Santa Cruz de La Palma Plans Its Biggest Beach Upgrade Yet

For years, Santa Cruz de La Palma lacked what many coastal towns take for granted: a proper city beach where you could spread your towel after a morning coffee, take a dip, and maybe grab a cold drink without jumping in the car. That changed when the central government carved a new 550-metre sandy strand right out of the capital’s maritime front, protected by breakwaters and a submerged dyke. Now the city is adding the details that turn a stretch of sand into a genuine seaside hangout.

The numbers give you a clear picture. The Ayuntamiento is planning around 150 hamacas and a maximum of 76 sombrillas, so you won’t have to lug your own gear down to the shore. Six service casetas are being installed along the beach, offering toilets, changing rooms and showers over the full length of the sand. Wooden walkways will lead you from the promenade to the water, and two lifeguard towers will keep an eye on swimmers. It’s a practical, thoughtful fit-out that makes the beach usable for a quick lunch break or a full afternoon with the family.

A beach with sports built in

What makes this project feel different is how it weaves sport into the seaside setting. At the southern end of the urban beach, right in front of the Casa del Césped, the municipality has drawn up plans for two desmontable basketball courts. These aren’t afterthoughts: they’re sized to official FIBA standards, with a 28-by-15-metre playing area and a two-metre perimeter band. The idea is to create seasonal sports services that blend into the beach entrance, with accessible pathways so everyone can reach them.

The project documentation has already been sent to the Dirección General de Costas y Gestión del Espacio Marítimo, the Canary Islands authority that needs to give the green light. So while the vision is concrete, the execution timeline still depends on that approval. There’s also a separate municipal initiative to add an open-air calisthenics park to the beach area. The Ayuntamiento has formally requested permission from the Costas authority, but that one remains firmly in the “pending” column for now.

Two kiosks and a completed promenade

No beach day is complete without a cold drink or a quick snack, and Santa Cruz has already added two kiosks right on the sand for exactly that purpose. They’re not full-scale restaurants, just handy spots for refreshments that make the strand more inviting. Combined with the loungers and parasols, they turn the beach into a place where you can comfortably spend several hours without needing to pack a picnic.

Behind the beach, the third and final phase of the Avenida Marítima remodel is stitching everything together. Running between Calle Tedote and Avenida de Las Nieves, this last stretch has a tender budget of just under 4.4 million euros, financed through the Fondo de Desarrollo de Canarias via the Cabildo de La Palma. The expediente is already resolved, and once complete, it will deliver a continuous, pedestrian-friendly promenade that links the historic centre, the paseo and the beach into one smooth walk by the water.

Who is behind the transformation

Projects like this don’t happen without layers of cooperation. The original coastal rehabilitation that created the beach itself was driven by the central government’s environment ministry, now MITECO, with a construction award of around 25.3 million euros to FCC Construcción and EU FEDER co-financing. The total investment cited by officials exceeds 34 million euros when you include associated works.

At the local level, the Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de La Palma is managing the beach fit-out, the sports projects and the Avenida Marítima tender. Mayor Asier Antona, first deputy mayor Raico Arrocha, and councillor for Public Works and Services Saray González have been publicly presenting the sports-space plans, with architect Elisa Brito involved in the documentation. The Cabildo de La Palma, meanwhile, is channelling FDCAN funds to complete the promenade, making this a genuinely multi-level effort.

What it means for your visit

La Palma has always been the quieter, greener sibling in the Canary Islands family: a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve island known for laurel forests, volcanic landscapes and stargazing rather than high-rise resorts. The upgraded urban beach in Santa Cruz doesn’t change that character; it complements it. You get a proper city strand where you can swim, lounge and play basketball without leaving the capital, all within a short walk of the old town’s cobbled streets and wooden balconies.

For digital nomads and slow travellers who’ve chosen La Palma precisely because it isn’t Tenerife or Gran Canaria, this is a welcome addition. It means a morning of remote work in a café can flow into an afternoon on the sand, with showers and changing rooms making the transition easy. Cruise passengers stepping off their ship will find a fully equipped beach just minutes from the docking area. And local families get a recreational space that finally matches what a capital city by the sea should offer.