Vegan in Tenerife..?

[gee*dee]

Hey all, just an open inquiry really...

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

[blinki]

My parents suffer from an inability to go on holiday anywhere but the Canary Islands though it all blurs together in my memory so not sure of Tenerife specifically. They are vegetarian (and don't really eat eggs) and they always go to self-catered places, sometimes even taking packet foods with them and when they eat out it's always Indians- which presumably use ghee. My memories of staying in catered places involve a lot of chips and bread but that is about 10 years ago now so I'd like to think it has improved significantly.

But as you say the main cities aren't so bad- are you going to/near Puerto de la Cruz or Santa Cruz? If you look up Happy Cow you'll find a good few places that are vegetarian/vegetarian friendly and most of them will have a couple of vegan dishes. Anywhere else and you might have limited options but might still find something.

[JP]

i have been to few of the canary islands and its always been fine. The supermarkets (you just have to find one, not just the corner ships for tourists) are often well stocked with vegan goodies, ice cream, yoghurt, soya milk, tofu...

and then i have always found some chinese and indian places to eat in. Or british places and get the good ol chips with mushy peas and beans

[gee*dee]

Thanks for your input guys

We were originally going to go for a self-catering place but neither of us drive and we wanted to avoid the overly touristy areas, so we ended up choosing a place in a village halfway up Teide. Will certainly keep my eyes peeled for said supermarkets but not sure how much time we'll spend in the more built-up areas. I'll grab what I can and I'll also make good use of Happy Cow too, I've found it to be a very valuable resource

[JP]

its a tiny place though so the supermarkets are probably never far away