Puntos de Interés
Municipality
La Esperanza
La Esperanza is the administrative capital of El Rosario, one of the four municipalities that make up the Metropolitan Area of the city of Tenerife. Just fifteen minutes from the well-known Los Rodeos airport, it is located at an altitude of 879 metres above sea level.
According to historians, it was Governor Alonso Fernández de Lugo who gave it its beautiful name in honour of the feeling of hope that he experienced when he arrived at this point and managed to catch sight of the Añaza camp during his attempt to escape from the Acentejo Massacre, in which the Castilian conquerors had been massacred by the Guanches. That sight supposed the salvation of himself and his men, and so he promised to build a chapel there in honour of Virgen de la Esperanza. Nuestra Señora de La Esperanza Church, a neo-colonial style temple, designed by architect Félix Sáenz Marero, was later built on the site, featuring the elegant transept design, as well as La Virgen de La Esperanza, a 17th-century dressed sculpture, which presides over the church. It also houses valuable paintings by Miguel Rocha, such as the Four Evangelists, displayed in the church's dome, and Virgen de Candelaria. The church has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.
Without losing sight of Alonso Fernández, the town is also home to the Adelantado Forest, which is now an urban park. This is a remnant of a thousand-year-old laurisilva forest, a type of rainforest that once covered most of the island. The vegetation of this fragment of forest is mainly made up of Laurus azorica, Erica arborea, Persea indica, Canarina canariensis and shrubs such as Geranium canariense. Next to this unique park is Plaza del Adelantado (Adelantado Square), which is the starting point of the Anaga-Chasna Nature Trail.
The festivities of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza take place between July and August. On the first Sunday in August, a procession carries the sculpture of the virgin through the streets of the town and a popular pilgrimage takes place.