A Journey North

   

Jose Murphy y Meade

    A couple of weeks ago we decided to travel north from where we live in Tenerife and spend a few days in the capital of the island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Unlike the UK, bus fares here are very cheap and the service to the city is regular, modern and comfortable. Therefore, our decision to travel by 'la guagua' (pronounced wawa) was a no brainer.

    We chose a hotel in the center of the capital, as I wanted to visit the designer shops that fill the main shopping streets and a girl doesn't want to carry her purchases too far. Does she?

    As well as an abundance of shops, the streets of Santa Cruz, are filled with copious amounts of bars and restaurants. I have to confess that we were forced to make a regular pit-stop at a few of the bars to refresh ourselves with a glass of Rioja Blanco and a tapas. Otherwise, exhaustion would have taken over!!

    Walking among the cobbled streets, the architecture and statues cannot be ignored. Outside, Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis (Church of St Francis of Assisi), a statue caught my eye not because I was particularly impressed by it but because of the name carved in the stone. The name was Jose Murphy, the name, Murphy, not being very common here made me want to find out a little more about the man being celebrated.

Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis

    Born of Irish descent Señor Murphy, born February 1774, was a Spanish, liberal politician, who worked hard for the city to be recognized as the capital of the island. Because of his great accomplishment, he is now known as the 'Father of Santa Cruz de Tenerife'.Unfortunately, Jose Murphy's political views didn't go down well with everyone and he went into exile for many years. His final years he spent in Mexico where he had been appointed Consul General of Spain, never to return to his beloved homeland, a punishment for sure.

    The few days we had in the city we didn't have time to take in every sight, but what I do know is that we will be spending more weekends there. In the next few weeks, the second most popular carnival in the world will take place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. So if you are visiting the island it's not to be missed.


#Tenerife #CanaryIslands #SantaCruzde Tenerife #JoseMurphyMeade #Carnival