Blog Oficial de Turismo de Gran Canaria

Finca La Laja reflects the generous and diverse landscape of Agaete Valley, in Gran Canaria.

High up, in Tamadaba Crag, the pine forest juts out, and the water oozing from the Stone shines like a mirror or a silver sheet under the sun. About one thousand metres below, at the foot of the ridge, in Finca La Laja, deep in the heart of Agaete Valley (Gran Canaria), Víctor Lugo Jorge, fifth generation of a family whose history intertwines with the roots of centenary trees, offers in his hands the fruits just harvested from the coffee plants that grow under the shade of orange trees and vines, escorted by a tropical garden of mangoes, avocados and guayabos.

Artenara, located at Gran Canaria’s summit, keeps alive a unique tradition linked to the heart of the volcanic rock, of a purity hard to find in today’s day and age.

The artist Miró Mainou used to search the light looking for the truth. Maybe for this reason he settled in Artenara for over a decade, a village where life draws every day on a canvas of light and calm, the customary stage of a village nestled on the border of a colossal volcanic basin and the doors to Heaven. Here, Mainou’s brushes found the light, and here he won the Canary Islands Fine Arts Award, when he portrayed in lights and shadows the essence of the landscape, in paintings such as ‘Cumbre’ (‘Summit’). Nowadays, the mural painted by the students of Gran Canaria’s School of Art & Design recreates the piece on the façade of the house where the artist lived between 1977 and 1989.

Cruz de Tejeda, in Gran Canaria, is the geographical and historical centre, where the island’s inner voice is heard.

“You have to put a kind face to life”. Manuel Ortega was born in a family who used to farm the land and look after a small herd of sheep, some goats and one or two cows, while working at the water galleries in Gran Canaria’s high land. Maybe for this reason his conversation flows like a stream. “I enjoy talking to people” says Manuel while he strokes the back of his noble four-legged companion, Bartolo, an introvert and calm donkey whose job is to be ridden by anyone who wants to get to know Cruz de Tejeda’s surroundings, a crossroad and geographical, touristic, historical and even emotional epicentre of the island, located above one thousand five hundred metres of altitude, looming over an amazing volcanic basin.

Valleseco, in the green heart of Gran Canaria, wraps the visitor in a blanket of nature, tradition and flavours.

Valleseco wakes up at dawn and goes to sleep at night to the lulling sound of water. The washing pools, the remains of old mills, galleries and canals make a mirror where the town looks at itself every morning, reflecting a wide natural range of infinite shades of green.

The village of Tejeda, located at Gran Canaria’s highest point, looms into an amazing volcanic basin, and keeps surprisingly alive ancient scents and roots.

Barranco de los Cernícalos, in Gran Canaria, transports you to the most natural and mysterious side of the island.

Pay careful attention, because we are about to enter one of those spots that makes us feel like we are floating around a lost world, but which is actually much nearer than we think. Yes, listen and look very carefully, because each stone, each plant and each chirping of a bird have a story to tell.  A walk around Barranco de los Cernícalos, on the southern slopes of Gran Canaria, takes us into the most unspoilt part of the island, and brings us face to face with its most ancestral and wild side.

The winter blossoming of the Canary white retama broom plant  reveals one of the great ‘tricks’ of nature in Gran Canaria.

Someone seems to have unfurled a wintery white sheet over the ravines and hillsides in Gran Canaria. This mysterious-looking frost is, however, the result of the seasonal spectacle provided by the flowers on Canary white broom, on bushes that grow up to three metres in height. Their aromatic flowers take centre stage at this wintery scene, popping up at many different natural island settings, and are free to go and see.

The Winter solstice brings with it a spectacle of light and a surge of emotion at the summit of Gran Canaria.

The shortest day of the year actually begins the evening before, with a blanket of stars covering the stage before the performance begins. Under the steep slope of Mesa de Acusa, an abyss of ancient eruptions etched into the landscape, lies the stalls and the audience, on this occasion the lens of a camera, which points towards the spot where the real protagonist of the winter solstice at the summit of Gran Canaria is waiting in the wings: the first winter light.

The celebration of International Mountain Day reminds us of the wealth of high altitude landscapes there are all around Gran Canaria.

Gran Canaria digs its feet deep into the Atlantic, while its head stretches upwards and finds the sky. On 11th December the International Mountain Day is held, a date that serves as a reminder of the hidden gems that are tucked away around the peaks and summits on the island, and are just waiting to be discovered, for all those looking to come away with a full photo album of the island.

Orange is the colour that defines and highlights some of the essential traits of the island of Gran Canaria.

Gran Canaria hides away sometimes. It is then we have to go out in search of it, perhaps at the bottom of little known rocky valleys, well away from the commonly walked footpaths. This game of hide and seek occasionally features an 18th century stone bridge, at a point along Barafonso ravine, where suddenly, these streaky stones take on an orange tint. This colourful and narrow canyon of volcanic ashes, eroded by water over thousands of years, is another feature of this mysterious, infinite island.

“Home grown” or “adapted varieties” of almond trees in Gran Canaria are century old trees that offer different types of almonds, all of them highly regarded due to their  organoleptic qualities.

The Roque Nublo, one of Gran Canarias’most stunning natural symbols, sits upon the summit waiting for you to unveil its mysteries.

1. What are the stones made of? This first mystery echoes around from stone to stone and from rock to rock. What are the stones from the summit of Gran Canaria made of? Moreover, what is the Roque Nublo, the great emblem of the island, made of? The answer can be found in fire and in time. This spectacular monolith, measuring some eighty metres high, and at over eight hundred metres altitude, is the stony witness to the volcanic explosion that occurred several million years ago. The most patient rock sculptor that exists, namely time, has since shaped the ashes and the rest of the pyroclastic rocks into the figure of the Roque Nublo that stands before us today.