Spain
Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), Canary Islands
Gran Canaria: Las Palmas Colonial Quarter, Maspalomas Dunes, and Mountain Villages
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Vegueta, the colonial quarter of Las Palmas, is the oldest European city founded in the Americas — the Spanish arrived here in 1478, and the historic center around the Cathedral of Santa Ana predates Columbus's first voyage. The cathedral took 500 years to complete and combines Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque elements. The Museo Canario in the same neighborhood holds the most comprehensive collection of Guanche artifacts — the indigenous Berber population of the islands — in the world.
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Columbus slept here, literally. The Casa de Colón — Columbus House — in Vegueta occupies the building where the island's governor lived in 1492, the same year Columbus stopped on Gran Canaria to repair a rudder on his first Atlantic crossing. The house is well-preserved fifteenth and sixteenth-century Canarian architecture; the museum inside covers the history of the transatlantic route and Columbus's four voyages.
Las Canteras Beach, in the northern residential zone of the city, is a three-kilometer urban beach sheltered by a natural reef. It is entirely legitimate swimming water and the Paseo de Las Canteras promenade above it has coffee shops and restaurants worth a morning. It is the best city beach of any significant Atlantic port.
Maspalomas, in the far south of the island seventy kilometers from Las Palmas, has the most extensive sand dunes in the Canary Islands — a protected landscape reserve that runs from a freshwater lagoon to the sea. The dunes shift with the wind and reach eight to ten meters. An hour walking into them puts genuine desert scenery around you. The beach at the base of the dunes is wide and long.
The interior mountain villages — Tejeda, Artenara, Roque Nublo — sit at 1,000 to 1,500 meters in a landscape of volcanic caldera and pine forest. Roque Nublo, a basalt monolith 80 meters tall, is the most photographed natural feature on the island; the walk to its base is forty-five minutes from the road.
Good to know
Overview
Cruise passengers come ashore at Muelle Santa Catalina, which opens directly onto the center of Las Palmas.
- Santa Catalina Park, next to the cruise terminal, has café terraces, kiosks and the city bus stops.
- A tourist information office beside the pier entrance opens on days when ships are in during the cruise season, from about 8:30 am to 1 pm.
- Vegueta, the old town, is at the far end of the long city center, a bus or taxi ride from the pier.
Where to Eat
The dish to try is papas arrugadas, boiled potatoes served with mojo, a sauce of oil, garlic, vinegar and red pepper.
- Sancocho canario is boiled fish with potatoes, sweet potatoes, mojo and gofio, a local flour.
- Bienmesabe is a dessert paste of almonds, honey and sugar, often served with ice cream.
- The Mercado de Vegueta, the old town's market, has restaurants as well as stalls.
- Lunch is the main meal and is usually eaten between 2 and 3 pm. Dinner rarely starts before 8 pm.
Tipping
Gran Canaria uses the euro, and tipping in Spain is optional.
- In simple bars and restaurants nobody expects a tip. In smarter places, 5 to 10 percent is a thank-you for very good service.
- Leave a tip in cash and do not add it to the card payment.
- The Canary Islands charge a lower local sales tax called IGIC in place of mainland VAT, so there is no VAT refund to claim on purchases.
Getting Around
The yellow city buses, called guaguas, cost €1.40 a ride, paid to the driver.
- Line 1 runs between the port and Teatro, along León y Castillo street, and links the Mesa y López and Triana shopping districts.
- A tourist card gives unlimited city bus travel for one or three days.
- A taxi showing a green light is free. Raise your hand to stop one, or go to a taxi stand.
- Blue Global buses serve the rest of the island and leave from the interchange at Santa Catalina Park and from San Telmo bus station.
A Brief History
Las Palmas was founded on June 24, 1478, as a Castilian military camp beside the Guiniguada ravine.
- The island's first people, of Berber origin, had lived on Gran Canaria from about the turn of the era until the Castilian conquest.
- The camp grew into Vegueta. The layout of its main square, with cathedral and town hall facing each other, was later repeated in Spanish towns across the Americas.
- Columbus stopped at Gran Canaria in 1492 to repair a ship's rudder, and anchored at the island on three of his four voyages.
- John Hawkins and Francis Drake tried and failed to land in 1595. A Dutch fleet under Pieter van der Does did land in 1599, and looted and burned the city.
- Work on the modern harbor, Puerto de la Luz, began in February 1883 under a British company.
Shopping
Shops in the areas cruise passengers use open on Sundays and holidays during the cruise season, from October to April.
- The Sunday opening covers El Muelle shopping center, the Mesa y López shopping area and Las Arenas shopping center.
- Traditional shop hours are 10 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm. Shopping centers stay open through the day until 10 pm.
- Triana is the historic shopping district, with many of its streets closed to traffic.
- Honey rum, called ron miel, is the local bottle to take home.
Family Fun
Two indoor attractions for children are close to the cruise pier: an aquarium and a science museum.
- Poema del Mar, an aquarium inside the port area, opened in December 2017. Its deep-sea tank has a curved window 36 meters long.
- The Elder Museum of Science and Technology, at Santa Catalina Park, has four floors of exhibits and a planetarium.
- Santa Catalina Park has a children's playground.
- At Las Canteras beach, the Playa Chica and Muro Marrero sections are the most family-friendly, and there are playgrounds at both ends of the beach.
Culture & Customs
Vegueta, the district where the city began, holds the cathedral and several museums.
- Santa Ana Cathedral was begun in 1500 and built in stages, which is why its architectural styles overlap. Visitors can go up to the top for the view over the city and the bay.
- Casa de Colón, the Columbus House, is a museum about his voyages and the Canary Islands' ties with the Americas.
- The Museo Canario covers the island's first inhabitants, and its best-known room displays skulls and mummies.
- The Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, on Los Balcones street, shows contemporary art.
Beaches
Las Canteras is a city beach three kilometers long, very close to Santa Catalina Park and the cruise pier.
- La Barra, a natural reef that runs parallel to more than half of Las Canteras, breaks the waves and keeps the water calm.
- La Cícer is the surfers' section of Las Canteras, and Playa Grande is the stretch most visitors use.
- Las Canteras has lifeguards, sun loungers and a tourist information point.
- The Maspalomas dunes, a protected nature reserve, are in the south of the island, and Las Palmas is in the northeast. Check the travel time against your ship's departure before you go.
Accessibility
The central part of Las Palmas is flat, and two pedestrian promenades run along the seafront.
- Las Canteras beach has a route for people with reduced mobility, accessible toilets and an assisted swimming service.
- Vegueta's streets are cobbled, and the cathedral square is approached by a staircase.
- Ask your ship whether the gangway will be step-free in Las Palmas.
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