Tenerife South

Tenerife South is named after the Queen of Spain, Reina Sofía. It sits on a long stretch of pretty flat terrain with mountains in the far distance and the sea a few kilometres away. A good place for an airport, plenty of space, no big towns and it connects seamlessly with a major trunk road that runs the length of the island. The airport feels far removed from the polished resorts that litter the island.

The area inside the airport is heavily policed, just like any other, but outside you can find a burned-out car and scattered building supplies. Visitors here include dog walkers and mountain bikers chasing trails, their silhouettes spread across the vastness of the mostly unfriendly terrain.

Someone has built a makeshift plane spotting platform on a path that runs parallel to the runway. It's made up of leftover concrete and wooden cargo pallets. Up on it, you get a good view across the airport, but it is almost always windy. The vegetation is permanently bent.

The landscape is raw and unpolished unlike the resorts or the jets that land and take-off. From a distance you wouldn't even know that there was an airport here. It almost melts into the surrounding terrain.