Blog Oficial de Turismo de Gran Canaria

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.

Huerto de las Flores is a botanical garden in Agaete, in Gran Canaria, with over a hundred different plant species from around the world

1. Travelling plants that have spread their roots in Agaete. A passion for travelling and botany were the seeds that led to Huerto de las Flores coming into being, a most beautiful and delicate botanical garden in Agaete (Gran Canaria). Its roots date back to the end of the 19th century, when its creators, members of the De Armas family, would bring tree seeds and cuttings back with them from their trips abroad. Many of these species came from America, as well as many other latitudes. These plants came to the island and adapted well to it, although be it said it is not hard to settle in a place like Agaete.

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.