Guía de Isora

Before the European conquest of Tenerife, the territory that is now Guía de Isora was part of the Guanche kingdom, or menceyato, of Adeje. After the conquest, the first settlers — colonists arriving from La Gomera — established themselves in the area known as La Guerguera, or the Barranco de la Guerguera.

The town's early growth centred on religion. The discovery of a figure of the Virgen de la Luz, and the construction of a hermitage in her honour, drew people to the settlement of Guía and drove its development through the following century.

The modern municipality took shape between 1812 and 1813, when constitutional councils were established under the Constitution of Cádiz. It was not fully consolidated as a municipality until 1836, after years of alternation between constitutional and absolutist governments in the first half of the nineteenth century, and following the final dissolution of the single municipal authority that had governed the area since the conquest.

For much of its history the zone remained sparsely populated. That changed in the first half of the nineteenth century, when the cochineal trade brought a significant rise in population. When cochineal farming eventually failed, a new period of economic activity began in the 1940s and 1950s, driven by two things: water reached through the drilling of galleries and wells, and money sent home by islanders who had emigrated to the Americas. Together these fuelled a period of growth in export agriculture that transformed the municipality.

The parish church in the town centre began as the hermitage built in honour of the Virgen de la Luz. It has been restored over the centuries but keeps its original structure of three naves and its carved wooden ceiling, worked in the mudéjar tradition.

More recent additions to the town include the municipal auditorium and the cultural centre of Guía de Isora.

The municipality has a significant Guanche archaeological presence. Sites such as Las Laderas del Cedro, Hoya Azul, and El Bailadero have yielded rock carvings and other remains, and the Risco de las Cabras contains burial caves.

Traditional Canarian vernacular architecture can be seen in the hamlets of Las Fuentes and El Jaral, where dwellings were cut directly into the sandy rock faces as cave houses.

The ethnographic heritage of the municipality is unusually varied. There is a lime kiln, and Playa de San Juan played an important role in the area's history. Tile kilns are scattered across the upper part of the municipality, with the highest concentration — more than ten — in Chirche, pointing to an active local building tradition. Tar kilns have been identified on the Monte de Tágara, where the oldest pine trees in the municipality stand; their resin, known as tea, was the raw material for the tar used to caulk boats.

Around 130 threshing floors have been counted across the municipality in a recent field survey, a figure that reflects the historical importance of cereal production here. Near the coastal settlement of Varadero, a gofio mill survives with its main structure and some interior wooden beams intact. Water cisterns, or aljibes, are found throughout the area, with the greatest concentration near the villages of Tejina and Vera de Erques.

Guía de Isora sits on the TF-82 and is also the first town on the TF-1 heading south from Santiago del Teide. TITSA bus lines serving it include: 325 (Puerto de la Cruz–Los Gigantes via Icod de los Vinos), 417 (Los Cristianos–Guía de Isora via Costa Adeje), 460 (Icod de los Vinos–Costa Adeje via Guía de Isora), 462 (Guía de Isora–Los Gigantes via Tamaimo), 473 and 477 (Los Cristianos–Los Gigantes), 490 (Guía de Isora–Vera de Erques via Tejina de Guía), 492 (Guía de Isora–Chío via Chiguergue), and 493 (Guía de Isora–Los Gigantes via Alcalá). Single fares vary by distance; a one-day unlimited pass costs €10 or seven days for €50 (2020 prices).

Taxi ranks operate in the town centre and in the coastal towns. Local pastries are a known speciality — look for egg bagels and almond cakes. The area also produces red and white wines and a coffee-based mistela.