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Ruigómez – a village in Tenerife’s green northwest |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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Ruigómez doesn’t get a lot of publicity but it has its charms and is an excellent example of how very different parts of the north can be to what it is like in the south. Some parts of Ruigómez look and feel very much like it does in the British countryside.
There are brambles everywhere, plenty of grassy places and bracken and gorse and winding country lanes with grey stonewalls. There are fields of oats and potatoes and cabbage and maize. You can hear and see blackbirds and finches and if it wasn’t for the Spanish style houses and the occasional dragon tree or Canary Island palm you could think you had been transported to Britain. Even the butterflies you see in Ruigómez look like British ones – meadow brown and speckled woods are very common there, as are cabbage whites.
 Ruigómez is a Tenerife village on the mountain road that goes between Icod de los Vinos and Santiago del Teide and it is in an area that shows clearly why the north of the island is known for its lush greenery. In fact it is often shrouded in the “bruma” clouds that help bring water to the vegetation and which make it so excellent for farming. In Ruigómez you can see lemons growing alongside maize and walnut trees, with pretty dahlias, roses and geraniums in some of the gardens. There is also a group of tall eucalyptus trees overlooking the road through the village.
 Ruigómez is an excellent place if you enjoy trekking in the countryside and enjoying nature. There are several footpaths and the village is surrounded by farmland, tree heather and “laurisilva” forest and scrubland, with all of it very green and with wild flowers such as corn poppies blooming everywhere you look. One of the main paths that is signposted from the road is the Ruta del Agua.
Ruigómez has an attractive square with a stage for fiestas and special events and the Church of San Isidro is right alongside this part. There is also what’s left of the Guanche theme park that has been abandoned and is going derelict but bright patches of golden gazania brighten up the paved area in front of this. Perhaps one day it will be reopened or bought up and converted into some new venture? Only time will tell.
 If it’s restaurants, bars or shops you want then you will have to go to El Tanque several kilometres further along the road. Ruigómez is mainly houses and fincas and not a lot else. Its neighbour on the other side going south is the village of Erjos, famous for its freshwater ponds and its Bar Fleytas, which is popular with visitors, locals and motorbike enthusiasts.
The Titsa bus services 325 from Puerto de la Cruz to Los Gigantes and the 460 Icod de los Vinos to Las Americas both pass through Ruigómez. If you want somewhere to stay, Ruigómez has La Rosa del Teide, which has eight individual rooms with bathrooms that can be rented out separately or the whole house can be booked. For anyone looking for a rural location with a quiet Canarian village that is a bit different Ruigómez could perhaps be the place.
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Tenerife Island 
