Masca, the 'Machu Picchu of Spain'

MAYBE it wasn't built by the Incas, but it's almost as old and equally as fascinating, panoramic and vertiginous: Spain's answer to Machu Picchu is not a staple on the tourism trail, but probably should be.

You'll need a head for heights to visit this enclave, but once you're up in Masca in the Teno Rural Park nature reserve, you'll be so blown over (only metaphorically, unless strong winds are forecast) that your knees will forget to turn to jelly if you look down.

Masca forms part of the wider village of Buenavista del Norte and is one of a handful of tiny hamlets, basically farmsteads, in the Teno Rural Park along with El Palmar, Teno Alto, Las Lagunetas, Las Portelas, Los Carrizales, and Erjos, all of which are more or less self-sufficient, living off their arable and livestock industries – they eat what they produce, and only work enough hours a week to produce what they eat, meaning most of the agricultural hands are in the family and their labour is part-time, as it doesn't need to be anything more.

And it literally sits on the sharp edge of a mountain peak.

Tiny, traditional-looking country houses, winding lanes, dense forest, dramatic and sheer cliff-faces plunging into seemingly bottomless chasms, with the Atlantic Ocean as a moat, this splendid and unusual little haven on the Canarian island of Tenerife is, in fact, a local heritage site, and is said to be one of the best examples of timeless rural architecture in the region, if not in the whole of Spain.

Although, in fact, not all of its houses are particularly old; many were destroyed in a huge forest fire in 2007 – but they're all designed in keeping with a style that has been in use for centuries, some of them embedded into the rocks of the abyss, so in theory, nothing has changed in Masca since time immemorial.

Except for a road or two and the occasional car, of course.

Ancient pottery kilns, teak workshops and bread ovens, communal farm fields, and of course, birds of prey – eagles aplenty – can be found in the wider radius of this village that teeters on the blade of an abrupt crest miles (half a mile, anyway) above terra firma.

Masca has retained its bygone charms thanks to its isolated, hard-to-reach location – until recent decades when decent roads and motor vehicles became commonplace, it was nearly impossible to get into or out of: Residents (currently 86, according to the 2020 census) were born there, worked there, died there, and were practically out of contact with the outside world, since the only route to the rest of civilisation was a narrow lane called the Camino de los Guanches, and with their well-developed subsistence farming, they rarely had cause to use it.

These days, clearly, the polar opposite is true – Masca is visited by people from all over Spain and abroad, so inhabitants' contact in the 21st century is probably as cosmopolitan as if they lived among millions in a capital city – and for every one of these visitors, Masca knows it's probably being watched by another dozen or so.

That's because not everyone physically heads up there – it takes a long while to reach and, as it's largely a residential zone with no major landmarks, many will decide not to bother – but instead, hikers and day-trippers in the Teno Rural Park, lots of whom are on organised tours, will simply train the telescope on it from one of the viewing points.

The Cherfe lookout spot shows the impossible-looking tangle of roads across the mountainside, above a deep, densely-wooded gorge, with Masca at the end of it looking as though it's balancing on the thin edge of a wedge, and the Cruz de Hilda, or 'Hilda's Cross' viewpoint offers a spectacular panorama of the village and its formidable abyss.

For those who do decide to go right into Masca, whilst they will not find globally-renowned historical monuments or natural phenomena, will still have plenty to explore – the Casa de los Avinculados, the Caserío de Piedra (literally, 'stone farmhouse'), the miniscule 18th-century church, which is just about big enough for one household to go to mass without social distancing, a nature information centre, a small local history museum, and a traditional arts and crafts centre.

The latter two of these are based in actual houses, but open to the public.

And as self-sufficiency in the 21st century means more than just a few cows and some crops, Masca now has shops, bars and even restaurants, a taxi rank, and a bus service.

Take the 365 Buenavista-Masca or the 355 Buenavista-Masca-Valle Santiago if you'd rather not drive there, or if you prefer your own wheels, head up to it on the TF-436 highway linking Buenavista del Norte with Santiago del Teide.

Or, wherever you're staying in Tenerife, there's bound to be an organised excursion you can join – pack your hiking shoes, towel and swimwear, because the walk through the Masca gorge opens out onto a stunning secluded beach.