The word playa in Spanish, as you may or may not know, simply means beach, but in the case of Playa de las Américas (literally, Beach of the Americas) it refers to the whole resort town. In the case of Playa de Los Cristianos, it is again being used to refer to not just the sandy bit next to the boats, but to the whole town that once was a simple sleepy little seaside village and ye olde fishing port.
My how things have changed in Los Cristianos.
Who would have thought that Playa de Los Cristianos would have it's own folk song, composed by Fernando Estévez, dedicated to it, speaking of this rinconcito marinero (little fishing corner) and gente pescadora (fisherpersons).
What caught my eye were 
the images that accompany the song in this video, which are just as quaint, many in black & white and hail from days long gone. In particular, I did a double-take when I saw the twin towers of the Torres del Sol, taken from the Los Cristianos side, with a great expanse of emptiness on the peninsular behind them.
That bit today is the burgeoning resort area of Playa de las Américas.
Even more surprising is that 
postcards as short a time ago as the 1970's show it in that state. It really should make one stop and think what one's demand for a tourist mecca in Tenerife has done to this little corner of the island in a mere 30 years.
More to the point, is what we can avoid doing to the rest of it.
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