Keyboard veteran Rick Wakeman tells Angela West why he loves Tenerife, and the villa he bought there.
Known as the island of eternal spring, Tenerife is a firm favourite for the rich and famous. One celebrity – musician Rick Wakeman – was so inspired by its climate, landscapes and golf courses that he made it his second home.
The veteran rocker’s love affair with Tenerife started during the 1980s, following a family recommendation.
“My parents used to visit Tenerife regularly in the 1970s and they always raved about the island,” Rick explains. “I first came here for a couple of days in the mid-80s to play in a golf tournament. I loved what I saw and vowed to come back, which I did a few months later.”
After that, he just kept on returning.
“It had everything I wanted – great weather, great golf, great food and, even more importantly, a phenomenal diversity, meaning that the island could be anything you wanted it to be at any given time.”
'If I have a Sunday free, I go for a barbecue in the hills'
With year-round sunshine and average winter temperatures of around 22C, the largest of the Canary Islands is rich in natural beauty – and it’s an island with two faces: the north part is greener, cooler and more fertile than the sunnier south, which is protected from rainfall by a high mountain range.
Rick’s house – on the south coast – is a four-bedroom, three-storey villa.
“It’s on a beautiful complex,” he says, “literally one minute’s walk from the seafront.”
It sounds idyllic, although there is a downside to living in a part of the island that’s a bit of a tourist magnet: “My only nightmare is trying to park during the height of the season!”