San Andrés is the night the barrels are opened and the year's wine is first tasted, and northern Tenerife takes that seriously. Icod de los Vinos — the clue is in the name — marks it by sliding down its own hills. The tablas are boards of tea pine, greased underneath, and the streets around Calle Antonio González, El Plano, run steeply enough that it works far too well. The tradition is said to come from the days when timber was brought down from the highlands the same way.
What to expect. Two days, 29 and 30 November, with the runs on the night of the 29th. Barriers go up, the crowd packs the sides, and boards come down one after another. Around it: bodegas open their doors for the new wine, chestnuts roast in the street, and salt fish and tortas de San Andrés get handed round. This is a Canarian crowd, not a tourist one.
Practical bit. Icod is in the north of the island, about 45 minutes from Puerto de la Cruz and over an hour from the southern resorts, and it is a late night. Public transport will not get you home. Hire a car and — since you are there — the thousand-year-old dragon tree is 200 metres from the action, and Garachico's rock pools are ten minutes down the road.
