Puerto de Santiago, a three-bedroom flat with a balcony costs upwards of €250,000. Prices for villas with a swimming pool and garden start at €450,000. A four-bedroom villa with 550 sq m of land costs about €1M.

Callao Salvaje

Callao Salvaje is a small Spanish town located on the southwestern coast of Tenerife. It is a secluded resort with few hotels, lots of bars and seafood restaurants. There is also a small shopping centre and a modest promenade. The grey sand and gravel beach is fully equipped but not very suitable for holidays with children as the waves can be quite rough there.

Just 8 km away from there is the most popular resort on the southern coast — Playa de las Américas — where many people go if they want to spice it up a bit. Another important attraction of Callao Salvaje is its international school. Many Spaniards buy holiday homes in Callao Salvaje as property prices are extremely attractive there.

Prices for flats in a residential complex with a shared pool and garden start from €70,000–100,000. Just outside of the resort, there are many villas selling for at least €400,000.

La Caleta

La Caleta is a former fishing village turned chic tourist resort. Its main advantage is convenient access to fashionable Costa Adeje and its golf course. Several hotels and new residential complexes have been built near La Caleta over the last 10−15 years. With the best fish restaurants on the island, the town is a haven for foodies.

The beaches in the resort are small and rocky so not ideal for swimming but there are a lot of sandy beaches within a kilometre of the village. Within minutes by car, you can get to Golf Costa Adeje where the Spanish and European championships are held almost every year.

Prices for the most humble of houses start from €700,000 and the luxury villas can cost up to €3M. In nearby developments, two-bedroom apartments sell for €250,000−300,000.

Adeje

Adeje is located 4 km away from the coast at a height of 300m above sea level, making it popular with people who like the outdoors, especially since it’s home to the Barranco del Infierno natural park, Tenerife's second most visited attraction after El Teide. The park is even home to the island's only waterfall (560m high). Adeje has a lot of amusements for children: Europe’s largest Thai-style water park (Siam Park) and the Aqualand water parks.

People from over seventy countries have settled in Adeje but, in spite of its popularity, it has maintained a quiet and welcoming aura. Property prices gained 6% between 2014 and 2015, but they are still 31% cheaper than before the 2008 crisis.

Prices for one-bedroom flats in Adeje start from €70,000, the two- or three-bedroom apartments sell at €150,000−200,000.

Costa Adeje

Costa Adeje is the most glamorous, fashionable and modern Tenerife resort — even David and Victoria Beckham are frequent guests there. The town’s number of five-star hotels makes it the most elite destination on the island and the local El Mirador, Gran Sur and Plaza del Duque shopping centres mainly cater to upscale brands.

Two of Costa Adeje’s beaches — Playa Fañabe with its dark volcanic sands and golden Playa del Duque both have Blue Flag awards for their pristine waters.

The most prestigious area of Costa Adeje lies to the West towards La Caleta, where the Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque Resort & Spa hotel complex with 40 villas and over 350 apartments has units up for sale (villas starting from €1M).

Prices in Costa Adeje are the highest on the island, starting from €1,700 per sq m. New one-bedroom flats cost from €150,000 and villas from €500,000−700,000. Two-storey ocean-view villas sell for about €1.5–2M.

Playa de las Américas

Playa de las Américas is a developed tourist resort built in the ‘70–‘80s. It is protected from bad weather by mountains so it is always sunny and the ocean always calm. The resort has six sandy beaches: the main one is perfect for children while Playa de Guincho attracts surfers for example. This resort has the most biggest nightlife and parties on the island.

Playa de las Américas is one of the most popular destinations for UK buyers looking for a permanent residence. It has a slight “home-away-from-home” feel for Brits who can find plenty of dishes like fish and chips, burgers and pizzas, but it’s extremely difficult to find traditional Spanish food. The east end of Playa de las Américas where Avenida de las Américas is located is considered to be the local "Golden Mile".

The town has also many high-rise residential complexes with flat prices starting from €70,000−125,000.

Los Cristianos

Los Cristianos is very similar to Playa de las Américas as it is especially popular with UK nationals. However, this is where similarities end: Los Cristianos is particularly suitable for families with children and retirees: it is beautiful and has well-developed infrastructure.

There are two well-equipped sandy beaches at the resort: Playa de las Vistas and Playa de Los Cristianos. The resort also has the largest Sunday market on the island, a cultural centre hosts as well as art and photo exhibitions. The local harbour is the largest in southern Tenerife, with moorings enough for 200 yachts up to 20 metres long.

The resort is quiet and the few clubs and bars are located in the San Telmo district.

The western half of Los Cristianos evolved from a small fishing village founded in the 16^th century and has the atmosphere of an old island town: narrow streets, ancient buildings, squares where concerts take place in the evenings. The eastern part of the town is a quiet modern residential district with hotels and apartment complexes. Most buildings are low-rise with only few higher ones along the coast.

Prices for two-bedroom flats with terraces in Los Cristianos start from €200,000−250,000 and villas from €500,000 to several million euros.

Palm Mar

Palm Mar is a small town located near Los Cristianos that was built specifically for tourists about twenty years ago. It is always clean and calm there and the town goes quiet when night falls. Palm Mar is never overcrowded and chosen by expats looking for a quiet life in the sun. The main advantage of Palm Mar is the abundance of good restaurants and bars presenting a great number of national cuisines.

The town only has a small shingle beach, so holidaymakers usually drive to nearby beaches for swimming and sunbathing. Living here requires you to have a car as the public transport system is not very developed. There are several supermarkets in the town and the nearest hypermarket is a ten-minute drive away in the village of Las Chafiras.

Palm Mar is still actively developing: apartments are under construction and new modern villas are just going on the market. A two- or three-bedroom flat sells for €250,000−300,000 while seaside villas start from €500,000−700,000.

Golf del Sur

Golf del Sur is a resort built around a 27-hole golf course, but they also have tennis and watersports. Despite being located in the hot and dry south, it is very green. The majority of people there are UK citizens, meaning there are many British and Irish pubs.

Just a 10-min walk from there is the fishing village of Los Abrigos and its excellent seafood restaurants.

The average property price in Golf del Sur is €200,000. There are apartments under construction selling at €70,000−100,000 and four-bedroom villas with ocean views worth €700,000 to several million euros.

Julia Gushchina, Tranio