Gran Canaria Island Information
The map of Gran Canaria is of an almost perfectly
round island gouged by deep ravines that radiate from the highest point
in the centre right down to the coast line. It is easy to think that
Gran Canaria holidays would be all about trekking, but Gran Canaria
has a wide range of cultural and leisure activities together with a
well established tourist service with museums, theatre, music, fun,
sports and a richly varied cuisine. With many tour operators now offering
very cheap flights to Gran Canaria and the almost constant good weather
in Gran Canaria with an average annual temperature of 20º C, Gran
Canaria holidays have become the obvious choice for many people.
Located between Tenerife and Fuerteventura in
the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, Gran Canaria is an island
with a mountainous massif crowned by Las Nieves peak (1,949 metres).
The southern part is made up of sandy coastal flats like Maspalomas
and the north is rugged with cliffs like Farroque and Anden Verde that
rise up to 1,000 metres. Gran Canaria has the advantage of being blessed
with a wealth of natural resources. The most notable of which is the
numerous and stunning beaches of the island. Almost 60 of the 236 kilometres
of Gran Canaria´s coastline consists of beaches of various descriptions
most of which have white sand and some of which are completely unique
in the world.
The capital of Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, is a
big city where life is intense both during the day and the night. Its
privileged location on the northeast tip of Gran Canaria has made it
a crossroads and stopover for people from all over the world. In terms
of population, Las Palmas has become the seventh largest city in all
of Spain and the largest city in the Canary Island archipelago.
In the tourist resorts in the south of the island,
the extensive Maspalomas coast area has a host of leisure facilities
with water parks, woodlands with free flying exotic birds, underwater
spectacles, yacht marinas and golf courses, while just a few kilometres
away are the small towns and villages that have conserved their history
and culture. Some of the most architecturally beautiful of these towns
are Arucas with its popular Gothic cathedral; Telde with its labyrinth
of steep small alley ways; Mogan with its white buildings laid out
amidst bright coloured flowers; and Teror, a pilgrimage town with a
beautiful cathedral.
Apart from its magnificent beaches, the almost
constant sunshine and varied scenery, Gran Canaria gives you the chance
to try outdoor sports at any time of year whether your passion be golf,
tennis, swimming, volleyball or even water sports like diving, surfing
and windsurfing.
Gran Canaria is certainly one of Europe’s
last paradise isles. A continent in miniature, it offers the visitor
lush forests, exotic fauna and flora, Sahara like dunes, mountains,
volcanic craters and sometimes snow on the highest peaks, the most
dynamic capital city in the Canaries, incredibly beautiful coastlines
and a wide variety of spectacular beaches.
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