A day in the North of Gran Canaria

Written by Juana Delia Sosa

         Would you like to spend a day in the best places in Gran Canaria? Come to the North of Gran Canaria and enjoy visiting wonderful places, eating traditional products or taking a bath in its natural pools and beaches.

    The northen route leads us from Arucas to reach Agaete, driving across Santa María de Guía and Gáldar.

     The first stop in the journey is Arucas. The old city , full of history,  where we’d walk through  the streets of stones surrounded by colorful houses with attractive balconies until arriving at the gothic church which gives the city a magnificent image.

     In the itinerary from Arucas to Guía we’ll stop in a small cove called ‘ El Puertillo’. There we’ll take the first bath or simply we’ll have a ‘tapa’ while we relish) the breathtaking views from the sea.

     Just 10 minutes from El Puertillo  we’ll arrive at Santa María de Guía.  Every Sunday the city sets a traditional market where the visitor or tourist can buy and taste the local products like the cheese called ‘ queso de flor’.   

     Once we leave Santa María de Guía , we’ll visit Gáldar where the first compulsory place  is the Painted Cave. Inside the archeological museum, we’ll go back to the prehispanic period and will know how the native population lived.

      At the end of the journey we find Agaete. There we’ll go across the village to visit the Valley of Agaete. In the Valley, we’ll be able to contemplate the beauty of its rural landscape and will taste Agaete coffee.

Leaving the Valley back, we’ll go back to the village center to enter in the ‘ Huerto de las Flores’. This particulary garden with a lot of varieties of exotic plants was the meeting point of canarian poets like Tomás Morales and Alonso Quesada.

   Finally to finish the journey we’ll go to ‘ Las Nieves’ port where we’ll taste the fresh fish and will take a bath with the breathtaking views of the cliff of Tamadaba.   

Tags:  Gran Canaria, Arucas, church of Arucas, el puertillo de Arucas, Santa María de Guía, Galdar, La Cueva Pintada, Agaete, El Valle de Agaete, Agaete coffee, Huertos de las Flores, Tomás Morales, Alonso Quesada, Puerto de las Nieves, Tamadaba

The Lucky Archipielago

Written by Elba Lago

Tired of visiting crowded places where the word “relax” is just a highlight in the spa flyer? Looking forward to finding that peaceful place to enjoy as a local citizen?

I think the Canary Islands is the answer to all your wishes.

 

Nowadays  it is very easy to get lost when we are booking our holiday.  There are too many hunters who look for the best businesses, such as tour operators, agencies or intermediaries. For this reason,  we visit forums or web pages where we can find the opinion of someone else.

To help you choosing the best trip destination I will show a little bit of the place where I live, so it is you who decides. It is called Canary Islands, the Spanish paradise, long time ago we were known as “The Lucky Islands”.

We enjoy fabulous weather all over the year. It is 26 degrees roughly almost most of the time and it rarely rains. In here, you will find one of the best sunsets in the world.

 

Apart from our beautiful beaches you can enjoy the attractive view in the forest forest. High mountains that, in clear days, act as balconies from where you can see the rest of the archipelago.

 

If you are a food passionate I am sure you will be delighted with our lovely traditional dishes. Fresh, juicy and tasty vegetables make up our diet.

For these and many more reasons, you might want to visit The Canaries.

Do not let anyone tell you about it.

 

 

Las Canteras Beach

This article was written by Cristina Santana from Avanzado 2. 

The treasure of the capital of Gran Canaria island is Las Canteras Beach. It is a special place visited by the majority of residents of the city and tourists who visit the island.

With 3 kilometres of length, it is one of the best urban beaches from the country, there is good weather almost all the time of the year. Also, it has golden sand and calm water, so it is a place where you can walk along the sand, doing water sports or swimming to “La Barra”, a large rocky formation that is not far away from the seashore, 200 meters more or less. This beach is changeable, due to the changes in tides, you never see the same beach every day, it is changing continuously. Moreover, it is a large reserve of marine life, so, thousand kinds of fish are found in its depths.

The promenade next to the beach, from Alfredo Kraus auditorios to La Puntilla is full of restaurants of fresh fish or ice-cream shop, for example “Peña La Vieja” is one of them, 100% recommendable. It also has a lot of services like lifeguard post and first aid, access for people with reduced mobility, rental of beach umbrellas and deck chairs or WI-FI connection.

If you visit Gran Canaria, do not forget to visit this beach. You love it!

The wonders of Gran Canaria

This blogpost was written by Alberto Cubas from Avanzado 2. 

It is Friday afternoon and you do not have any plan for this weekend? Do you fancy hiking and visiting natural landscapes?  Don’t worry, you live in the perfect island!

Gran Canaria is called a “Miniature Continent” due to the different climates and variety of landscapes found. This island has beaches, dunes, mountains… a multitude of places where you can enjoy alone or with relatives and friends. Let’s discover some of the places and venues you shouldn’t miss.

The island possesses 32 Natural Protected Spaces, such as the Rural Park of Nublo, The Doramas Jungle, the Azuaje Ravine, Tamadaba, Pino Santo… and four sites of scientific interest (Jinámar, Tufia, Roque de Gando and Juncalillo del Sur).

Roque Nublo is considered one of the most important volcanic rocks in the island, located in the municipality of Tejeda. Roque Nublo is 80 m tall, and its top is 1,813 m above sea level. It offers a view of endemic plants and the nicest landscapes of Gran Canaria. This natural monument has a special value as a consequence of its symbolism and strategic position.

La Rama is a traditional party which takes place in Agaete, a small village in the north of the island. It is celebrated the 4^th of August. Thousands of people walk every year the narrow streets of Agaete with big branches while they are dancing following the rhythm of La Banda de Agaete. La Rama is considered one of the most important festivities in the Canaries.

Las Canteras is an urban beach located in the capital of the island, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This is a beach blessed with fine weather practically all year long, and where we can do different kinds of sports: scuba diving, surfing, swimming, volleyball… It has a peculiar feature, whose locals know as “La Barra”, a long rock formation spreading not far from the sand where people go swimming.

Next you can watch a video about the nicest sceneries of this beach.

Adventure? Stay in Gran Canaria!

Are you on that time of your life when you want to live new experiences, have a good time and take some risks? Well, if you already are in Gran Canaria you can start right now.

Do you like going to the beach? Then you are on a lucky strike. This island is one of the greatest places in the world for surfing and bodyboarding. If you think you will enjoy these sports and you are a beginner, you can go to La Cicer (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and give them a try. Mojo Surf is one of the surf & bodyboard schools you can ask for courses in case this would be your first time riding waves.

Maybe you prefer to stay on ground? No problem then! Gran Canaria is well-known for its rock climbing potential, too. There a lot of climbing spots where you can start such as El Cenobio, Fataga, Sorrueda, etc. I personally recommend this activity and I think every single person in the world should try it at least once in their life. And don’t worry about being not strong enough, because climbing community have thought on it and they have bolted many routes that even a child could do. One of the greatest schools for starting climbing here in Gran Canaria is “El Tagorock“. I guarantee you that you will have a great time!

Finally, one last extreme experience you should try is, obviously, bungee jumping. This is one of the most well-known sports worldwide, so why don’t try it at least once? “Salto al Vacío” is a club that could help you with starting in this new adventure. There you have a promotion video of themselves.

In summary, there are no excuses for living new experiences here in Gran Canaria.  You just have to look for whatever you like, or that thing you always wanted to try when you were younger. You will feel happier, get some new friends and, who knows? Maybe you will get addicted to some sports you will add to your lifestyle to make it better and more exciting!