Fishing Harbour

Despite its name, in all its history Puerto de la Cruz has never had a harbour worthy of the name. What is known as the old harbour was built shortly after the Conquest of the Island at the mouth of the San Felipe barranco, where now the splendid Playa Jardín [Garden Beach] is situated. The torrential rains of 1826 destroyed this first, humble harbour and the present fishing harbour, originally called the New Harbour, became the main one in the town. The first improvements were carried out between 1822 and 1824 by the Royal Maritime Directorate. and consisted in the building of the first section of the western breakwater. The enlargement of the breakwater as far as Baja Negra finished in 1881. Due to the harbour’s busy commercial activity in the XVII and XVIIIth Centuries, in particular the export of Malmsey wines from the Valley, King Philip IV called the town “the key to the Island”. The haven consists of two arms which shelter small fishing craft. In the 1980s the outer mole was enlarged, increasing the protection of La Marina street and the Plaza del Charco. At the fishing harbour, opposite the tiny Virgen del Carmen Chapel, stands the only remaining public watering place which still works