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.

Surfer Pablo Solar tells the story of Soledad, a wave with its own name in Gran Canaria.

There are days in which national surfing trainer Pablo Solar, a four time Spanish champion and European Seniors champion, keeps his eye out for signs. The absence of any wind is one such sign. The other is the arrival on the coast of large northwesterly winds. When this occurs, Pablo Solar leaves dry land behind and heads off with his surfboard to El Paso, a coastal location in Moya, at the north of Gran Canaria, where these near magical conditions throw up his preferred wave, called Soledad.

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.

A number of municipal swimming pools in Gran Canaria’s interior offer some refreshing summer bathing in unique spots.

You’re lying flat on your back while the sun is slowly burning up every last drop of the water on your skin following your latest dip in the water. You just turn your head a little to take in the wonderful view over the stunning Roque Bentayga from the Tejeda municipal swimming pool. Indeed, Gran Canaria hides some fine secluded surprises in its interior. The doors to these facilities are open to you for a very reasonable price, and include great bathing and superb views.

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.

The Virgin of Santa María de Guía Fiestas are one of the essential summer attractions in Gran Canaria.

Groucho Marx lives on. Nowadays he a giant who comes alive every month of August in Santa María de Guía, at the north of Gran Canaria. He blends in with the rest of the colourful and crazy looking characters at the Papagüevos street procession, a peculiar collection of giant dummies without which the town’s  Fiestas de la Virgen wouldn’t make proper sense.  These over-sized dummies are really important to the fiestas as they come out every other day onto the streets until 15th August, providing giant-sized fun.  

The fiesta of La Rama de Agaete, in Gran Canaria, provides great fun thanks to an age-old tradition here at this stunning corner of the island.

Just listen. That’s the sound of silence and hushed emotions. Just minutes before five o’clock in the morning, the silvery light of the growing moon is etched over the sea, blending in with the night time shadows that reign over the plunging cliff edges, and –further up- in the pine groves. Down at the village of Agaete, the expectant and murmuring crowds are just waiting for something to happen. What might it be? The answer is La Diana, a firework that rips through the early morning calm at 05.00  to announce the start of the great fiesta day of La Rama de Agaete, in Gran Canaria, as it does every 4th August.

La Pila Verde baptismal font at the Church of Santiago in Gáldar, in Gran Canaria, contains five centuries of stories.

Five centuries of history are squeezed into the Pila Verde baptismal font at the Temple of Santiago de los Caballeros de Gáldar. This piece of pottery was heated in one of the pottery ovens that proliferated all through the 15th century in the Triana neighbourhood in Seville. But it wasn’t done by any old craftsman. Its large size would have us believe it was the work of a true master, one of only a few who could put together objects of such great proportions without running the risk of cracking and therefore fracturing the piece.