Hermano Pedro Cave

The cave sits at the end of the Tenerife South Airport runway, and the roar of departing jets breaks over it. Between take-offs it falls quiet enough to pray.

Hermano Pedro was a shepherd from Vilaflor, up in the highlands, who later became a missionary in Guatemala. He stopped here with his flock to rest before the long walk home, used the cave as a place of prayer and hid in it when pirates raided the coast. Inside stands a wooden statue of the saint. One section of the rock is covered entirely in votive offerings, with notes pushed into the crevices of the wall, and the shrine keeps a relic of the saint: part of a rib.

Hermano Pedro's Way (Camino del Hermano Pedro), his old shepherd's route through the Chasna district from Vilaflor, ends at the cave.

• The shrine closes for a break in the early afternoon, so check the hours before you set out.
• Departing planes break the silence: the cave sits at the end of the Tenerife South Airport runway.
• There is no drinking water nearby. Bring your own, especially if you are walking in.
• This is a working shrine where people come to pray. Keep your voice down inside.

By car the approach is over almost as soon as you park: two car parks sit about 65 and 70 m from the shrine.

The nearest bus stop, El Topo, is roughly 900 m away in a straight line, and the rest is on foot across open ground with little shade. You can also walk out from El Médano through dry, stony country.

The pilgrims' approach is Hermano Pedro's Way, which comes down from Vilaflor in the highlands and ends at the cave. During the saint's festival in April, hundreds of pilgrims walk it.

Best: April, for the festival of the saint, when hundreds of pilgrims walk Hermano Pedro's Way from Vilaflor and finish at the cave.

Avoid: the early afternoon, when the shrine shuts for its break and the open ground around it gives no shade.

The cave keeps a split day, and anyone walking in from El Médano or the bus stop crosses bare country under the full southern sun.