If you have not visited the Spring Arona Gran Hotel for a long time, you are in for a few surprises. One of which is the permanent exhibition which has been situated in Sala Vilaflor, which was previously our reading room. This is an exhibition where we can go through the history of the Island of Tenerife, from prehistoric times up to the modern day.
You will be able to see how the forces of nature formed a landscape of earth, water, air and fire creating a unique history and culture on our planet.
More than 20 million years ago, volcanoes deep under the sea erupted and created these islands. What we see today are the results of the forces of nature, erosion and human activity .
As a result of these eruptions, you will be able to see examples of several types of rocks of different materials.
The Guanches were the first human beings to populate Tenerife They came from North Africa and developed their entire herdsman culture, adapting it to the new surroundings. The economy was based on cattle breeding of goats, sheep and black pigs. Agriculture was also important, especially the cultivation of barley and wheat, with which Gofio (typical dish from the Canary Islands) was made. You can see the objects of utility the Guanches made, such as ceramic beads, tools out of stone and bones, and jewellery out of clay, bones, horns burr, etc..
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the economy of the islands was based on cattle breeding and cultivation of corn. Fishing was also very important and the contact to the sea was never lost.
Conservation of traditional work from the artful hand of our ancestors makes it possible for us to boast a large range of arts and crafts, even up to nowadays. The most important ones are pottery, embroidery, ship building, carpentry and basket weaving.
The rich biodiversity is an example of the acclimatization of animals to the new surroundings. Most of the flora, fauna and microbe species came from Macaronesia, Europe and Africa. They settled in the Canary Islands and thousands of them became endemic, meaning the ecological state of being unique to this particular geographical location.
In the 40’s of the 20th century , the road of the South was built, connecting Santa Cruz with Los Cristianos, making possible to do the journey in just one hour. Also in the middle of the 20th century the South had only one Hotel Pensión Reverón.
We hope you have enjoyed this short down memory lane with the exhibition, and we invite you to see it totally free during your next stay at the Spring Arona Gran Hotel, or in any of our other hotels.
