La Guancha sits in the mid-altitude farmlands of northern Tenerife, on the slope that descends from the Corona Forestal pine belt down to the coast, between the municipalities of San Juan de la Rambla, Icod de los Vinos and the Orotava valley. Before the Castilian conquest, this territory belonged to the menceyato of Icod, one of the nine aboriginal kingdoms into which the island was divided, known to the Guanches as Chinet or Achinech. The ancient Canarians used these mid-altitude lands, rich in ravine water and springs, for herding and farming, leaving behind a place-name heritage and a cultural substrate that still endure in the area.

The municipality's name springs from a moving legend tied to the conquest. According to the tradition recorded by the Town Council itself, during the raids of Alonso Fernández de Lugo's troops, the soldiers came upon a young aboriginal woman filling a clay jug at a spring. Pursued in order to be captured, the Guanche woman chose to throw herself into a ravine rather than surrender, and from then on the place was christened the "Fuente de la Guancha" (Fountain of the Guanche Woman). From that spring and that woman the town, and by extension the whole municipality, takes its name.

With the conquest concluded in 1496, the lands were distributed and the slow formation of the first settlements began. Around the start of the 16th century a hermitage dedicated to Saint Catherine the Martyr was raised on the coastal strip, giving its name to the seaside district. Settlement gradually took shape in scattered hamlets across the mid-slopes, linked to farming and water. Religious and community life consolidated when, in 1579, a new hermitage consecrated to the Sweet Name of Jesus was erected around the Fuente de la Guancha. Its importance grew until, on 20 June 1630, the Bishop of the Canaries Cristóbal de la Cámara y Murga raised it to parish rank, making it the spiritual heart of the place.

La Guancha's economy has always been marked by mid-altitude agriculture, sustained by small landowners who work their plots on a family basis. Rain-fed potatoes are the most deeply rooted crop in the higher zones, accompanied by fruit trees, vegetables and, very especially, the vine. The municipality is the seat of the Regulatory Council of the Ycoden-Daute-Isora Denomination of Origin, created in 1994, which certifies the wines of this north-western district of the island. On volcanic soils and under the influence of the trade winds, vines of listán blanco, listán negro, negramoll and other traditional grape varieties produce wines that have made the area famous since ancient times, heirs to those Canary malvasías once exported across half of Europe.

Above the croplands stretches the municipality's great natural heritage: the Canary pine forest of the Corona Forestal, which crowns the mid-slopes and descends to surprisingly low altitudes, connecting with Teide National Park on the summits. In the opposite direction, towards the sea, the coast holds the Charco del Viento, a set of natural pools sheltered by lava flows in the Santa Catalina district, one of the most cherished coastal spots in northern Tenerife. Between the pine forest and the coast, recreational areas such as the Barranco de la Arena allow visitors to enjoy the highlands and the tradition of eating outdoors.

Today La Guancha is a municipality of almost 5,600 inhabitants that has managed to preserve its rural, agricultural character while opening up to visitors. Its rich festive life, led by the Bajada de las Hayas in August and by the famous municipal Nativity scene that draws thousands of people each Christmas, keeps alive an identity forged among ravines, vineyards and pine forests. Its economy now combines farming, services and a growing inland and nature tourism, drawn by its trails, its cuisine and its authenticity as a town of the northern mid-altitude lands.