Plaza de España ( lit. ''Spain Square''), is the largest

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

in the city of

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). The square is located in the centre of town, 1.4 km north of the

Auditorio de Tenerife The Auditorio de Tenerife "Adán Martín" (commonly referred to as the Auditorio de Tenerife) is an auditorium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, it is located on the Avenue of the Constitu ...

. This square is considered one of the "main squares" of the island of Tenerife, together with the Plaza del Cristo de La Laguna in

San Cristóbal de La Laguna San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna, ) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The former capital of the Canary Islan ...

and the

Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias The Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias (in English ''Square of the Saint Patron of the Canary Islands'') is a large square in Candelaria, Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). It is next to the Basilica of Candelaria, a meeting place of pilgrims and fe ...

in Candelaria. It hosts an artificial lake fountain, a work of

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

architects

Herzog & de Meuron Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. is an international architecture firm headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with additional offices in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York City, Paris, and San Francisco. Founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and ...

. The square was built in 1929 on the historic Castillo de San Cristóbal, a bastion for defending the island of piracy, currently there are only a few walls of the original building on display in a tunnel under the square. Recently the square was refurbished by the Swiss architects

. The Plaza de España is surrounded by the

Palacio Insular de Tenerife Palacio (''palace'') is a Spanish habitational name. It may have originated from many places in Spain, especially in Galicia and Asturias. Notable people with the surname include: *Agustina Palacio de Libarona (1825–1880), Argentine writer, st ...

, the Palacio de la Carta and the Plaza de la Candelaria. In the centre of the square stands '' Monumento a los Caídos'' (a tribute to the fallen in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Location

The plaza is located between Calle del Castillo and the port of Santa Cruz.

History

Castle of San Cristóbal

The location of the square was originally the site of the San Cristóbal Castle, which was the city's main line of defense, responsible for defending the port.

Construction of the plaza

The creation of the plaza was first conceived in the 19th century. The square was constructed in 1929.

Refurbishment

The park was refurbished by

in 2006. The refurbishment added a pond and pavilions. In June 2006 the remains of the castle were rediscovered, leading to the creation of an underground gallery to display the castle remains.

Featured sculptures

Tourist sign

A large sign of the tourist brand of the city (introduced in September 2016) is located at one end of the plaza, adjacent to the lake. The sign reads ''"Santa Cruz"'', short for the tourist slogan of ''"Santa Cruz, el corazón de Tenerife"'' - ''"Santa Cruz, the heart of Tenerife"''. The letters are white except for the last ''"a"'' of the word ''Santa'', which is an inverted blue heart, on top of which is an upright green heart. Erected in December 2016, the structure is long and high (double that height at the hearts). It is made of galvanised steel with epoxy paint. The sign is repainted in different colors and with different symbols during important events.

Lo llevo bien

Sculpture by the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

artist Julio Nieto and located in the center of the square next to its artificial lake. It is a piece of stainless steel, five meters high and 450 kilos in weight with the appearance of a man in the shape of a tree that symbolizes "the optimism of the human being, who, despite all his thoughts, takes it well". Originally exhibited in 2014 in the square during a street exhibition, it later left the city and moved to various art galleries in different cities around the world such as

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

.El árbol ‘Lo llevo bien’, de Julio Nieto, vuelve a Santa Cruz para quedarse
/ref> The citizens of Santa Cruz expressed their desire for the sculpture to remain in the city. In 2021 it was donated to the Santa Cruz town hall and was permanently installed in the Plaza de España.

In popular culture

The plaza appeared in ''

Jason Bourne Jason Bourne () is the titular character and the protagonist in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. The character was created by novelist Robert Ludlum. He first appeared in the novel '' The Bourne Identity'' (1980), which wa ...

'', the fifth film of the ''Bourne'' series, representing the

Syntagma Square Syntagma Square (, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens, Greece. The square is named after the Greek Constitution of 1844, Constitution that Otto of Greece, Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular a ...

of Athens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza de Espana (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) Santa Cruz de Tenerife Plazas in Santa Cruz de Tenerife Herzog & de Meuron buildings