Santa Cruz de La Palma

Santa Cruz de la Palma (Spanish for Holy Cross of La Palma) is a city and a municipality on the east coast of the island of La Palma in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de la Palma is the second-largest city (after Los Llanos de Aridane) and is the capital of the island. It is along an old lava flow coming from the Caldereta (small caldera), a volcano just south of the city.

Santa Cruz de la Palma
Municipality
Santa Cruz de La Palma
Flag
Coat of arms
Santa Cruz de la Palma
Location in the Canary Islands
Coordinates: 28°40′57″N 17°45′54″W
Country Spain
Autonomous community Canary Islands
ProvinceSanta Cruz de Tenerife
IslandLa Palma
Founded3 May 1493
Government
 • AlcaldeSergio Carlos Matos Castro (Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE))
Area
 • Total43.38 km2 (16.75 sq mi)
Elevation
4 m (13 ft)
Population
 (2018)[2]
 • Total15,674
 • Density360/km2 (940/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Santacrucero,ra
Time zoneWET
 • Summer (DST)WEST
Postal code
38700
Official language(s)Spanish
WebsiteOfficial website

The population of the municipality is 16,330 (2013),[3] its area is 43.38 km2.[1] Around 13,000 people live within the city limits, with the remaining population residing in other settlements.

History

The city was founded by Alonso Fernández de Lugo on May 3, 1493. It was located between a river which is situated by a cave named Tedote (now Cueva de Carías, located north of the city). The city, originally called Villa del Apurón, served as a port that connected routes to the Americas, exporting goods from the island such as sugarcane. The city was sacked by pirates and was later reconstructed and fortified against future pirate attacks. Famous fortifications include the Castillo de Santa Catalina and Castillo de la Virgen. The economic crisis that affected the agriculture sector brought the greatest loss of population in the city's history, which limited its expansion and caused the population to stabilize and drop to 11,000. The population did not approach its original 18,000 again for the next hundred years.

Mountain view of Santa Cruz looking south.
Panorama of Santa Cruz harbor.
Panorama of Santa Cruz expansion to the north.

Climate

Santa Cruz de la Palma has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) featuring very warm, almost rainless summers from April to September, and warm, rainier winters from October to March.

Climate data for La Palma Airport 33m (1981-2010); 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the city.
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 27.0
(80.6)		 31.0
(87.8)		 32.8
(91.0)		 36.6
(97.9)		 32.4
(90.3)		 29.4
(84.9)		 38.4
(101.1)		 38.0
(100.4)		 36.8
(98.2)		 34.4
(93.9)		 31.6
(88.9)		 28.0
(82.4)		 38.4
(101.1)
Average high °C (°F) 20.6
(69.1)		 20.7
(69.3)		 21.2
(70.2)		 21.6
(70.9)		 22.6
(72.7)		 24.1
(75.4)		 25.5
(77.9)		 26.3
(79.3)		 26.6
(79.9)		 25.5
(77.9)		 23.5
(74.3)		 21.8
(71.2)		 23.3
(74.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.1
(64.6)		 18.0
(64.4)		 18.5
(65.3)		 18.9
(66.0)		 20.0
(68.0)		 21.7
(71.1)		 23.1
(73.6)		 23.9
(75.0)		 24.0
(75.2)		 22.8
(73.0)		 20.9
(69.6)		 19.3
(66.7)		 20.8
(69.4)
Average low °C (°F) 15.5
(59.9)		 15.3
(59.5)		 15.7
(60.3)		 16.2
(61.2)		 17.4
(63.3)		 19.2
(66.6)		 20.7
(69.3)		 21.4
(70.5)		 21.3
(70.3)		 20.2
(68.4)		 18.3
(64.9)		 16.7
(62.1)		 18.2
(64.7)
Record low °C (°F) 9.4
(48.9)		 10.9
(51.6)		 10.2
(50.4)		 10.0
(50.0)		 11.0
(51.8)		 15.2
(59.4)		 14.9
(58.8)		 16.7
(62.1)		 16.4
(61.5)		 15.3
(59.5)		 10.0
(50.0)		 10.0
(50.0)		 9.4
(48.9)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 49
(1.9)		 57
(2.2)		 33
(1.3)		 19
(0.7)		 7
(0.3)		 2
(0.1)		 1
(0.0)		 1
(0.0)		 12
(0.5)		 41
(1.6)		 70
(2.8)		 80
(3.1)		 372
(14.5)
Average rainy days 5 4 4 3 1 0 0 0 2 5 7 8 40
Mean monthly sunshine hours 141 146 177 174 192 188 222 209 187 175 140 138 2,106
Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología[4]

Tourism

Santa Cruz de la Palma has the only major port in the island, serving ferry routes to Cádiz in Spain, as well as to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. The main ferry operators in the port are Naviera Armas, Fred. Olsen Express, and Trasmediterránea. Many cruise line firms visit the port.

In Las Nieves is the Real Santuario Insular de las Virgen de las Nieves, the patron saint of the island of La Palma.

Historical population
YearPopulation
Late-19th centuryaround 18,000
190011,000
199117,205
199617,265
200117,265
200218,228
200318,201
200417,857
200817,132
201316,330

People

See also

References
  1. Instituto Canario de Estadística, area
  2. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  3. Instituto Canario de Estadística Archived 2014-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, population
  4. "Valores climatológicos normales. La Palma Aeropuerto".
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