Blog Oficial de Turismo de Gran Canaria

Sculptor Manolo González, the author of the statue of the Unamuno Balcony in Artenara, in Gran Canaria, talks about the work.

“The truth is, the landscape is the protagonist”, states sculptor Manolo González, the author of the statue of the Unamuno Balcony in Artenara, where Gran Canaria holds hands with the sky. The writer came to the island in the summer of 1910 having accepted an inivitation to preside a poetry contest, and had to opportunity to go up to the summit. The statue looks out over the place where the novelist actually stood, bewitched by another work of art, in this case carved out by nature.

Roque Nublo, the geological wonder and emblem of Gran Canaria, invites you to join it in reaching up to the sky.

Your climb up had provided you with your first glimpses in your mind. But now you are actually here, and you are breathing in the pure mountain air carrying the aroma of pine trees, and local flora including alhelíes, tajinastes, chestnut trees and broom. You look up and there it is. You feel compelled to walk on as far as its base and touch the sky alongside it. It’s the Roque Nublo, the proud son of the volcano and one of the most awe-inspiring stone monoliths in the world. And today you are visiting it in its lair at over 1,800 metres altitude.

The natural greenery of Gran Canaria shines through in the most wonderful and surprising ways.

There exists a magical kingdom with laurel trees, wild olive trees, willows, arbutus, yews, plus the indigenous viñátigos, paloblancos, tilos and mocanes, and it’s all here in Gran Canaria. This list of exotic words, which might seem to be taken from a book of fairytales, goblins and wizards, actually describes the trees that provide the body and soul to the mysterious, primitive laurel tree forest that hugs tightly onto the island and emits the clear, thumping beat of its green heart.