I don’t want to get all Prince Charles with you but I do appreciate a striking well designed building and a bit of street art and here in Tenerife we are blessed with some great examples. Taking a different route into Adeje town I got off in the Las Torres area to feast my eyes on the bright modern buildings that have sprung up in recent years. The police station makes a very arresting sight, it could be quite boxy and boring but the different shades of stone work and the landscaped rock and cactus garden make all the difference. mind you i’m still not in a hurry to see the design of the cells.

Driving into Adeje off the Armenime roundabout heads always turn to see the rainbow design on the large concrete building, the bust of Beethoven is a big clue to it’s use. The Escuela de Musica or Adeje School Of Music looks fantastic and must be a real inspiration to young musicians going in to study. It opened in September 2010 but I think the great composer’s statue used to be outside the old school over the other side of Adeje but this is probably Beethovens last movement.

Heading up the road into the heart of Adeje there is the stark minimalist block that is the Iglesia San Jose de Los Olivos, it seemed to take years to finish this church and it was fenced off for a long time. I’ve grown to like it in recent years, it makes a bold statement and a look around the sides reveals traditional if small stained glass windows. The crowning glory of Adeje town must be the wall murals, a wonderful tribute to the traditions and culture of the past, and painted on the side of living buildings where families are now living.

The biggest murals are in the Piedra Redonda childrens playground in the centre of Adeje, the main one of the crafts people were designed by Conrado Diaz Ruiz and completed over the first three months of 2011. The artwork looks very similar on the other unsigned works but whoever produced these artisitic wonders has my awe and admiration. Piedra Redonda (the round mill stone) has its own pride of place and for another mix of ancient and modern the revamped Plaza de España at the top end of town takes some beating. It all makes for an uplifting mix and keeps luring me back to one of my favourite towns in the south.