Casa de Los Balcones La Orotava Tenerife

Pretty potted geraniums decorate the balconies looking over Calle San Francisco. It's not the balconies on the outside, though, that give the house its name: enter the impressive front doors and you will find the exquisitely carved wooden balconies of the courtyard. Here abundant refreshing greenery, earthenware pots and an old wine press give a cool, elegant air. The building's history is told in the museum upstairs: originally it consisted of two separate houses built in 1632 as homes for prosperous colonists. Downstairs in the busy souvenir and craft shop, a major stop off point for coach tours, an additional attraction is local craftspeople demonstrating how to roll a cigar, weave a basket, or paint sand in readiness for the big Corpus Christi celebrations. This unusual shop sells, in addition to popular souvenirs, a wide range of high quality items such as Spanish and Canarian lace and linen, and traditional hand-crafted Canarian embroideries. Some small items such as handkerchiefs give an opportunity to buy good quality local goods at affordable prices.

Some of the embroideries are made on the premises, as the Casa de los Balcones also serves as a highly regarded school for embroidery. For over 50 years the school has been training small numbers of pupils in the traditional methods and designs of Canarian embroidery, which would perhaps have disappeared altogether if not for its efforts.