Loro Parque

Listen first. Before you see anything, you hear it: a sharp, metallic shriek, then another, then a ripple of whistles and chatter from somewhere behind the palms. The air is warm and damp. It smells of wet leaves, cut grass and the faint salt of the Atlantic a short walk away. Under your feet, the paths are smooth and shaded. You are on the north coast of Tenerife, in Puerto de la Cruz, and the voices you hear belong to parrots.

That sound explains the name. In Spanish, loro means parrot. Loro Parque opened in 1972 as a parrot park, and parrots are still at its heart. The founder was Wolfgang Kiessling, a German entrepreneur who settled on the island. His first park was modest — a garden, a collection of birds, and a small team. Over the following decades, that garden grew into one of the largest zoological parks in the Canary Islands.

As you come in, look at the entrance buildings. They have steep, layered roofs, curved gables and gold detail. This is a Thai village, built in the style of traditional Thai architecture. It surprises many first-time visitors. Why Thailand, on a Spanish island off the coast of Africa? The answer is personal. Kiessling had strong links with Asia, and the village became a signature of the park. It sets the tone. This is a place that mixes worlds on purpose.

Now think about where you are standing. The Canary Islands sit in the Atlantic, much closer to Morocco than to mainland Spain. The north of Tenerife is green and often cloudy, fed by moist trade winds. That mild, even climate is part of why a park like this works here. Many tropical plants grow outdoors all year. On a clear day, you may catch sight of Mount Teide, the volcano at the centre of the island and the highest peak in Spain.

Let us go back to the parrots. Loro Parque holds one of the largest and most varied parrot collections in the world, with a great number of species and subspecies. Some are bright and loud. Others are quiet, rare, and seldom seen outside their home forests. Look closely and you will notice how different they are — tiny lorikeets, heavy-beaked macaws, soft grey birds with red tails. Each enclosure is a small study in colour.

Here is something most visitors miss. Behind the public paths, the park runs breeding work for endangered parrots. In 1994, the Loro Parque Fundación was created, a non-profit foundation for conservation. Over the years it has funded projects in many countries, often protecting parrots in the wild, in their native forests. Several species that were close to vanishing have been helped by this work. So the birds you see here are only part of the story. Much of it happens far away.

Further along, the mood changes. You move from open gardens into cool, dim halls. The aquarium area includes a long tunnel where water surrounds you on both sides and overhead. Sharks and rays glide past at eye level. The light turns blue and moves gently across your face and hands. Children press their noses to the glass. Adults go quiet. It is one of the calmer moments in the park, and a good place to slow down.

Then comes the cold. Planet Penguin is a frozen world built on a subtropical island. Inside, the temperature drops sharply, and artificial snow falls over the rocks. Several penguin species live here, along with other polar birds. It is strange to step out of the warm Tenerife air into this chill. Notice your breath, and the bright white light. Then step outside again and feel the heat return to your skin.

The great primates are another part of the park. Look for the gorillas, often sitting still in their enclosure, watching the people who watch them. Their faces are calm and very expressive. The chimpanzees are usually busier, moving, calling, and grooming each other. Spend a few minutes here instead of rushing past. The longer you stay, the more small gestures you notice — a hand resting on a shoulder, a look over to check where the others are.

You will also hear about the orcas. Orca Ocean is a large pool where killer whales live and perform presentations. The first orcas arrived in 2006. This part of the park has been the subject of public debate. Animal welfare groups question whether large marine mammals should live in captivity at all. The park presents its work as education and research. You may form your own view as you watch. It is a real conversation, and it is worth knowing about.

There are dolphins and sea lions here too, with presentations in open stands. The seating fills with families and school groups. Before a show starts, listen to the mix of languages around you — Spanish, German, English, and many others. Tenerife has welcomed northern Europeans for generations, and this park has grown with that tradition. In a way, the crowd is part of the place's history. Puerto de la Cruz was one of the first tourist towns on the island.

Beyond the big attractions, notice the gardens themselves. Palms rise over winding paths. Flowering shrubs grow beside the water features. There are quiet corners with benches, often near smaller bird enclosures. These spaces are easy to walk past while you hurry to the next show. Yet they hold much of the park's character. The founder began with a garden and birds, and you can still feel that original idea in these shaded paths.

Loro Parque also has a sister attraction. In the south of the island sits Siam Park, a water park built by the same family, again with a Thai theme. The connection shows how one idea, born in a parrot garden in 1972, grew into a large family business. It also shows how deeply tourism shapes Tenerife today. Many people on the island work in places like these, caring for animals, plants, and visitors every day.

Before you leave, stop for a moment and listen again. The parrots are still calling, the same sharp voices that greeted you at the gate. The light falls through the palm leaves in moving patches. Somewhere behind you, water splashes in a pool. As you walk back through the Thai village and out toward the town, look up at those golden roofs one more time. Then let the sound of the birds fade slowly behind you.