Gran Canaria is the name given to the island, and has been for centuries now.

Call me Gran Canaria. That’s my name and the only one I answer to. That’s how I’ve been known for centuries and is the denomination which tells of my history, my essence, the people who live on me, the air that breezes past my peaks, and all the people, legends, experiences and amorous conquests and failures that have occurred, are occurring and are yet to occur along my shoreline. Call me Gran Canaria, because these two words alone are the backbone to everything I am and everything I can offer you.

Gran Canaria has become the Canary Island to have the highest number of beaches with blue flags, with a total of 14 beaches currently holding this award.

Gran Canaria continues to wave the Blue Flag. The international jury has recognised this fact by awarding fourteen of the island’s beaches with this distinción, making it the island with the most blue flags in the archipielago. The awards are made by the European Foundation of Environmental Quality once they have analyzed a series of parametres including  water quality, environmental management, security and services, and information supplied to users.

The Womad Festival provides a great chance to get to know Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the island as a whole.

The whole world will be up singing and dancing between 7th and 10th November at Santa Catalina Park in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with the celebration of the Womad (World of Music, Arts & Dance) Festival, an event that will bring together dozens of artists from a wide range of places such as South Africa, Argentina, Morocco, United Kingdom, Mali, the West Indies and Israel.

Gran Canaria harvests chestnuts until midway through December, and visitors can savour their autumnal flavours on the way back from the beach.

They are shaped like littIe hearts. It is no surprise then that they are considered the real spirit of autumn, with a very special nuance in the case of Gran Canaria. At other latitudes, the chestnut heralds the arrival of the cold, with stories of families sat around the burning logfire while the world outside is freezing and the wolves are howling. Don’t worry, there are no wolves in Gran Canaria. Besides, right here you can savour their autumnal flavour on your way back from the beach if you come across a stall where they cleverly roast them for you on a camp stove.

The workshop of watchmaker Pedro Macías in the district of Vegueta in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria provides a gift for the senses.

As a boy there was a lovely American-made wall clock in Pedro Macías Falcón’s house. It was over a hundred years old, that’s old even for a clock. When he was on his own he would play around with it, scrutinize it and put it to his ear to hear the tick-tocking of its little metal heart. He got so caught up in the hands of the clock that Pedro ended up being a watchmaker, learning the tricks of the trade in the workshop of family relative José Henríquez. The workshop looked more like a magical kingdom of chords, anchors, rods and minute hands there in the peace and quiet of Tenoya.

Top professional tennis star Carla Suárez gives us a few recommendations to help us fully enjoy our stay on her home island of Gran Canaria.

Long before the grass of Wimbledon began sprouting, or the hard court of Roland Garros was laid, there was the sand of Las Canteras, the favourite beach for top women’s tennis player Carla Suárez. “It is incredible to have such a great beach in the heart of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. I spent most of my childhood there”, she recalls. Carla also spent many of her early years around Plaza de Santa Ana, opposite the Cathedral, running after the pigeons that flew up into the air like dreams. Her dream indeed came true, as she became a player on the international professional circuit.