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juan grande gran canaria
this small complex of church, manorial home and garden/palm grove (open to pre-cooked tours) belongs to the de vega grande family. the family's extensive estates consisted mostly of dry land, good only for growing tomatoes. but in the late 1950s it was don alejandro del castillo, count or conde de la vega grande, who launched, in san agustin, the first tourist development of southern gran canaria. by the 1970s the san agustin/playa del ingles/maspalomas resort was firmly on the tourist map and gran canaria had become a year-round holiday destination for northern europeans. tourism now accounts for 80 per cent of the gross national product of the island....
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lomo de los letreros gran canaria
the 'ridge of the inscriptions', in the barranco de balos is a remarkable aboriginal site: a 300m-long rock face bearing incised sketches of the human form, and geometric patterns such as concentric circles, spirals and triangles. much weathered over the years, it has also been considerably defaced....
maspalomas gran canaria
although the twin resorts of maspalomas and playa del ingles have virtually merged into a single tourist conurbation, maspalomas still has a more up market image, no doubt due to its magnificent dunes and the early building of luxury hotels around the oasis. the lighthouse and the bus and taxi terminus mark the western boundary of the resort from here a promenade runs past small shops, bars and restaurants and ends at the barranco de maspalomas, which, at this seaward point, is occupied by a fenced off lagoon - charcoal with reed beds, pampas grass and resident and migratory birds. these include kestrels, grey herons and the kentish plover....
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mogan and puerto de mogan
mogan lies some 10km inland from the sea and its own harbor, puerto de mogan. the barranco running between the two is rich with tropical fruits; the slowly climbing road is lined almost continuously with hamlets numerous houses here are built in traditional rustic style, with large stones emerging through white rendering to create an attractive piebald effect. the little white town itself is comfortable and of some importance: it is from here that the whole district, including the coastline from arguineguin to puerto mogan and even further west, is governed....
pasito blanco maspalomas
this attractive complex of houses, yacht club and marina lies in a sheltered bay just west of maspalomas. though it is private, the public may walk down from the 812 highway into the resort to swim off the small beach to the right of the jetty, or dive off the rocks into pasito blanco's famously clear waters. fifteen minutes' walk along the track to the west brings you to playa de las mujeres, where nude bathing is common and people occasionally camp out (illegally) at nigh...
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patalavaca gran canaria
patalavaca, literally 'cow's foot', is reputed to have the longest hours of sunshine on the island; it also offers a beach of light-colored sand and flat rocks. not surprisingly, this small resort is dense with steeply rising hotels and apartment blocks. the clientele is mostly scandinavian. a new coastal walkway now connects patalavaca with its neighbor, arguineguin....
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playa del ingles
the first sight of playa del ingles, as you swing south on the motorway from the airport, is not reassuring. it has all the marks of haphazard, unplanned and hastily assembled hotels and apartments in a concrete sprawl. once inside the resort, the first time visitor is likely to get lost among identical streets with identical hotels. there is no obvious town centre, no charming plaza with shady trees and outdoor cafes, of the kind that you will find in any true canarian town. most of the life, apart from that of beach and hotel, is concentrated in the rather grim commercial centres. these are buildings of several storeys, often with one or two below ground level, containing hundreds of small units of shops, bars, restaurants and entertainments....
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puerto de la aldea
the little harbor town of puerto de la aldea, sheltering under a mountainous cape to the north, was long the only practical means of reaching san nicolas de tolentino just inland. the puerto has a small selection of fish restaurants and a promenade, with distant views of tenerife, leading south along the rocky beach. behind, among pine trees, is an extensive picnic area, with tables and seating....
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puerto de mogan
this small but attractive town marks the present westerly limit of tourist development on the island. thoroughly modern though it is, many day trippers come, often by boat with the lineas salmon company, to enjoy its old-fashioned, mediterranean atmosphere puerto de mogan offers the gentle pleasures of strolling through floral lanes, window-shopping, watching the bustle in the marina and to the east from puerto mogan to puerto rico,...
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san agustin gran canaria
southern gran canaria's first shovelful of tourist concrete was laid in san agustin. curiously, this resort, a step away from popular playa del ingles, has never been tarred with the brush of mass tourism. no doubt the presences of the 4-star melia tamarindos hotel and its casino have helped to maintain its upmarket image....
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