The TEA (Tenerife Espacio de las Artes) is the contemporary art museum of Santa Cruz — a brutalist building designed by Herzog & de Meuron that houses permanent collections and international-caliber temporary exhibitions.
To know: Variable free admission depending on exhibition (often on Sundays), check teatenerife.es. Closed Mondays. The museum café, overlooking the interior garden, is one of the most beautiful on the island for a break.
Inaugurated in 2008, the TEA is an architectural work in itself — raw concrete, interplay of natural light, ramps that wind between levels. The building has received several European architecture awards.
The permanent collection is devoted to surrealist artist Oscar Domínguez (born in Tenerife in 1906) and documentary photography from the 1930s-50s in the Canaries.
Domínguez Collection: Paintings, sculptures and objects by the most famous Canarian surrealist. His works stand alongside those of his contemporaries — Miró, Ernst, Picasso.
Photography: An exceptional collection of photographs documenting life in the Canaries in the 20th century.
Temporary exhibitions: Rotation every 3-4 months, Spanish and international artists.