Santa Cruz Home to Tenerife's Richest and Poorest Areas
A new study reveals Las Mimosas in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the island's highest average personal income at €30,878 annually, while the lowest, €7,949, is found in the same municipality's Añaza neighborhood.
If you walk through Las Mimosas, a residential area uphill from Santa Cruz's Rambla, near the bullring and García Sanabria Park, you'll notice mostly nice single-family homes and no shops. It's clear residents are well-off, but you might not guess it's the area with the highest average income per person in Tenerife: 30,878 euros a year. Surprisingly, the area with the lowest income on the island is in the same municipality. That's the Añaza neighborhood, where the average is just 7,949 euros per person annually, or a little over 660 euros per month.
These figures come from the Household Income Distribution Atlas, published recently by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) using 2023 data. This study shows income levels for individuals and households. What's special about it is that it can zoom in to show results almost street by street, down to what's called a 'census section'.
The part of Las Mimosas bordered by Camino de Las Acacias, Calle General Ramos Serrano, and the Santa Cruz Rambla has the highest incomes in Tenerife. It boasts the highest average income per person and also per household (89,578 euros). Close by are two more areas ranking third and fourth: another section of Las Mimosas (from General Ramos Serrano to Doctor González Coviella) with 27,386 euros, and the nearby Los Hoteles neighborhood with 27,246 euros. Los Hoteles stretches from La Rambla towards Méndez Núñez, with María Cristina and Pérez de Rozas streets on one side and Numancia (next to García Sanabria Park) on the other, all crossed by Avenida 25 de Julio. The second highest income area is also in Santa Cruz: Urbanización Anaga, where residents earn an average of 28,192 euros.
Añaza shows a similar pattern. It's not just one isolated area with low income; Añaza contains both the lowest-income census section and the fifth lowest. The area with the lowest personal income, 7,949 euros, is found between the Southern Highway (TF-1) and the sea, bordered by Calle Cupreso on the left and Avenida Luis Celso García Guadalupe on the right. Here, household income is 21,097 euros, a stark contrast to Las Mimosas' 89,578 euros. Another low-income area in Añaza, with 8,628 euros per person, is within the square formed by Calle Coruja, Rambla de Añaza, Avenida Luis Celso García Guadalupe, and Rambla Bentacayse.
The Income Distribution Atlas doesn't fully show the income differences in the South, partly because it doesn't account for nationalities and where people are registered. While there aren't huge areas of extreme wealth or poverty, El Fraile stands out as a particularly struggling area. In this diverse neighborhood, sometimes called a 'Tower of Babel,' located in Arona, three census areas rank as the second, third, and fourth poorest. Using Calle Fuerteventura, the main street, as a reference, incomes are 8,352 euros per person going south from the street, and 8,447 and 8,515 euros going north towards the TF-1 highway.
El Rosario, Candelaria, Tegueste, and Puerto de la Cruz also feature high-income areas in the ranking. El Rosario's coast is on the list, having been a popular home for politicians and high-ranking officials for decades. In this area, Radazul leads with an average personal income of 25,412 euros in 2023. Next are the area between Radazul and Tabaiba Baja (21,416 euros), Tabaiba Media and Alta (20,410 euros), and Tabaiba Baja (19,217 euros). Nearby in Candelaria, Hoya de Molina, an area uphill from the Southern Highway, stands out with 20,463 euros.
Like El Rosario, Tegueste has long been known for high incomes. Its top spot is Urbanización Tamarco, with 19,259 euros, located between El Socorro and the main road to Punta del Hidalgo. In Puerto de la Cruz, both long-term foreign residents and some locals contribute to El Botánico and La Paz having notable incomes, averaging 18,636 euros in this census section.
In La Laguna, the highest income area is found between La Vega Lagunera and the historic center. This large section is bordered by streets like Las Gavias, Fuente Cañizares, Pozo Cabildo, República Argentina, Juan de Vera, Cabrera Pinto, Silverio Alonso, and Lucas Vega. Here, the average personal income is 25,874 euros, and for households, it's 79,436 euros. Other notable areas include Guajara Alta (23,913 euros); another part of La Vega Lagunera, between Joaquín Turina, Pozo Cabildo streets and the road to Las Canteras, with 22,019 euros; and central Guamasa, around Camino Santa Rosa de Lima, with 19,125 euros. Conversely, a section of Taco, stretching from the recycling center to the Suso Santana football field, has an average of 9,562 euros.
Looking at the island as a whole gives us something to think about. The Atlas uses a strong green for the highest incomes, and this color clearly dominates the centers of Santa Cruz and La Laguna. This situation comes at a time of rapidly rising housing prices, leading some to warn that working-class residents are being pushed out of central areas towards the outskirts, and sometimes even further out.