Christmas in Tenerife runs from the lights switch-on in mid-November to the Three Kings parades on 5 January, and the main events happen in Santa Cruz, La Laguna, La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz rather than the southern resorts. Daytime highs sit around 22°C on the coast, so the season is about nativity scenes, street concerts and late dinners rather than snow, though Teide often gets a white cap in December. The two days that catch visitors out are 25 December and 6 January, when most shops close and buses run a holiday timetable.
When the season starts
Santa Cruz switches on its Christmas lights on Thursday 19 November 2026 at 19:30 in Plaza de la Candelaria, with live music, a light show and a concert afterwards. The council confirmed the date in October and said the decorations will reach more than 600 points across the city's five districts, 200 more than in 2025. The giant tree returns to the lake in Plaza de España from November, and the council wants it taller than the 30-metre tree of 2025.
La Laguna follows on Friday 20 November 2026 with its switch-on around Plaza de la Concepción, a change from the usual Plaza del Adelantado. The town's Noche en Blanco, a late-night shopping and street-music event, is on Saturday 28 November 2026, with M-Clan playing in Plaza del Cristo.
Elsewhere the season usually opens in the last week of November or first week of December. In 2024, Arona, Adeje and San Miguel all lit up on 29 November and Granadilla on 30 November. La Orotava opened its giant nativity scene and lights on 28 November 2025. El Sauzal en Navidad runs from 4 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, and Garachico usually runs the same dates. Check this week's Tenerife events for the switch-on nearest you.
Christmas markets
Tenerife does not have Vienna-style Christmas markets. What you get is craft and food stalls in the historic centres through December, plus one-off craft fairs.
Santa Cruz has the island's largest market on the Alameda del Duque de Santa Elena, the promenade between Plaza de España and the port. In 2023 it ran from 15 December to 6 January, 10:00 to 22:00, with artisan and food stalls, a gastro-market and an ice rink. The 2025 programme confirmed the Alameda market again plus a craft fair in Plaza de España; 2026 dates had not been published when we checked. The Feria de Artesanía en Reyes craft fair is usually held in Plaza del Príncipe in the first days of January.
La Laguna puts craft stalls along its UNESCO-listed streets during the Noche en Blanco on 28 November 2026 and on weekends through December.
Puerto de la Cruz usually runs its Christmas programme from 1 December to 5 January, with an artisan market in the old town. The Rastro en el Mercado flea market runs every Sunday to 30 December 2026 at the municipal market.
Adeje town, not Costa Adeje, usually hosts a small charity market: in 2024 it ran from 3 to 20 December, weekday afternoons and weekend mornings.
El Sauzal holds the XXI Concurso de Belenes, a nativity-scene competition you can tour, from 4 December 2026.
For Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje, expect children's shows and Papá Noel visits in the shopping centres, mainly Siam Mall, rather than a traditional market.
Nativity scenes worth the trip
Belenes, nativity scenes, are the heart of a Canarian Christmas and some are enormous.
Santa Cruz, Plaza de la Candelaria. The council's open-air belén has figures between two and four metres tall by sculptor Raúl Pérez. It usually goes up at the end of November.
Santa Cruz, Cabildo de Tenerife. The island government's belén sits in the main entrance of the Palacio Insular on Plaza de España. In 2025 it opened on 1 December and ran to 6 January, 09:00 to 15:00 and 16:00 to 21:00 daily, with afternoons only on 25 December, 1 January and 6 January. It is a traditional Hebrew-style scene with a market, Herod's palace and a monumental stable.
La Orotava. The strongest nativity town on the island. The giant belén in Plaza del Ayuntamiento opened on 28 November 2025 and stays open to 6 January with free entry. The Ruta de Belenes reached its 18th edition in 2025 with 36 nativity scenes in churches, shops and private houses around the old town, including the giant belén in the Ferretería Orotava hardware shop on Calle Carrera; the route map is at the tourist office.
Candelaria. Since 2007 the town has built a 50-square-metre open-air belén outside the Centro Cultural La Villa, a few steps from the basilica. It recreates the municipality's eight villages with life-size local characters, is open 24 hours, usually opens in the first week of December and stays up until Carnival.
Garachico. The old town opens its belenes with the lights switch-on in early December, with concerts in the churches of Santa Ana and San Francisco.
Christmas concerts and shows
The Christmas event on Tenerife is the Concierto de Navidad del Puerto de Santa Cruz on 25 December, played by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife on a stage in the Dársena de Los Llanos with cruise ships and cranes as the backdrop. The 2025 edition was the 31st, started at 19:00 with doors at 18:00, and sold all 8,500 seats at €5 each, with proceeds going to local charities. It is broadcast live on La 2 of Spanish television and streamed on rtve.es, so you can also watch it from a bar. Tickets for 2025 went on sale in mid-December through Tomaticket. The 2026 programme and sale date had not been announced when we checked; conciertodenavidad.org is the official site.
New for 2026, Santa Cruz is staging its first Cabalgata de Papá Noel, a Father Christmas parade, on the evening of 24 December. The council announced it in October without a route or time.
Smaller concerts run all month: municipal bands, the Los Sabandeños folk group, gospel choirs and midnight mass in every parish. Adeje usually holds its Concierto de Navidad around 20 December. El Sauzal hosts Los Cantadores on 25 December 2026 and a Fiesta de Fin de Año at Teatro El Sauzal on 31 December 2026.
What's open on 24, 25 and 26 December
24 December, Nochebuena. The main family night in Spain. Shops and supermarkets usually open in the morning and close early afternoon. TITSA buses stop running between about 19:00 and 20:30 and do not restart until the morning. Many restaurants in the capital and the north close, or open only for a fixed-price dinner that needs booking. Resort restaurants in Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas and Costa Adeje mostly stay open.
25 December. A national public holiday, and in 2026 it falls on a Friday. Mercadona and the other large supermarkets are closed, as are museums, council offices and most high-street shops. In the tourist zones, shopping centres such as Siam Mall and Martiánez may open under the rules for tourist areas, but individual shops inside decide for themselves. Bars, cafés and restaurants in resort areas mostly open, many with a British-style Christmas dinner that sells out early. On-call pharmacies, bakeries and 24-hour minimarkets open, with limits on alcohol sales hours. TITSA buses run a Sunday timetable from about 08:10. Local guides report that the Teide cable car does not run on 25 December and the national park visitor centres close. Loro Parque and Siam Park advertise opening every day of the year, but confirm 25 December on their websites before you buy.
26 December. Not a public holiday in the Canary Islands in 2026. Shops, supermarkets and buses return to normal.
Christmas dinner in Tenerife. Spaniards eat their big meal late on 24 December, so Christmas Day lunch is a tourist affair. Resort hotels and restaurants in the south offer turkey menus and take bookings from November; in Santa Cruz and the north, book ahead.
New Year's Eve in brief
Nochevieja is a family dinner, then outdoors for the twelve chimes. Eat one grape per chime for twelve months of luck, wear red underwear, and you are doing it right. Santa Cruz usually runs a free open-air party in Plaza de la Candelaria from 23:00 with a stage, the chimes and low-noise fireworks, plus an early children's chimes event in the afternoon. Puerto de la Cruz celebrates around Plaza del Charco and the harbour, and the resorts of Los Cristianos and Las Américas put on fireworks along the promenade. Shops close at midday on 31 December, TITSA keeps its night buses running, and 1 January 2027 is a public holiday with most shops shut.
One more date that confuses visitors: 28 December is Día de los Inocentes, the Spanish April Fools' Day, so treat strange news that day with suspicion.
Three Kings: 5 and 6 January
The Three Kings, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, are the real climax of Christmas in Tenerife. They arrive on the afternoon of 5 January, parade through town throwing sweets, and leave presents overnight. 6 January 2027, a Wednesday, is a public holiday when families open gifts and eat roscón de Reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread with a hidden figurine and a dried bean; whoever finds the bean pays for next year's roscón.
Santa Cruz. The council has confirmed the Cabalgata de Reyes for 5 January 2027. Each year the Kings land at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium from around 17:00 for a free show, then the parade leaves Avenida de Bélgica at 19:00 and runs down Rambla, Ramón y Cajal and Méndez Núñez to Plaza de la Candelaria, with a low-noise zone in Parque García Sanabria for small children.
La Laguna. The Kings usually arrive at the town hall in the morning, ride camels along Calle Nava y Grimón to Plaza del Cristo around 16:00, and the main parade through the old town starts at about 18:00.
Puerto de la Cruz. A volunteer-run parade of more than 250 participants, usually in the early evening through the centre, with a low-noise stretch on Avenida Familia Bethencourt y Molina.
Los Cristianos. The Kings have arrived by boat at the Muelle Viejo around midday in recent years, then paraded from Avenida de Suecia to Plaza del Pescador at about 18:30.
Adeje. The Kings usually land by helicopter at the municipal football ground at 17:00 and the parade starts at 19:00.
La Orotava. The island's most elaborate parade, with more than 500 costumed participants, usually leaves Avenida Mercedes Pinto at 20:00.
Councils normally publish routes and times in mid-December; we add them to all Tenerife events and December 2026 in Tenerife as they appear. Expect road closures and parking bans along the routes from early afternoon.
December weather
December is mild, sunny and the wettest month of the year, which on Tenerife still means mostly dry days. AEMET's long-term averages give Tenerife South airport a mean daily high of 22.8°C and low of 16.5°C, with 30 mm of rain over about three and a half rainy days. Santa Cruz averages a high of 22.1°C and a low of 16.6°C, with 43 mm of rain over about five rainy days, and the north-facing valleys of La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz are cloudier and wetter than that. Sea temperature is about 20°C to 21°C in the south and a degree or two cooler in the north. Up at 2,000 metres on Teide, December highs average under 9°C and snow closes the TF-21 and TF-24 access roads several times most winters. Pack a jumper for the evenings; it gets dark before 18:30.
FAQ
Is Tenerife warm at Christmas?
Yes by British standards. Coastal highs average 22°C in both the north and south in December, with lows around 16°C. You will swim and sit outside at lunch, but you need a jacket after dark and the mountains can have snow.
Are shops open on Christmas Day in Tenerife?
Mostly no. 25 December is a public holiday, so supermarkets like Mercadona, high-street shops and museums close. Shopping centres in tourist areas such as Siam Mall may open, resort restaurants and bars stay open, and on-call pharmacies and small minimarkets trade. Buses run a Sunday timetable.
Do they celebrate Christmas in Tenerife?
Very much so, but in the Spanish way. The main family meal is on 24 December, Christmas Day is quieter, New Year's Eve means twelve grapes at midnight, and the presents and the biggest parades come with the Three Kings on 5 and 6 January.
Which Canary Island is warmest at Christmas?
The south coasts of Tenerife and Gran Canaria are the warmest and most sheltered spots in the archipelago in December, with highs near 23°C. The gap between islands is smaller than the gap between north and south Tenerife, so pick a south coast.
Is there a Christmas market in Costa Adeje?
Not a traditional one. Costa Adeje's Christmas events are in the shopping centres, mainly Siam Mall, and Adeje town uphill usually has a small charity market in the first three weeks of December. For a proper market, go to Santa Cruz for the Alameda market, about an hour by car or on TITSA line 110.