Local information
The School will be held in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna). La Laguna is a city in the north-eastern part of the island of Tenerife, at about 550 meters above sea level. It has a population of 150,000 inhabitants, being the second-most populous city of the Island.
The city was the ancient capital of the Canary Islands and La Laguna’s historical centre was declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1999. In 2003, the municipality started an ambitious Urban Plan to renew this area and, nowadays, La Laguna has a beautiful pedestrian historical centre with a lot of shops, cafeterias, and restaurants that fill with life the streets of the city.
It is home to the University of La Laguna, with more than 30,000 students (not included in the population figures of the city).
Weather and climate
In general terms the weather in the Canary Islands is well known for being mild. However, Tenerife is locally well known for the “micro-climates”: on a winter day, you can swim on the beach above 23ºC in the South of the island and in one hour drive you can enjoy the snow in the mountains.
Due to the altitude and orography, San Cristobal de La Laguna can be up to 10ºC colder than the coast of Tenerife.
In July, the wether in La Laguna is usually pleasant, but be aware: it could happen to be quite warm (around 30º during the day) or cool (around 18º day-temperature) and rain. The evenings and nights tend to be a few degrees cooler.
For the trips to Teide and Roque de los Muchachos Observatories, one should expect high altitude mountain weather (they are located at around 2.400 meters above sea level). Humidity tends to be quite low, difference in temperatures day-night are high (even more than 10º this time of the year) and the wind speed can be high. Bearing that in mind, we recommend:
- For the day: warm clothes (just in case), sun screen, sunglasses and a hat/cap.
- For the night: warm clothing is important.
If you want to check meteorology at Teide Observatory you can do so following this link: http://research.iac.es/OOCC/observing-tools/ot-meteorology/