Pocket size beach cove, Las Galgas, was secluded and sparsely used as I came around the coastal path from Callao Salvaje into Playa Paraiso. The second stage of my Tenerife west coast visit was set on a gift wrapped present of a December day and I had a lot of catching up to do. The twin stacks of the Hard Rock Hotel were new on my last visit three years ago and things were beginning to change in the overlooked and neglected area.

JCB diggers were carving out new channels from the barranco at the rear but those few dipping into the sea were greeted with gentle waves. Below the coastal walk between the two resorts, the isolated outcrops of rock looked inviting but potentially dangerous. Taking the steep walk down and back up the other side of Las Galgas I was soon on the modern pedestrian promenade, wide, clean, and a pleasant place to stroll. Warnings signs at the access points to rock pools are frequently ignored but a little further renovated steps down from the main road led to the small dark sand that backs onto the imported orange sand of the Hard Rock Hotel swimming pool complex.. It had been in a sorry state for years but its now its buzzing with music, cocktails, and a bridge linking it directly to the hotel. It is also open to non hotel paying visitors.

The horizon is now dominated by modern hotels, the huge three stage H10 Atlantic Sunset gleamed in the sun,the loop of land it sits on used to be a bit of a dumping ground and a magnet for auto caravans at fiesta and holiday times. The influence of the new posher neighbours can be felt all through Playa Paraiso, Punta Paraiso is now home to Roja Negra beach bar, and walking up into the main street outside Hard Rock Hotel, most bars and restaurants were either boasting new looks and names, or up for sale and rent.  I´m guessing that rents have increased with the makeover, it´s a shame for the old bars that kept the flag flying when Paraiso was less fashionable but there were noticeably more people sat outside enjoying food and drink. There´s even a rock supermarket, those groceries have a lot to live up to – maybe Prefab Sprout would be appropriate! The rebirth continues, the Roca Mar complex, by the Adrian Hoteles Roca Navaria, is a white elephant that never got any tenants, a team were busy coating it with new aluminium panels ready for an expected influx of new shops.

One of the biggest changes has come at the old abandoned apartment building at the lower entry to Playa Paraiso. It had been part built and left as a rusting, crumbling wreck for decades but is now a gleaming white private apartment block and soon to be home for the Expo Vida project. Originally Expo Vida was promoted as a health theme park to emerge from the wreckage of the old Sky Park in Torviscas, but judging by the lack of progress on the other site, it seems to have a new scaled down home. The building frontage is very striking with dynamic, thrusting statues, I love the humour as in the figure propping up one of the main walls.

As I was in the area, I had to check out the newly opened CC Rosa Center shopping complex part way up the main road out of the resort. This one is a bit of a clone of Parque Santiago 6 and the three layers only have 35 units, many were not yet open. Pretty standard fare, Hiperdino, Burger King, a couple of coffee shops, Springfield, and a large Stradivarius transported from the centre of Los Cristianos. The large top floor terrace will be a nice place to enjoy food, drink, and views, once the other units open, and the flowers and plants will look better once they have grown out of their perfect just planted shapes. In general it´s a bit bland, too many straight lines, and the outside gates reminded me of the old football ground turnstiles. Music was a big theme of my day, it was flowing out from Hard Rock Hotel and H10 and there was muzak hanging in the air at Rosa. when I used the toilets I had Aretha Franklin for company, a bit off putting. Don´t let this cynical old git put you off, go and check these places out for yourself, it´s good to explore.