Tigaiga, Natural feature near Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain

Tigaiga is an elevated area with terraced land and native vegetation near Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife. Views from here reach across the Orotava Valley below and toward Mount Teide in the distance.

Tigaiga grew as a settlement after 1496, when the mencey Bentor of Taoro threw himself from the cliff above rather than surrender to the Castilian troops. The first residents were farm workers from the nearby Hacienda de Los Príncipes, and the hamlet developed around a spring that still flows. Within the Hacienda de La Fuente stands the 16th-century Ermita de Nuestra Señora de La Concepción, later reformed in the 20th century.

Tigaiga celebrates Nuestra Señora de La Concepción on the first Sunday of September, a fiesta held since the 18th century, and the Romería de San Antonio Abad on the second Sunday of January since the 1990s. At Christmas, residents stage a living nativity, the Portal Viviente, performed since 1972 and built and acted almost entirely by neighbours.

You can reach this area by local buses from central Puerto de la Cruz or by joining organized hiking tours from nearby hotels. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water, as the terrain is uneven and the sun feels strong at this elevation.

The Monte de La Corona beside Tigaiga is known for an alleged Marian apparition in 1992, which became one of the largest sociological phenomena in the history of the Canary Islands. The spring that gave rise to the settlement still flows today, though in small quantity.