Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (/ˌsæntəˈkruːz/, Spanish: [santaˈkɾuθ, -ˈkɾus], locally: [sãtaˈkɾuʰ]), is a city and capital (jointly with Las Palmas) of the Canary Islands, the capital of Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and of the island of Tenerife. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its administrative limits. The urban zone of Santa Cruz extends beyond the city limits with a population of 507,306 and 538,000 within urban area. It is the second largest city in the Canary Islands and the main city on the island of Tenerife, with nearly half the island population living in or around it.

Santa Cruz is located in northeast quadrant of Tenerife, about 210 kilometres (130 mi) off the northwestern coast of Africa within the Atlantic Ocean. The distance to the nearest point of mainland Spain is about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi). Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands, until 1927 when a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. The port is of great importance and is the communications hub between Europe, Africa and Americas, with cruise ships arriving from many nations. The city is the focus for domestic and inter-island communications in the Canary Islands.

Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife also Province of Santa Cruz (Spanish: Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife) is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of about half of the Atlantic archipelago: the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Palma. It occupies an area of 3,381 km².

Its capital is the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (commonly known as Santa Cruz), on the island of Tenerife (Spain's most populous island). In 2008 the province had 1,005,936 inhabitants and a density of 313.57 /km², making it the province of Spain with the sixth highest population density, higher than that of the province of Las Palmas (the eastern half of the Canary Islands). 24% live in the capital. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. There are 54 municipalities in the province; see List of municipalities in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Tenerife is the most populated island in the province of the Canary Islands and most populous island of Spain. The island of Tenerife has the highest altitude of Spain (Teide 3718 m).

Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election and covers the western part of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna are the largest municipalities, both having over 100,000 voters.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution the boundaries must be the same as the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.