The temperatures are between 26 °C and 28 °C in the summer months and between 22°C and 24°C during the winter months. But not only the good weather and the sunny climate are the reason why Gran Canaria is so interesting to visit.

On the isle of Gran Canaria you can find such a big variety of landscapes as in nearly any other place. It has many sights to offer and many beaches to take a sunbath or practice water sports.

Another must on Gran Canaria is of the church of Santiago de los Caballeros. This church built in the baroque style dates from the 18th century. It is a jewel and all the culture interested holiday makers should visit it.

One of the most visited holiday resorts is Maspalomas with it´s spectacular sand dunes.

The isle is ideal as well for the ones who want to practice sports like for example hiking, mountain-biking, surfing, windsurfing and a lot more.

If you come to visit the isle of Gran Canaria you should taste something from the canary cuisine, which offers you a big variety on dishes and hot spicy sauces.

One of these specialities are for example “papas arrugadas” (wrinkle potatoes with salt crust) and the hot spicy sauce called “mojo”.

So if you feel well on Gran Canaria and you think about staying, you have the possibility to acquire a property on this wonderful piece of earth.

In the heart of the island of Gran Canaria a number of ravines lead down to the coast, which gives it´s special characteristic shape to the island together with the volcanic origin.

The climate in Gran Canaria is generally mild and with a an average of about 21 degrees during the whole year.

The central mountain range divides the climate of the isle into the south and southwest clime. The south is marked by trade winds and more sunny weather while the southwest is more cloudy and therefor more fertile.

Many wonderful beaches invite you to have bathing fun and sun pleasure. Very well known holiday resorts in Gran Canaria are Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés or the capital called Las Palmas.

One of the sights you shall visit is the picturesque old fisherman place Puerto de Mogan or the Palmitos park, an impressive bird and palm park.
As well the dunes of Maspalomas are very remarkable.

The fascination of the island of Gran Canaria for the visitor can hardly be expressed by words.

Who would like to enjoy an individual holiday, can choose from a variety of wonderful holiday cottages and holiday dwellings.

Holiday homes, country houses, villas and fincas on Gran Canaria

…all your holiday wishes will come true here on Gran Canaria, also concerning the immense amount of offered sport and leisure time activities.

On this beautiful island you will sure find a suitable accommodation without any commitment.

There’s a wide range of accommodation ranging from luxury air-conditioned apartments in Puerto Mogan with a swimming pool to economical self-catering apartments in Puerto Rico or perhaps you’d like or somewhere with a stunning sea-view in Playa del Cura.

Apart from basking in the sun on one of the beaches, there are lots of other things to do on the Costa Mogan. For the energetic there are activities such as sport-fishing and diving, hiking in the mountains, golf, tennis and other sports. Visit local attractions and galleries, take a trip along the coast by ferry or see the underwater world by submarine – you’ll find plenty to occupy your time. And of course, shopping – there are lots of facilities for your regular dose of retail therapy, including markets in Arguineguin and Puerto Mogan.

If you like to relax over a meal and a drink you’ll find a vast array of bars and restaurants. With such a choice the question is where to go? There are restauramnts serving Spanish dishes and Canarian specialities, traditional English fare, a Indian curries, a Chinese, Italian, German or Greek food or French cuisine – the choice is yours!

There’s plenty of nightlife – shows, karaoke and discos, especially in Puerto Rico. You can enjoy a wide range of live music including traditional Canarian and Spanish folk, blues and rock, and we’re pleased to be able to tell you that Elvis has NOT left the island!

If you are a fitness fanatic then there are several gyms and fitness centres so that you don’t slip behind with your training schedule.
There is a whole range of complementary therapies available in the locality, including reiki, thalasotherapy, acupuncture and various kinds of massage, and if you require herbal or homoeopathic remedies there are several health food shops (herbolarios).

Arguineguín

Arguineguin is the main commercial and residential town of the Costa Mogan. It has a busy fishing port and two beaches with the local sand. Market day here is on a Tuesday.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is the largest holiday resort on the Costa Mogan. It has a sheltered beach, two marinas and excellent facilities for water-sports and other activities. The two main centres have shops, supermarkets, restaurants and there is live entertainment at numerous bars, clubs and discotheques.

Taurito

Taurito, with its beach of native sand, is in a spectacularly steep-sided and narrow barranco (valley) and has an excellent lido and a recreation area.

Veneguera

It’s a long way to the beach at Veneguera, but worth the journey if you don’t mind driving down the long unmade road past banana and papaya plantations. The track is pretty rough in places but once you arrive, this undeveloped beach is ideal for a picnic and a quiet lazy time. Take everything you’ll need with you – it’s a long way back to the shops!

Playa Amadores – “Lovers’ Beach”

Amadores beach, with its white sand and beautiful blue water is one of the most popular beaches in the area. There are plenty of bars and restaurants and pedaloes can be hired hire.
There are showering facilities, lots of parking and a frequent bus service.

Tauro

The beach-front at Tauro is relatively undeveloped, though big changes are on their way as the new golf resort just inland is developed. Currently there are just two beach-side bars serving seafood and local specialities.

Mogán

This typical small Canarian town, in a spectacular setting with a backdrop of mountains is the administrative centre for the municipality of Mogan and is less touristy than the resorts on the coast. There are several bars and some excellent restaurants, serving mainly traditional Spanish and Canarian dishes.

Patalavaca – “Foot of the Cow”

Patalavaca is a resort linked to Arguineguín, many of whose hotels are built on the face of the cliff below the costa road, and so one enters many of them on the top floor.

Puerto de Mogan

Puerto de Mogan, on the south-west coast of Gran Canaria is the most picturesque resort on the island.

The original fishing village of Playa Mogán with its narrow passageways and steps is a jumble of houses and apartments clinging to the cliff and the Mirador at the very top has one of the best views of the resort.

The harbour area, known as the "Venice of the Canaries", is a pedestrianised development of two-storey apartment blocks with roof terraces bursting with bougainvillea and other gloriously colourful plants and is dotted with gardens of banana and papaya trees, palms and bird-of-paradise plants.

The new development on the beach-front and stretching back up the valley includes new hotels and luxury apartment complexes, some with great views up the valley or over the beach and of the sea, cliffs and marina.

Puerto de Mogan is packed with excellent restaurants serving local fish landed at the fishing harbour and other Canarian and international specialities. It has several banks and supermarkets, and shops selling clothes, souvenirs, jewellery and much more. If you want a haircut or a tattoo, there is a choice of salons or studios, and if you need to send an email or surf the web, there are several places where you can get connected.

The golden beach, of sand imported from the Sahara, faces south and is protected by a rocky mole, which makes it ideal for safe and easy swimming, and there are sunloungers, parasols, pedaloes and canoes for hire. Outside the enclosed area is good for those who are more adventurous and like to snorkel.

For those who want a bit more excitement, there are jet skis for hire, parascending, scuba diving lessons, sport fishing excursions. And if you’re not feeling so energetic you could try a submarine trip round a local wreck, a dolphin spotting trip or taker the ferry to Puerto Rico, Anfi del Mar or Arguineguín.

On Fridays there is a large open-air market which fills the two plazas on the marina side of Puerto Mogan and the area behind the beach. There are stalls selling shoes, clothes, leather goods and watches, many bearing designer logos – try your hand at getting a real bargain. You can buy African carvings and drums, cheap and cheerful jewellery, second hand books, fruit and vegetables, beach towels, sarongs and swimwear.

PICTURE SOURCE : www.canarias7.es – Borja Suárez

wasn’t hard enough, as people give up all their savings for just an opportunity to make it alive to a 1st world country, to try for a better life, risking their lives and normaly resulting in an almost certain repatriation, things like this unluckily happen more often every time.

The tragedy happened yesterday at daybreak when a ‘patera‘, those small, unstable boats, subsaharian immigrants use to get here from Africa, arrived at the ‘risco verde‘ beach in Agüimes at darkness, or at least that is what the occupants thought. What really happened is that they docked to an underwater rock formation, 20 meters off shore, which the immigrants thought to be the beach, but which in reality was surrounded by 2 meters(6 feet) of water, causing 10 of the 16 immigrants to drown.

The Chief of the ‘GEAS‘, the special group for scuba activities from the ‘Guardia Civil‘(one of our police corps), Juan Ortega Machín said that it wasn’t clear that the reason for them to drown was that they couldn’t swim since, even if they could, they all arrive exhausted and numb, packed with clothes and tend to drown instantaneously.

According to the ‘GEAS‘, 5 of the 10 casualties were said to be between age 16 and 20. The other 6 occupants survived and were taken to the hospital affected with hypoglycemia and hypothermia.

Really sad

Not a ‘million dollar, baby,’

but 380 mil. € is the estimated budget of the project for the new Gando Airport Runway. The president of the Gran Canaria Council, José Miguel Pérez, advanced yesterday some details of the project that soon will be presented by the ‘furtherance ministry’.

The time-frame is estimated to be 38 months but the beginning hasn’t been determined yet. The new runway will be connected to the actual one and will have a length of 1.100 meters and will also be suitable for class F aircrafts, like the new Airbus A380.
This new runway will make Gran Canaria a very important enclave for trans atlantic flights.

Well…, though good for us on the one side, the environmental impact of this will be also considerable.

if not the most famous, ‘fiesta’ on Gran Canaria is “La Rama“, which literally means ‘the branch’ but is at the same time short for “La Bajada de la Rama” or ‘the descent of the branch’, is held every year in August 4th, which would be tomorrow.

Traditionally the celebration is about going up the valley of Agaete dancing to the sound of a marching band, getting some tree branches, previously taken from trees in the ‘tamadaba forrest’, and taking them down (always dancing) to the ‘port of Las Nieves’ (the port of Agaete) to Our Lady of Las Nieves, who reside in the port hermitage, as an offering, after hitting the ports’ waters with them.

The mayor and the different neighbourhood associations of Agaete have decided not to carry branches this year, as a gesture of solidarity for the catastrophe suffered by the island due to the forrest fires. Only a few selected people, the usual devotees, will carry some, and the rest will get green handkerchiefs at the same place where they would normally get their branch.

Wow…, i got no words for this…
That is a really really nice gesture.

that the fire, though still active, is ‘under control’. It has affected 20.000 hectares and about 5000 people who start to get back to their homes progressively.

Beside the firemen/women, the emergency intervention group, civil protection and the red cross, the gando UME (military emergency unit) took also part in the extinction works with help from units from Valencia, Zaragoza and Madrid.

This has unfortunately been the worst natural disaster ever for Gran Canaria.

listening to the constant radio reports about the fires i didn’t realize how close the fire was to Maspalomas until my mother gave me a call and told me: “…go out and take some pictures of the red sun…”. So i took my cam and went outside and saw that the smoke was almost over us. The smell of burnt wood was impossible to go unnoticed:

I couldn’t really see much, so i took my car and went to higher grounds, i made it a few kilometers above ‘El Salobre’, the neighbourhood over ‘El Tablero’. Here is what i saw:

Really sad

which was aparently controlled, was stoked up due to the high temperatures and the extreme wind that hit us last night. The municipality of Mogan got the worst part, since there have been people evacuated from their homes to avoid human casualties. Almost 60 to 70 homes have been already affected by the fire and around 2000 people evacuated. The towns of Ayacata, La Plata, Veneguera, Barranquillo de San Andrés and Cercados de Araña are within the heavily affected area.

The area burnt until yesterday was about 3500 hectares, wich should be unfortunately way over 4000 hectares. Lets hope all the firemen and all volunteers manage to extinguish it as soon as possible.

Some of the evacuated people shelter at the beach in ‘Mogan Playa’ were the ashes carried by the wind fall to their feet.
In Maspalomas we had 42º degrees at midnight with extreme strong wind gusts and now we are at 47º.

46º degrees as you see on the picture showed the thermometers this midday in Maspalomas. The streets were almost desert and those who had the courgage or the obligation to walk the streets looked like they were being tortured.
This, so called, ‘CALIMA’ is warm sticky air from the sahara is not unusual here but seldom reaches as high as today.

The extreme heat favour the formation of forest fires which have been the order of these last few days. There was one in Mogan a few days ago and a bigger one in the center of the isle, talking over to the municipalities of San Bartolomé De Tirajana and Tejeda. In Spite of the 3500 hectare that it has already burnt down the president of the Gran Canaria Council if confident that it should be controlled by todays evening.

Wow, that is some sad news.
The bad thing is, that the fire was set by forest ranger who was about to get fired next month.

to provide sunshine wherever it’s needed and we on Gran Canaria fortunately have plenty of it. The Red Cross organizes from this monday till mid september and initiative to help handicaped people enjoy the beach as much as we do. The “leisure at the beach program” gives people with mobility problems the oportunity to take walk at the shore or a dip of the ‘Las Canteras‘ beach in Las Palmas.

For those living in Las Palmas the program includes a “pick-up service” in the morning for those who need it and then from 11:30 till 16:30, several volunteers will help take care of them. Other activities are planed too, swapping the seashore with visits to different places of Gran Canaria.

Now that is one good news i think. Great guys!!

I’m back again yeeaayy!! hahaha
I have been very busy the last months and I just wanted to start over again with some good news.

Therefore, here I go. The ‘port of Mogan‘ and the ‘Amadores beach‘, both in the municipality of Mogan, have been awarded once again with the so called "blue flag", which is given by the ‘Federation for Environmental Education’ for excelcent quality, cleanliness, accessibility and security of their waters and beaches.

The other "blueflagged" beaches on Gran Canaria are: the ‘Las Canteras‘ beach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the ‘Melenara‘ beach in Telde and the beaches of ‘San Agustín‘, ‘Playa del Inglés‘ and ‘Maspalomas‘ in San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
The other "blueflagged" ports are: the port of ‘Pasito Blanco‘ in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and the only "blueflagged" non coastal area is the nature park of the ‘Dunes of Maspalomas‘, also in San Bartolomé

That’s nice, huh?? 27 beaches and 3 ports are "blueflagged" this year on the entire archipielago.

Don’t think it’s intentionally but a students life is busy while the exams last.
Please be patient, i finish this Tuesday and hopefully be posting again from then onwards

Thank you, Rayco.

Don’t get alarmed tonight,

if the entire island seems to be submerged in chaos with bonfires everywhere. We are neither under attack nor have been hit by a meteor shower.
If you don’t have nothing to do tonight, i higly recomend you wherever you are on the isle, but specially those near to the Playa del Inlges (San Bartolomé) and the Canteras (Las Palmas) beaches to visit these beaches around 12:00 PM.

Like every year in june, normally coinciding with days around the summer solstice, the night of the 23rd to 24th, we celebrate
“San Juan”. In this peculiar festivity there is a large fireworks spectacle and people make huge bonfires almost everywhere but the bigest are seen at the beaches. This was originally made to “strengthen the sun”, since the days will get shorter every day until the winter solstice.

You should witness this festivity, it is very spectacular.

One of these days i’ll finish uploading all the info on the main page on appartments and homes to rent, hotels, cottages, etc… here on Gran Canaria. When i have everything uploaded i’ll post again with all the main links, but i think you’ll find it very interesting to have a look at its’ content.

Stay tuned for the upcoming info.

you might’ve noticed a thick grey cloud layer above us. That what we have to deal with due to being a miniature continent. After a sunny hot week it’s now all cloudy as if it was deep winter.

The national institute of meteorology has predicted more clouds and possibly rain for tomorrow with temperatures between 17º and 24º degrees.

Leave your speedos and bikinis at home, it’s time not to sunbath

have been extremely hot and sunny. The ‘Calima’ striked us once again this week bringing, apart from the sticky hot air, its usual lack of any other weather phenomenon. Unfortunately this brings, not only beach mood, but also an inmense ‘wave’ of illegal immigrants who take advantage of this weather condition to make try their way to us.

Yesterday, the astonishing number of 241 subsaharian immigrants arrived at Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife, intercepted by Sea Rescue and the ‘Guardia Civil’. Today, a new ‘cayuco’, the type boat they travel in, was intercepted on its way to Tenerife with 101 immigrants on board, raising the whole number of subsaharian immigrants to 342 in less then 48 hours.

Really sad . How bad has their life to be over there to risk their lifes and savings over and over again, knowing their possibility of getting caught is almost 95%.

the rest of the Tejeda pictures i posted yesterday. Oh and, by the way, Tejeda is highly recomendable visiting at any time of the year, specially after some rainy days when the weather is sunny again.

Thanks again to Josele, for the great pictures…

finally i manage to post again. I’m really sorry for this unmeant break. Things came together all at the same time, construction works at home, refurbishment, college works,… :S
I’ll hopefully be able to manage it so this won’t happen again.

As a matter of ‘reward’ i post you this awesome pictures a friend took for me of Tejeda, at our islands heart. I’ll post some now and the rest on another post, since they’re a lot.
I was just as astonished as you’ll be after going through them:

Josele, thanks for the pictures…

…yeah, it rained this morning. After a sunny hot summerday, nothing better then a slight rainfall to clean up the air. After watching the F1 race my mom told me to get my camera out and take some pictures. So…i took out a large tripod and went out to hunt some raindrops.

Here’s the result:

The last one might be one of the best shots i’ve ever taken…
What do you think…? Gimme some comments on that…

i had the chance to take a trip with a friend on a Cessna, flying over the south of Gran Canaria, and i have to say it was just great. And as you might have noticed it seems that i have always my camera with me…
Here are some of the best shots i took:

Thanks for the ride Krile…

have left behind a very beautiful landscape. I went a few days ago to the ravine of Guayadeque to a BBQ and took some amazing pictures i think.

Have a look at them and judge for yourself:

We’ll be pleased if you post your opinion in a comment

at the entrance of the city of Las Palmas was yesterday lashed by the rough. The weather gradually got worse through out the day and ended up flooding 8 houses and hitting several more with stones from a small cove, that dissapeared due to the ‘mayhem’. Waves of up to 5m hit ‘San Cristóbal’ and the drivers on the ‘Avenida Marítima’, Las Palmas’ main road by the sea, were able to see the seas’ rage.

The neighbours said not to be afraid of the sea itself but of what it would do to their homes. They also were afraid of what would happen at high tide at 2 in the morning, if it would get worse, but fortunately it didn’t.

Poor people there. I’ve been there and the houses are really near to the water. Ad some crazy climate changes with rough weather and you got it. :S

(and on other islands too) whatch out for tomorrows’ weather. This morning Las Palmas, our capital, was ‘drowned’ by rainfall. The storm mainly hit the higher part of Las Palmas but did aswell with the rest of the city during the course of the day. In some places like the surroundings of the “Doctor Negrin” hospital and near the “Cicer” beach (by the Alfredo Kraus auditorium) it even got to hail.

The canarian government decreed alert for the islands due to intense rainfall.

If you got things to hide from the rain, you better hide them ‘asap’.

have been extremely windy. Yesterday night and this morning have been even worse. The sea is extremely rough as far as i know almost around the entire isle, so be very careful. Clic on the picture to enlarge it. It’s the seaview from Las Palmas this midday.

Throttle down your speed on the highway too since it goes through vast areas with no mountains and is susceptible to strong gusts of wind.

I had problems keeping my car on the road from the aeroclub
(San Agustin, in San Bartolomé) to Vecindario (in Santa Lucia), so be careful. Watch your hats and skirts.

Look at the amazing beach day we had today in “Anfi” (Anfi Del Mar, after Arguineguín in the municipality of Mogan). 28º degrees and no sign of any wind. Just glorious.
Doesn’t this look like the damn paradise …Sure it does!!

more or less the first or second week of february, one of the most picturesque, atractive and traditional fests of Gran Canaria take place in Tejeda and in Valsequillo the week after. When the almond tree flowers sprout, announcing the begining of spring-time, the center of the island, where these trees grow, turns into one of the most beautiful landscapes you could possibly imagine.

Have a look at some pictures of it in Tejeda:

Thanks to Jose and his sister for the pics.

but the clouds remain above us. This heavy rainfall we had the past two days has caused several damages due to flooded basements and garages as well as landslides. We are said to be out of danger according to the general directorate of security and emergency, but the alert still remains.

At this point it has reached the level of “maximum alert” for the storm has passed by Gran Canaria, but is now over “Lanzarote” and “Fuerteventura”. The council of “El Hierro” have said this to be the worst natural disaster in the isles’ history.

Finally the rain came. Late, but it came…

It started raining yesterday night and as far as i know it did so the entire night through. Now it’s 11:50am and it hasn’t stopped yet. The general directorate of security and emergency said that the government of the canary islands stated the “orange alert” due to strong rainfall.

It might even snow too on high elevatons, at least this is what the national institute of meteorology says. Our “high elevations” are cosidered places above 1000m or 1200m, that basically means the municipalities of Artenara and Tejeda are the ones affected.

Be careful if you’re hitting the roads, be sure to have enough gas and slow down, at some parts of the highway the water is deep enough to cause “aquaplaning”.