San Cristobal de La Laguna

San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a municipality located in north-eastern Tenerife, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), with an area of 102.05 km² and 137, 314 inhabitants listed on the municipal census in 2004 (29,706 of them in its capital San Cristóbal de La Laguna at 546 m above sea level).

The city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna was founded in the 15^th Century by the governor of the province Alonso Fernández de Lugo and was the capital of the of the island and the archipelago until the 19^th Century. It is only 10 km away from Santa Cruz de Tenerife which supplanted it as capital mainly because of its location on the coast. Part of its importance in the region is due to the fact that the University of La Laguna, founded in 1792 is located there and its various campuses (Central, Geneto, Guajara and Ofra) receive students from all over the archipelago.

It is also the seat of a bishopric with an old cathedral (16^th Century) and some distinguished churches (Santa Domingo, Santa Clara, La Concepción). Because the city contains important civil monuments such as the old Cabildo (16^th Century) and various mansions, it has one of the richest cultural heritages in the Canaries which is why UNESCO declared it a World Heritage site in December, 1999 (http://www.cicop.com/lalaguna).

The majority of the municipality is located on relatively flat and broad land and its main population centres are located between 550 and 600 m, including the capital itself and La Vega, a site where up until a few years ago run-off water from the surrounding mountains was deposited, making it one of the best agricultural areas in Tenerife; the rest of the enclaves such as Taco, La Cuesta, Tejina and Valle Guerra are located at a lower altitude, or on the coast as is the case of the residential-tourism centres Bajamar and Punta del Hidalgo.

Today it is the nexus between the current capital of the island (the urban areas of both municipalities have grown to the point that they are now contiguous) and the La Orotava Valley. It is served by the Northern motorway and Los Rodeos airport, which was the only airport in Tenerife up until a few decades ago. Another municipality, Tegueste, is located in its interior, the only such case in the region. A large laurisilva forest known as Las Mercedes is also found within the limits of the municipality, in an area that touches the Anaga peninsula, containing two of the main rural parks of the region (http://www.aytolalaguna.com).

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