Exploring Tenerife: Villa de Los Silos

In this post you’ll find:

Interesting information about nature and culture in Los Silos,
recommendations and videos to get ready for your visit to this part of Tenerife.

Intro

Do you know what the Isla Baja is in Tenerife? Do you know about the Festival Internacional del Cuento (International Storytelling Festival)? Do you want to discover sculptures made from real whale skeletons? Then the time has come to visit another hidden treasure of Tenerife. Welcome to Los Silos!

Where is it?

The Villa de Los Silos is a municipality located in the northwest of Tenerife, between Garachico, El Tanque, Buena Vista del Norte and Santiago del Teide. Its name comes from the 3 silos (warehouses for storing wheat, grain and other cereals) that were located in the area between the 15th and 16th century.

Below, you can watch a ad about Los Silos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IPRsKyzItA

International cultural festivals

Although it has a deep rural and agrarian tradition, this town also celebrates some events of great importance and cultural interest. Below you can see some of our favourites.

Festival Internacional del Cuento

The crown jewel is without any doubt the Festival Internacional del Cuento de Los Silos (International Storytelling Festival of Los Silos). A literary event that brings the whole town together and attracts visitors from all over the island and even nationally. Every December Los Silos becomes a place for dreaming. It is an encounter between visitors and different artists and works of art centred on literature and oral tradition. It is a way of encouraging reading with different theatrical or musical performances, readings, book signings and artistic displays in the streets of the village. For 29 years different authors have participated in this festival to read or sign their works. Below you can see a video of the local television to promote the 2022 festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCisAGKE60g

If you want to learn about all the events of this festival, here is the official website to keep you up to date with everything.

Festival Internacional Boreal

In September, this town hosts a music festival with an ecological conscience that also offers exhibitions, gastronomy, art and other activities. Defined by the organisers as a ‘cultural eco-event’, it brings together national and international singers and groups such as the Latin Grammy nominee in 2023: J Noa. Here is a video with one of her songs. If you don’t understand the lyrics, don’t worry, it’s for natives and very advanced students.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iw605x-rdA

It is not a festival of a single musical genre: reggae, rap, Latin music, folk… these are some of the styles you can enjoy at the festival, and it’s also family-friendly.

If you’d like more information or to buy tickets for this year’s festival, you’ll find everything you need on the festival’s official website. If you are still not sure if this festival is for you and your family, here you can watch a video summary of the 2023 edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneQj7_qSHQ

Nature and hiking

Los Silos has part of its territory in the so-called Isla Baja, which is a plain in the northwest of Tenerife. It is a place of singular beauty, where you can enjoy beaches and walking routes. If you are one of those people who prefer nature and a bit of hiking while touring the island, here are some recommendations for this town.

Cascada Lomo Morín

Are there waterfalls in Tenerife? The Lomo Morín waterfall was a waterfall made to allow the water that runs through the channels in the area and is used for agriculture to lose some of the lime and be better for the crops. This waterfall no longer exists, but this route that runs through these small artificial channels is still recommended and is full of beautiful landscapes. You can also complement this excursion with a visit to Cuevas Negras or La Tierra del Trigo. Below you can see a video to get an idea of the difficulty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um7XXUq1dxQ

Las Moradas

This cobbled path runs through the nature of Los Silos and has the feel of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale with its old buildings and abandoned machines that you will find along the way. Do you want to know more? Here you have a video with a sample of the route.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRVoE1gmIhI

Erjos – Cuevas Negras

This is a path that used to be used as a crossing point between Los Silos and Santiago del Teide. Starting in Erjos, you can follow this low-difficulty trail, surrounded by nature, which takes you past the old hamlet of Cuevas Negras, where nobody lives nowadays. Here you can see the route in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jIhlBs7dEM

Curious historical and cultural facts

First Spanish telegraph cable in the Atlantic

In 1883, an alternative was finally found for communications between the Spanish colonies in America and mainland Spain. Up to this point it took about three weeks to send or receive newspapers or information in general between the two points, since there was only the ship route. After this innovation, the Canary Islands became slowly being less isolated. Below you can watch a short documentary on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6oJsmUT1Bk

Mariano Estanga Arias-Girón

Named Adopted Son by the Town Council of the Villa de Los Silos in 2017, this architect from Castilla y León (Valladolid, 1867 – Madrid, 1937) was especially important in Tenerife for his works, including El Lomo, in the Hacienda de Daute, the renovation of the façade of the church of La Luz, the current town hall and the project for the new Calvario.

The sugar machine

Did you know that sugar was produced in the Canary Islands and that there were large sugar cane plantations? In Los Silos you can still find the so-called ‘sugar machine’, the factory that was built at the end of the 19th century (1889-1890) by order of the English company that exploited the cultivation of sweet cane in the islands. After World War I, banana plantations in the Canary Islands replaced the sugar industry, which disappeared from Spain and was moved to Portugal.

Food

Guachinches

Do you know what a guachinche is? Well, it is a typical Canarian restaurant, but it is not exactly a regular restaurant. Guachinches appeared in Tenerife, and only in Tenerife, as a result of the practice of going to taste before buying the local wine that was made in different parts of the island. When someone wanted to drink the wine that was produced, on a small scale, in a house/finca, they would go to that person’s house and, as well as being able to taste the wine, they would be offered something to eat. Nowadays the guachinches have been transformed into small Canarian restaurants with a reduced menu and very low prices. They are the best spots to try traditional Canarian dishes and enjoy a unique experience.

Do you want to get a better idea of what it’s like to eat in one? Watch this video of a couple of tourists going to a guachinche for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68D6Sm4QElw

Although some are slightly hidden or hard to get to, there are numerous websites where you can find directions and telephone numbers for booking on the internet.

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