Blog Oficial de Turismo de Gran Canaria

The Alfredo Kraus Auditorium triumphs as an icon in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for how it fits in with its surroundings. 

As a boy, Juan Bordes described the existence of some little caboso fish that inhabited the pools left at low tide by Las Canteras beach. Juan then grew up, became a man and a famous sculptor, but those little fish continued to swim around in his mind, the very place from where they came out to become the sculptural series set into the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The mermaids on the façade are inspired by those early salty memories.

The Womad Festival provides a great chance to get to know Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the island as a whole.

The whole world will be up singing and dancing between 7th and 10th November at Santa Catalina Park in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with the celebration of the Womad (World of Music, Arts & Dance) Festival, an event that will bring together dozens of artists from a wide range of places such as South Africa, Argentina, Morocco, United Kingdom, Mali, the West Indies and Israel.

The workshop of watchmaker Pedro Macías in the district of Vegueta in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria provides a gift for the senses.

As a boy there was a lovely American-made wall clock in Pedro Macías Falcón’s house. It was over a hundred years old, that’s old even for a clock. When he was on his own he would play around with it, scrutinize it and put it to his ear to hear the tick-tocking of its little metal heart. He got so caught up in the hands of the clock that Pedro ended up being a watchmaker, learning the tricks of the trade in the workshop of family relative José Henríquez. The workshop looked more like a magical kingdom of chords, anchors, rods and minute hands there in the peace and quiet of Tenoya.

If you go up to the top of the Cathedral of Santa Ana, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, you are treated to a panoramic and illustrative view over the city.

It takes less than two minutes to reach the sky. The time it takes to pay 1.50€, take a modern lift for around twenty seconds, and then walk up the 54 steps that lead up to the top of the south tower of the Cathedral of Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a religious monument from where the city calls out to the heights.

Cider, cuisine, music and traditions all come together at the fiesta of La Encarnación and the Apple fiesta of Valleseco.

Apple trees dug their roots into the fertile soil of Valleseco at the same time as history did, here at the green heart of Gran Canaria. It all started back in 1858, when the then mayor, Vicente Suárez Rodríguez, decided to reclaim some barren land around the municipality, and plant it with fruit trees to stem the erosion. The governor provided the town hall with examples of the pippin apple trees which settled comfortably into the hillsides caressed with the gentle trade winds. These breezes maintained the optimum levels of humidity the apple trees required, known locally as manzaneros.  

The 6th annual Alfredo Kraus International Singing Competition turns the island of Gran Canaria into the hub of world classical music.

Alfredo Kraus, one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century, was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 24th November 1927. From 25th to 29th September 2017, the home town of the lyrical singer will be hosting the final stages of the 6th annual Alfredo Kraus International Singing Competition. Over a hundred aspiring singers from all around the world have entered this competition, providing further proof still of the universal appeal of the Gran Canarian artist.

The essence of Gran Cananria is squeezed into every bottle of wine made on the island, while they are growing in prestige every year

Gran Canaria sits within the boundaries of a single wine glass. Putting one of the island’s celebrated wines to your lips affords a pleasant taste that symbolizes the culmination of a process featuring Atlantic breezes, the volcanic essence of the soil, bright sunlight, plus the dozens of people who put their hearts and considerable knowledge into squeezing the essence of Gran Canaria into every bottle.

The fiesta of El Charco in La Aldea is one of the most ancient popular festivals in Gran Canaria.

Tradition is written in capital letters in La Aldea de San Nicolás, here at one of the most extraordinary settings in Gran Canaria. Carmen González came into this world some seventy nine years ago at a time when it was just a tiny village situated in the valley running between two huge natural stone cathedrals. “For me, this is the best place in the world”, she states. Yet long before her, and the rest of the inhabitants in the region, emerged El Roque, a natural symbol of the area, the result of erosion and the pushing back of the cliffs, which have been a witness to events over the last fourteen million years.

The fiestas of El Pino 2019 once again make all roads in Gran Canaria lead to Teror.

The story goes, that despite the prevailing official ban, fishermen used to make their way up to Teror, in Gran Canaria, and, would slink along the night shadows up to the so called Pine Tree of Wonders, to take anything they could get their hands on, maybe a fallen pine cone, or at least a piece of twig or tree bark. One fisherman even told of how he survived a sea storm, settling the waves by throwing a pine he had picked up from the miracle tree overboard into the sea from his endangered vessel. According to traditional tales, the pine tree in Teror was the site of the apparition of the Virgin, back in 1481.

The fiestas of the Virgin of La Cuevita in Artenara tie in with the rich tradition linked to the house caves up at this summit location of Gran Canaria.

Artenara, at the summit of Gran Canaria, is inherently connected to stone. It is a town that is in permanent union with the depths of the earth. In fact, at this deeply traditional town, caves used to be lived in, and out of them a string of rich and exclusive craft, pottery, culinary and peasant traditions have been forged. Indeed, a large part of the modern constructions here are actual extensions of old house caves.

La Traída de Palo is one of the standout events at the Fiestas of San Roque de Firgas, in Gran Canaria

The fiestas of San Roque, in Firgas (Gran Canaria), are absolutely priceless. In 1846, the butler of the figure of the Patron Saint spent two and a half silver reales coins on buying a flag to place it at the top of the stick which even today, following an age-old tradition, is brought down from the mountain in amongst the bustle of the crowds who come here every month of August. In 2017, this ancient custom that originated in the hills of the island will be taking place on Saturday, 5th August, from 20.00.

The great firework display at San Lorenzo is one of Gran Canaria’s major summer festivals.

There exists a place in Gran Canaria that emulates a volcano every August. Surrounded by mountains, the neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, burns hundreds of kilos of gunpowder to set the night alight, and is famous for its intensity and duration. This particular eruption has several focal points that surround the town, and attracts tens of thousands of people year after year, who come along to experience this vibrant spectacle of light, fire and sound.