Las Canteras Beach

Its position is extraordinary; backed by the hotels, shops and businesses of a major city, Las Canteras beach stretches in a golden curve, its comparatively shallow water warmed and sheltered from the wind by the presence of the inshore reef known as La Barra. A programme of improvements resulted in the planting of palm trees on the sands, and the rebuilding of a wide and attractive promenade, the Paseo de las Canteras, with attendant bars and restaurants, behind the beach.

Before mass air travel, visitors to Gran Canaria always arrived at Las Palmas by liner and tourism had its early beginnings in the north here, right behind Las Canteras beach. Older residents speak of a time when Las Canteras even boasted its own sand dunes, like Maspalomas, before the development of the town.

Summer weekends find the beach almost as crowded as those in the south of the island; its fans comprise foreign visitors and local Canarios who prefer the slightly cooler, occasionally cloudy days of the north, where the prevailing north-east trade winds form clouds as they hit the mountains. There is a good choice of hotel accommodation, pensions and apartments, many of them with sea views. As for restaurants and nightlife, visitors will find all they expect from a beach resort, combined with the usual offerings of a sophisticated modern city; but in the end, the beach itself is the star