Pino Gordo - Vilaflor

"Pino Gordo" literally means thick pine. It is estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old .

With its enormous height of forty-five meters and its large central circumference of nine meters, which requires at least eight people to embrace it, it is the largest tree in Spain . Its circumference grows by about 1 cm per year.

Nearby is the Pino de las Dos Pernadas. At 56 meters, this is the tallest tree in Spain, but its circumference is smaller. It branches about 10 meters high into two thick branches of similar thickness. That's why it gets this name.

The Pino Gordo is a spectacular species of Pinus canariensis found more than one thousand four hundred meters above sea level in the forest canopy of the Teide National Park, in the municipality of Vilaflor de Chasna.

A series of wooden benches surround this grandiose pine tree, where you can enjoy the shade of the tree and at the same time listen to the pleasant whistle of the wind that comes as it shakes its open, shady tops. Take a seat, take a deep breath and let yourself be carried away by the pleasure of feeling the presence of this thick and tall pine tree in a unique natural environment.

In an immense sea of pine trees and sheltered by the Corona Forestal Natural Park, the photogenic pine tree stands in the middle of a small circular square enclosed by stone, designed to emphasize the silhouette of the old man of the forest, consisting of three large vertical columns separated from the trunk at a height of six meters , and that in itself would be three immense sister pines .

Willem Vandenameele