My fiance and I are going to Tenerife for a week (leaving a week today), we're staying in places where there is catering for "special diets" but I would also like to try some more authentic cuisine in the local area - when I go travelling somewhere I like to feel like I'm actually in another country

But my concern is that, basically, "vegan" and even "vegetarian" is still a very confusing concept in a lot of places in Spain, and I've heard that it's not uncommon for "vegetarian" dishes to come with ham or bacon in it. Even veggies, which I would otherwise be happy to subsist on, are apparently sometimes cooked in animal fat, and if there was no way of telling I fear that it would involve endless grilling as to the contents of the dish (and a language barrier on top of that). I've listed myself as a "strict vegetarian" in the hotel booking, because I've heard that "vegan" is far less understood in Spain. I know that in bigger cities like Barcelona vegans fare far better but Tenerife is far more peaceful and we would both like to try conquering Teide!
I'd just like to hear how people "cope" in places where people don't fully get the concept of vegetarianism, without turning into a paranoid wreck and most likely ruining the holiday for their companion
