Culture in the Canary Islands: opera, theatre and museums island by island
First-time visitors to the Canary Islands usually come looking for beaches, sunshine and hiking trails, and many are surprised to find out how much more there is. The islands have two major symphony orchestras and two opera seasons running side by side, their concert halls and museums were designed by Santiago Calatrava, Óscar Tusquets or the Herzog & de Meuron practice, and classical music reaches even the smallest islands. In this article we go island by island through what's worth seeing and hearing, and when.
One important thing up front: Canarian culture doesn't belong only to the two big cities. One of the best examples is the Festival Internacional de Música de Canarias (FIMC), the Canary Islands International Music Festival, which we cover in detail at the end of the article.
Tenerife: a concert hall by the sea, opera and museums
The island's cultural emblem is the Auditorio de Tenerife, by the port of Santa Cruz. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and opened in 2003, it covers 23,000 square metres, and the white building is clad in trencadís, a mosaic of small broken ceramic pieces. It is home to the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife (Tenerife Symphony Orchestra), founded in 1935 as the Orquesta de Cámara de Canarias (Canary Islands Chamber Orchestra) and known by its current name since 1970. In the 2026-2027 season it gives 18 subscription concerts, and more than 90 public events over the year as a whole. See our Auditorio page.
The Ópera de Tenerife season runs here too; it started in the 2013-2014 season. In 2026-2027 it has twelve titles, with opera from September to June, mainly in the Auditorio's main hall but also at the Espacio La Granja and at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna. In October the programme features Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), with the symphony orchestra. Good to know: the Cabildo de Tenerife runs a free shuttle (Lanzadera cultural) to the symphony concerts and the subscription opera performances.
In La Laguna, the eclectic-style Teatro Leal was built thanks to the patron Antonio Leal Martín, to plans by Antonio Pintor. The oldest theatre in the Canary Islands, Santa Cruz's Teatro Guimerá (January 1851), is currently closed, however: according to its official website, a complete refurbishment set to last several years has begun. If you're in Santa Cruz you can see it from the outside, but don't plan on catching a performance for now.
The home of contemporary art is TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, a building by Herzog & de Meuron and the Canarian Virgilio Gutiérrez, with exhibitions, a collection, a photography centre and a cinema. See our TEA page.
Of the island's museums, three are especially good choices:
MUNA, Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología. It was created in Santa Cruz's former civil hospital (Hospital Civil) by merging the natural science museum and the archaeology museum. In the burial room of the Guanche collection you can see complete mummies of adults, children and foetuses. See our MUNA page.
Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos. It opened in La Laguna in May 1993, next door to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Canary Islands' astrophysics institute. See our museum page.
Museo de Historia y Antropología, Casa Lercaro. The island's history museum, in a 16th-century building in La Laguna. See our Casa Lercaro page.
In May the streets of Puerto de la Cruz become a stage: the international street arts festival MUECA brought nearly a hundred performances in 2026, its 24th edition. If you're looking for something to do on a rainy day in Tenerife, this article will help: What to do in Tenerife when it rains. We've written about La Laguna's old town here: What to see in La Laguna.
Gran Canaria: Las Palmas, city of festivals
In Las Palmas, the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus stands at the end of Las Canteras beach. It was designed by Óscar Tusquets and is famous for two things: its organ and its huge glass wall looking straight out to sea. The city's historic theatre is the Teatro Pérez Galdós, where frescoes by Néstor de la Torre and the Saint-Saëns room have been preserved. This is where the Festival de Ópera de Las Palmas (Las Palmas Opera Festival) is held, organised by the Amigos Canarios de la Ópera association, which has been staging opera seasons in the city for more than 50 years. In the 2027 season, Werther is on in February and Faust in March.
Most of the museums are in the historic Vegueta quarter, a few minutes' walk from each other:
El Museo Canario. Founded in 1879; one of its founders and its first director was Gregorio Chil y Naranjo. It stands near the cathedral, and its collection of mummies and skeletons of the islands' indigenous people is one of the most photographed parts of the museum: standing in front of the display cases feels like stepping into an old scholar's study. See our museum page.
CAAM, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno. It opened in 1989 in a building on Calle Los Balcones restored by Sáenz de Oiza. Its programme looks to three continents: Africa, the Americas and Europe. See our CAAM page.
Casa de Colón. It stands on the site of the old governors' house and has been open as a museum since 1954. See our Casa de Colón page.
Gran Canaria's festivals run all year round. In spring, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the city's international film festival, focuses on independent auteur cinema; its top prize is the Lady Harimaguada de Oro, and the 25th edition ran from 23 April to 3 May 2026. In September, the theatre, music and dance festival TEMUDAS celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2026, and its previous edition drew nearly 40,000 spectators. In October, the 39th edition of the Festival del Sur (Encuentro Teatral Tres Continentes) in Agüimes brings in performers from the Americas, Africa and Europe.
One more reason to keep an eye on Las Palmas: the city is one of the four Spanish finalists for the title of European Capital of Culture 2031, with the motto “Rebelión de la Geografía” (the rebellion of geography), and the decision is expected in December 2026. We've written about the island in general here: What to see in Gran Canaria.
Lanzarote: art in the volcano
Lanzarote's culture is inseparable from César Manrique. We covered his key sites in detail in our Lanzarote article, so here we'll pick out just three, from the point of view of cultural programmes:
MIAC, Castillo de San José. In Arrecife, the Museo Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo (International Museum of Contemporary Art) occupies an 18th-century fortress. The idea came from Manrique, and the museum opened on 8 December 1976 with an exhibition of 180 artists, a pioneer in the Canary Islands and in Spain as a whole. See our MIAC page.
Jameos del Agua. Inside the lava cave there is a natural concert hall beside the lake, where concerts are held.
Fundación César Manrique. In the house in Tahíche where the artist lived from 1968 to 1988. See our foundation page.
The Cabildo's cultural centres also include the Teatro Víctor Fernández Gopar “El Salinero” and the Espacio Caja Escénica, which host theatre and dance performances.
Practical tip: at the CACT centres (Lanzarote's art, culture and tourism centres), tickets for Montañas del Fuego and Cueva de los Verdes can only be bought online and in advance, for a chosen day and time. At Jameos del Agua you can also get a ticket at the box office, but the centres themselves recommend buying in advance.
Fuerteventura: smaller in scale, but worth it
Fuerteventura's cultural life is on a smaller scale, but it's worth making time for. The Casa de los Coroneles was built in the 18th century and was the official residence of the island's military command (the coronelato). See our page on the house. The Centro de Arte Juan Ismael shows exhibitions by Canarian women artists, produced jointly by the Canary Islands Government and the Cabildo. See our page on the centre. More on the island in general: What to see in Fuerteventura.
La Palma: a theatre in a former cockfighting arena
The most unusual building in Santa Cruz de La Palma is the Teatro Circo de Marte. It was founded in 1864 by cockfighting enthusiasts under the name Circo de Marte, and converted into a theatre between 1914 and 1918. It has been a protected heritage monument (Bien de Interés Cultural) since 1997, and its restoration was completed in 2008. In the same town, the Museo Insular de La Palma has been housed since 1986 in a 16th-century Franciscan convent, with sections on archaeology, ethnography, natural sciences and seafaring. See our museum page.
The new cultural centre on the island's western side is the Auditorio Insular Tomás Cabrera Martín in Los Llanos de Aridane, which opened on 27 May 2026 with a free, five-day series of concerts. It was previously known as the Parque Cultural (the cultural park of the Valle de Aridane), and its name was chosen by the island's residents, in honour of a La Palma tenor.
Film lovers can look out for the Festivalito La Palma, an international filmmaking festival whose 21st edition includes shooting in El Paso, as well as screenings, workshops and live music. More on the island in general: What to see in La Palma.
La Gomera and El Hierro: small islands, their own voices
In San Sebastián on La Gomera, the Museo Arqueológico de La Gomera is housed in a typical Canarian house and has a life-size reconstruction of one of the indigenous people's sacrificial altars. See our museum page. The island's Auditorio Insular is home to the Festival Todas las Danzas, a contemporary dance festival. La Gomera's best-known cultural heritage doesn't live in a building, though: the silbo gomero, the whistled language that carries across the deep valleys, has been on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. What to see in La Gomera.
On El Hierro, the youngest island, the local tourist office itself says that its museums and sights are mostly in the open air. The best example is the Ecomuseo de Guinea, where the houses of the first inhabitants and of later settlers have survived next to an ancient village. See our Ecomuseo page. Since April 2025 El Hierro has had its own concert hall, too: the island's first auditorium, the Auditorio de La Peña, opened in La Peña, in the municipality of Valverde, near the Mirador de La Peña, with nearly 400 seats, after almost twenty years of delays. What to see in El Hierro.
FIMC: when classical music reaches all eight islands
The Festival Internacional de Música de Canarias has been running since 1985. It is organised by the Canary Islands Government and presents itself as one of the key events of Europe's winter music season. The 43rd edition runs from 9 January to 4 February 2027, with 56 concerts on all eight islands. The main concerts will be at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus and the Auditorio de Tenerife, and the guests include the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.
The festival's real highlight, though, is on the small islands:
La Graciosa opens the festival: on 9 January, the festival's first day, the En Paralelo series begins here with a Renaissance programme by Camerata Iberia. The island has no permanent cultural institution, but the festival's first concert is played here. What to see in La Graciosa.
El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera: the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra) plays on 15, 16 and 17 January at the Auditorio de La Peña on El Hierro, the Auditorio Tomás Cabrera Martín on La Palma and La Gomera's auditorium.
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura: the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife performs on 29 January on Fuerteventura, at the Palacio de Formación y Congresos, and on 30 January on Lanzarote, in the Jameos del Agua auditorium.
The Perinké Big Band's swing programme and the Suite Atlántica tour, a musical tribute to the eight islands, also reach the smaller islands in January.
On top of that, 2027 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alfredo Kraus, the Canarian tenor, and the centenary year opens with one of the festival's big opera nights.
If you're here now, in October
Several big events coincide in October. From 21 to 25 October, Las Palmas hosts WOMEX 26, the international professional gathering for world music, which brings together more than 2,600 professionals, including 260 performers, from 90 countries; the city has hosted it once before, in 2018. The Festival del Sur is on in Agüimes, and The Marriage of Figaro in Tenerife. We gather current events in two sections of our events guide: Culture and Concerts. For what else to expect at this time of year, read: The Canary Islands in October: what to expect.
We've gathered the pop and summer festivals (such as PHE, Canarias Jazz or Masdanza) in our festival calendar: Canary Islands festival calendar: what's on when. And you can read about traditional fiestas and romerías here: Canarian fiestas and romerías.
Sources: Auditorio de Tenerife (auditoriodetenerife.com): the pages on the building, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and Ópera de Tenerife; Teatro Guimerá (teatroguimera.es); Teatro Leal (teatroleal.es); TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (teatenerife.es); Museos de Tenerife (museosdetenerife.org); Puerto de la Cruz Town Council (MUECA 2026); Auditorio Alfredo Kraus and Teatro Pérez Galdós (auditorioalfredokraus.es, teatroperezgaldos.es); Amigos Canarios de la Ópera (operalaspalmas.com); Gran Canaria's tourism portal and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council (film festival); TEMUDAS (lpatemudasfest.com); Agüimes Town Council (Festival del Sur); WOMEX (womex.com); press releases from the Universidad de La Laguna and the Canary Islands Government (LPGC'31); El Museo Canario; CAAM; Casa de Colón; the Canary Islands Government's press release on FIMC 2027 (gobiernodecanarias.org); CACT Lanzarote; Fundación César Manrique; Cultura Lanzarote; Casa de los Coroneles; Cabildo de Fuerteventura; Santa Cruz de La Palma Town Council (Teatro Circo de Marte, Museo Insular); Festivalito La Palma and Visit La Palma; the tourist offices of La Gomera and El Hierro; Cabildo de La Gomera.
Cover image (cropped): Auditorio de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Bengt Nyman, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
