The Canary Islands are a tropical paradise, with lush vegetation thriving in the fertile volcanic soil, beautiful beaches, and the warm, dry weather you'd expect in a holiday haven. Hundreds of thousands of tourists and Spain mainlanders pack the numerous island resorts year 'round. No wonder the Canaries have been known since ancient times as the "Fortunate Islands." There are seven islands in the Canary chain, divided for administrative reasons into two provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which includes the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, Gomera and Hierro, and Las Palmas, which includes the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. All the islands share a constant spring climate, but a visitor hopping from one to another would have no trouble telling the islands apart, with the terrain ranging from sub-tropical to volcanic desert strewn with cactus, from green cliffs filled with flowers to arid sand dunes off the sea shore. Tenerife is the largest island in the Canary archipelago, with amazing views of fertile valleys and the gigantic 29 km crater known as Las Ca?adas del Teide from the mountain chain which splits the island. Tenerife's capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a modern city known for its friendliness, as well as its beautiful gardens. The second-largest island is Gran Canaria, whose famous capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has a beautiful Gothic Cathedral gracing its old quarter, lined with magnificently varied and colorful flowers and plants as well as splendid and large beaches -- La Playa del Ingles and Maspalomas. The island of La Palma, always called the "Beautiful Island," should be noted for its lush beauty and verdant forests as well as the important historical role the Santa Cruz de La Palma harbor had in the trade between Europe and America.