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Blog Oficial de Turismo de Gran Canaria

Montañón Negro

The different faces of a mountainous landscape

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.


Agaete

Gran Canaria paints itself orange

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.


Salinas de Tenefé

The white treasure that came in from the sea

The beauty of the salt fields of Gran Canaria is the product of the ocean, sun and human tenacity.

A golden white treasure is hidden away along the coastline around Gran Canaria at the hazy border between land and sea, although in this case its presence is not down to any invading pirates. Its origin is owed to the permanent interaction between the two elements that form part of the island’s pure essence: the ocean and the sun. Man’s efforts have gone into illuminating the glittering piles of sea salt at several salt fields along the island’s coast, some of them with several centuries of history behind them.


La Garita beach

La Garita beach, moon-like and earth-like

The urban and the wild fuse together naturally at La Garita beach in Gran Canaria, and in its surrounding environment.

The stunning shorelines around Gran Canaria reveal themselves in different guises. Sometimes they can be decked out in a black suit, as is the case of the cosy little volcanic beach at Garita, on the Telde coastline, close to both Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and to the south of the island. A burning volcanic spirit, which led to the formation of this Atlantic territory, is clearly apparent around here. La Garita is another of the gifts of nature that this spectacular geological formation provided for the future.


"Patio de los Naranjos"

The Sacred Art Museum in Gran Canaria

The Sacred Art Museum, in Gran Canaria, exhibits large artistic treasures right in the heart of the historic district of Vegueta.

There exists a place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where the sweet aroma of figs are mixed with the scent of citric fruits. Set between the walls of the Cathedral of Santa Ana and calle Espíritu Santo, facing south, is the aromatic Patio de los Naranjos, which dates from the 17th century and topped off by a splendid Canary balcony. The rooms surrounding the courtyard are former cathedral side buildings, and today house the Diocesan Sacred Art Museum, a celestial reflection in the heart of the historical neighbourhood of Vegueta.


Roque Nublo

The five enigmas of Roque Nublo

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.


María Sirotkina

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the nomad city

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has developed into a top European destination for digital nomads, as it brings together the vast majority of attractions they are looking for.

María Sirotkina was born on the banks of the river Sura, in the Russian city of Penza, where the temperature from November to March rarely creeps up over a chilly zero degrees. María has swapped this frozen beauty spot for the more warming climate of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.


Salinetas, Telde

The clock that ticks on las Salinetas Beach

The tides and waves are the only things to mark the hours and minutes on Las Salinetas Beach, in Gran Canaria.

The tamboril fish flits around the sandy depths near to Salinetas beach (Telde, Gran Canaria), like it’s in its own larder. If it feels it is under threat, it expands like a balloon to make it look larger than it actually is, at least physically. On the shore, on the other hand, summer holiday makers have nothing to fear, as their only worry is to decide which restaurant to go to for lunch, or whether they would prefer going for a splash in the crystal clear waters, go for a snooze, or flick through a couple of pages of their book. That’s about as tough it gets during the day in Salinetas.