Feel the island heat

Will the Canaries come to the rescue this summer? Chris Leadbeater is tempted – and tells us why

There is nothing wrong with being a winter-sun staple – but the problem with being feted as a place where the weather is reliably warm in January, February and March is that your virtues are not always appreciated when July and August come fully into focus.

This year could be different for the Canary Islands. Beloved of Britons when the heating is on in Cardiff, Crewe and Kirkcaldy, these Atlantic outcrops may yet save the summer.

Admittedly, there are still hurdles to be jumped – ongoing Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice against all non-essential travel; the quarantine ruling which, at present, requires 14 days of self-isolation on return; and the chance of reciprocal measures being imposed on UK travellers by overseas destinations while this policy is in place.

However, tomorrow will see Spain reopen its borders to European tourists. And even if British visitors cannot fly out straight away, where once it looked as if foreign holidays would be impossible in 2020, the Canaries may be calling long before the clocks go back.

Quite the archipelago they are too. Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma and Fuerteventura are all equipped with excellent hotels and sublime seafronts, while the three smaller parts of what is officially an eight-piece jigsaw – La Gomera, La Graciosa and El Hierro – deal in a tranquillity that can feel a world removed from the big resorts. But that is the point. For every accommodation megacomplex there is a slab of dramatic volcanic scenery, a cool city district, a mighty cathedral, a tempting local restaurant, a family-run winery or a starry sky. The Canary Islands are for the whole year, not just for winter.

Better still, while your terrace or balcony, not to mention the temperature – easily in the high 20Cs in July – may invite indolence and a sleepy search for a suntan, there are plenty of reasons to head out in search of the wider Canaries. Here are 20 of them.