Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria is an island located in the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands in Spain. Together with the islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Graciosa they form the province of Las Palmas, also made up of the islets of Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este, Roque del Oeste and Islote de Lobos. Gran Canaria with an area of 1,560.1 km² and an altitude of 1,956 meters with the Morro de la Agujereada, is the third island of the archipelago in extension and altitude.

The island's population in 2022 was 853,262, making it the second most populous island in the Canary Islands, although the one with the highest population density. The island's capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is the The most populous city in the Canary Islands with 381,223 inhabitants, it is also the capital of the eastern province (Las Palmas) and of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, together with Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The city, founded in 1478, was considered the only de facto capital (without legal and real meaning) of the Canary Islands until the XVII century. The population centers adjacent to the capital make up a metropolitan area of about 680,000 inhabitants, the first in the Canary Islands and the ninth in Spain. The city has one of the most important ports in Spain and the European Union, the Port of Light and Las Palmas.

The island is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain, approaching five million tourists annually. In 2012, World Tourism Day was celebrated for the first time in Spain in the tourist center of Maspalomas. Carnival de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest, is one of the most important events on the island and enjoys an important national and international projection. Since 2005, a large sector of the island and its adjacent sea shore, where its terrestrial part covers 46% (69,000 ha) of the island territory in its western half, it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco. In 2019 it was declared the first and only Unesco World Heritage of Gran Canaria and the province of Las Palmas, called "Cultural Landscape of the Risco Caído and the Sacred Mountain Spaces of Gran Canaria", covering an area of 18,000 ha in the municipalities of Artenara, Tejeda, Gáldar and Agaete.

Likewise, Gran Canaria has an important historical, cultural and artistic heritage, among which the Casa de Colón Museum stands out, which with 165,000 visitors in 2017, is the most popular museum in the Canary Islands, in which the the admiral's passage through the island before his first voyage on the Discovery of America, or the Canary Islands Cathedral, considered the most important monument of Canarian religious architecture.

Toponymy

There is no unanimity among historians about the origin of the name of the island or its adjective. The popular theory is deeply rooted that its aboriginal name was Tameran, Tamaran or Tamarant, sometimes translated as land of the palms or more frequently as country of the brave. However, the pre-Hispanic origin of this place name has been questioned, since the name Tamaran appears for the first time in the XIX, not confirming its presence in any classical source or from the time of the Conquest, speculating on the possibility that Canaria is the Latinized version of the true aboriginal name of the island or the ethnic group that inhabited it (Canari). On the other hand, recent philological studies suggest that the name Tameran may have some historical authenticity.

Map of Gran Canaria of the centuryXVIII.

It is in chapter xxxii of the book vi of the Natural History written in the I century by the Roman Pliny the Elder, in the text in which he cites the exploration expeditions commanded by King Juba II of Mauritania, where the name Canaria appears, associated with one of the Fortunate Islands or Canary Islands, justifying said name by the abundance of large-sized dogs (canes) existing in it. In another context of his same work, in the first chapter of Book V, Pliny cites the report of the Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus about the crossing of the Atlas mountain range led by the latter, where the military man assures that the forests near it are inhabited by Canaries, who share their food with dogs. Other linguistic and historical studies point to that he The etymological origin of Canaria would be in the anthroponym canarii, referring to said Berber tribe.

The name Canaria, which with the conquest and due to the central role of this island at the time, would possibly be extended, in the plural, to the whole of the archipelago (Canary Islands), continued to be used to refer to the island for a long time. However, it coexisted with the name Gran Canaria since the appearance of the latter in the 15th century, both terms being valid for centuries.

Pedro López de Ayala, in his Chronicles of the Kings of Castilla, alludes to Canaria la Grande in the text dedicated to the reign of Enrique III, referring to the year 1393, although its first edition took place in the XV century, after the death of its author, who had left it unfinished. Therefore, it is not discernible if said denomination of the Island actually existed in the year 1393 or was added later by those in charge of completing the work, well into the century XV.

This text is referred to by Professor Francisco Fajardo and reads as follows:

As in this year some sailors from Castilla went to the Canary Islands. In this year (1393) when the king in Madrid heard new people like some of the towns of Seville, and of the coasts of Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa, they assembled some ships in Seville, and they washed horses in them, and passed to the islands that are called the Canary Islands, as they want other names to go, and walked in the sea fast that the good they had. And they caused the island of Lanzarote to fail, together with another island that says the Graciosa, and that this island lasted in Luengo twelve leagues. Others the island of the Canary Islands, which lasts twenty and two leagues in luengo, and eight in width. Others the island of Hell, which lasts twenty-two leagues in Luengo, and many in width. Otheri the island of La Gomera, which lasts eight leagues, is round. And ten leagues of La Gomera ay two islands, one say of the Fierro, and the other of the Palma.

Taken from the Chronicles of the Kings of Castile (volume II, p. 493, edited in 1780 by Pedro López de Ayala).

The current name of Gran Canaria appears extensively documented for the first time in Le Canarien (The Canary), the French chronicle of the campaign to conquer the archipelago undertaken by Jean IV de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle, this denomination coexisting with that of Canaria throughout the text, the oldest of whose manuscripts was written between 1404 and 1420. Again, since there is no From the notes written by the original authors of the chronicle, it is unknown if this denomination already existed during the conquest campaign or was added by the author of the aforementioned manuscript based on the contemporary denomination.

In any case, none of the above classical sources offer any explanation for the origin of the adjective Great or Great, so there are different currents of opinion in this regard., some of which are:

• To be an indication of the strategic, political and economic interest of the island since the end of the centuryXIV.
• That it was a homage of the conquerors to the courage shown by the natives in the defense of the island against the attempts of invasion. The historian Brother John of Abreu Galindo is the first to present this hypothesis at the end of the centuryXVI, ascribed to Jean IV de Béthencourt the authorship of the qualification, although the French chronicles do not confirm or disprove this theory which, on the other hand, also contradicts what is presented in the Chronicles of the Kings of Castile.
• That such a qualifier was imposed on the island's name because of a miscalculation of the physical dimensions of this which implicitly classified it as the most extensive of the archipelago – this error appears in Le Canarien- This theory has been used controversially by sectors involved in the so-called island lawsuit.

Gentilic

According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the name of Gran Canaria is grancanario, ria. The ancient natives of the island were called canaries, a name that has continued to be used to refer to the inhabitants of Gran Canaria until a few decades ago (it is still possible to hear, on other islands of the archipelago and on the island itself, Gran Canaria, to elderly people who use it). The colloquial adjective canarión, ona is also used, mainly in other islands of the archipelago.

Anthem

Historically, the island's anthem was the March of the Canarian Grenadier Battalion, from 1809, the work of José Palomino. On November 28, 2008, the Plenary of the Island Council of Gran Canaria unanimously approved the song "Sombra del Nublo" as the official anthem of Gran Canaria. It is the work of the folklorist, musician and historian Néstor Álamo, official chronicler of the island. The board of spokespersons indicated that the Anthem comes to recognize this song's achievement as "feeling of insular identity" and "its status as an authentic popular anthem".

History

Aboriginal Period: Unknown a. c.-1483

As with the rest of the archipelago, the time when its first settlers arrived in Gran Canaria is unknown. Most archaeologists, however, believe that they arrived in the middle of the first millennium BC, from the nearby African continent.

Early European Contacts: 1341-1478

Castilian conquest (1478-1483)

The incorporation of the island to the Castilian crown was a process that lasted five years and in which three stages can be distinguished:

Initial stage (June to December 1478)

On June 24, 1478, the expedition commanded by Juan Rejón and Dean Bermúdez, representative of the Bishop of the Rubicon Juan de Frías, one of the financiers of the conquest, landed on La Isleta. That day, next to the Guiniguada, the Real de Las Palmas was founded. A few days later, the first confrontation in which the islanders were defeated took place near the Real. This initial victory gave the Castilians control of the northeast corner of the island.

Aboriginal resistance and Castilian divisions (late 1478-1481)

The aboriginal resistance in the mountainous interior of the island, the lack of men and material means and the internal disagreements on the conquering side, constitute the main marks of this period. During this stage Juan Rejón was dismissed by order of the Catholic Monarchs. His place was taken by Pedro Fernández de Algaba. Rejón is sent to Seville where he is pardoned and returned to the island, where he arrests and executes Algaba. Given the excess of Rejón, Pedro de Vera was appointed as the new governor of the island who arrested his predecessor, putting an end to the internal conflicts that had lasted until 1481.

End of aboriginal resistance and conquest of the island (1481-1483)

Pedro de Vera, now the undisputed leader of the Castilians, resumed the conquest of the interior of the island and the Gáldar guanartemato. For this, he counted on the arrival of new human reinforcements provided by Diego García de Herrera, who sent a large contingent of gomeros. Castilian victories take place in the Battle of Arucas in which the aboriginal leader Doramas falls. The capture of Tenesor Semidán, guanarteme of Gáldar, by Alonso Fernández de Lugo, will be a decisive factor for the culmination of the conquest. Tenesor Semidán was sent to Castilla, where he was baptized with the name of Fernando Guanarteme and, after signing the Charter of Calatayud with Fernando the Catholic, he became a faithful and valuable ally of the conquerors, whose performance has undergone various evaluations by analysts. of history: a traitor to the aboriginal cause for some, a skillful negotiator who managed to save many lives, for others. Finally, on April 29, 1483, and next to the Ansite Fortress, the disparate action of the surrender of some such as Guayarmina Semidán, or the suicide of others by falling off a cliff such as that of the Canarian leader Bentejuí together with Faycán de Telde. to the cry of Atis Tirma (for my Earth).

16th century - conformation of the colonial Canarian society

Once the conquest was carried out, the colonization of the island took place and a long process of acculturation of the aboriginal population took place. A colonial system is established. The Castilian conquerors, who had financed the conquest, divided up the island's lands, appropriating the most favored areas and especially the wells and ravines that served as a water supply. This will be a key factor throughout the history of Gran Canaria due to the extensive power encompassed by those who control the water sources.

At the same time, Portuguese settlers began to arrive, taking charge of the first sugar mills, as well as Genoese, Flemish and Aragonese merchants.

For their part, the aboriginal population was forced to accept the conditions imposed by the conquerors. They were forced to be baptized and convert to the Christian faith, instigating them to abandon their customs and their religion, which was highly persecuted by the Inquisition. In addition, the use of the Insuloamazigh language used in Gran Canaria was discriminated against, as well as their own customs, since they were not only frowned upon in the new colonial society but were also persecuted. Despite this, some groups remained in the most hidden mountains in the interior of the island, preserving their customs and refusing to form part of the new colonial society that discriminated against them. They called themselves Inekaren which means rebels and for decades they populated the interior of the island where the Castilian presence was almost non-existent, devoting themselves to agriculture and livestock and oblivious to the social changes that were taking place. after the conquest Many Canaries were persecuted, executed, deported to places like Madeira or, in the worst case, enslaved to be sold in European markets.

However, slavery soon became commonplace in the Canary Islands. Until the edict endorsed by Queen Isabel of Castilla that prohibited enslaving both American Indians and Canaries, they were used as slave labor. Subsequently, ships began to arrive with a multitude of slaves from the Gulf of Guinea and North Africa for work on sugar plantations or for sale on American soil.

It is in the XVI century when the current Canarian society began to take shape as a result of the miscegenation between the indigenous population, the European colonizers and slaves, forming a stratified society in which the Castilian conquerors were at the top, who had control of the land and water for irrigation. Then there were certain Creole families descendants of aboriginal lineages favorable to the conquest, as well as European settlers dedicated to trade. One step below were the Canarians forced to leave behind their language and customs, as well as groups of Moors and Sephardim who had emigrated to the island after leaving Spain. At the bottom were the indigenous rebels and the slaves.

Physical environment

Chira Dam.

3D view of Gran Canaria.

Roque Bentayga, center of Gran Canaria.

The island of Gran Canaria is the third largest (almost 1,560 km²), after Tenerife and Fuerteventura, and the third highest (after Tenerife and La Palma) of the Canary archipelago. It is located at 28º north latitude and 15º 35' west longitude. It has been dubbed the "miniature continent" for the diversity of its climate, its geography, its flora and its fauna. It has a circular shape with a mountainous massif in the center. Its maximum altitude is Morro de la Agujereada, with 1,956 m above sea level. Some natural monuments also stand out, such as Roque Nublo (1,813 m) and Roque Bentayga.

On June 29, 2005, part of the island of Gran Canaria was declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco. The area protected by this declaration represents 46% of the island territory, in addition to 100,458 ha of marine area.

Two geomorphological zones can be distinguished on the island:

Neocanaria (northeast)

More recent formation, where some sedimentary and submarine fields appear. In this area we find terraces and some volcanic cones such as the Arucas Mountain and the Bandama Pico and Caldera, as well as other erosion boilers such as Tenteniguada, Temisas and Tirajana. It also extends some plains. Here are the ravines of Telde, Guayadeque and Tirajana. At its northeast end is a small peninsula called La Isleta, united to the rest of the island by the Isthmus of Guanarteme, with the beaches of Las Canteras and Las Alcaravaneras to its margins.

Topography of Gran Canaria.

Tamara (Southwest)

It is the oldest part of the island, which can be seen by the amount of ravines that come out. This area also belongs to the center of the island, where we find the maximum altitudes. On the other hand stands the massif of Tamadaba, with its cliffs. About 14 million years ago there was a cataclysm that sank about a fifth of the island territory of that time at the bottom of the sea, as a result were formed high and imposing coastal cliffs that arrive from the sea to the summit of the island, in addition to a concave-shaped coastal arch that goes from the Punta de Sardina to the Punta de La Aldea. The Risco de Faneque, a few meters from the coast, has an altitude of 1096 meters above sea level, being the highest cliff in Spain and Europe and one of the highest in the world. In this area are the ravines of the Aldea, Agaete, Arguineguín and Fataga, among others. It is also worth noting the special nature reserve of the Dunas de Maspalomas, one of the most important tourist areas of the Canary Islands, along with the annexa beach of the English.

Gran Canaria has 33 environments subject to different preservation formulas according to the Canary Network of Protected Natural Spaces, among which the Nublo rural park, the Doramas Forest, the Azuaje ravine, Tamadaba, Pino Santo, Inagua, etc. The rocks are rocky volcanic formations that rise up in the landscape: the Roque Nublo stands out, with an altitude of 1,813 m (symbol of the island), El Cura (also known as El Fraile), La Rana, El Dedo de Dios, Bentayga, the Roque de Gando, and the Peñón Bermejo. Some beaches on the island are Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, Las Canteras beach, Puerto Rico, La Laja, San Agustín, etc.

View of the central area of the island, with the Nublo and Bentayga roques.

Climate

Port of Mogan.

Gran Canaria presents a great climatic diversity, due to both the altitudinal gradient and the effect of the trade winds, which cause marked differences in landscape between windward and leeward, for this reason, it is called "The Continent in Miniature& #3. 4;. The island capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is considered the city with the best climate in the world according to a study by the University of Syracuse. For its part, Mogán, in the south of the island, is the place of the European Union with more clear days.

Gran Canaria's climate makes its ecological diversity remarkable: the island has more than a hundred endemic plant species, as well as another five hundred shared with the rest of the Canaries.

Average climate parameters of Gran Canaria Airport
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	29.5	30.9	34.0	34.3	36.0	36.9	44.2	39.0	39.0	36.0	36.2	29.4	44.2
Average temperature (°C)	20.8	21.2	22.3	22.6	23.6	25.3	26.9	27.5	27.2	26.2	24.2	22.2	24.2
Average temperature (°C)	17.9	18.2	19.0	19.4	20.4	22.0	23.8	24.6	24.3	23.1	21.2	19.2	21.1
Temp. medium (°C)	15.0	15.0	15.7	16.2	17.3	19.2	20.8	21.6	21.4	20.1	18.1	16.2	18.0
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	8.0	7.5	6.5	9.0	11.3	12.0	14.8	16.0	14.6	14.0	7.0	9.7	6.5
Total precipitation (mm)	25	24	12	6	1	0	0	0	9	16	22	31	151
Days of rain (≥)	3.1	3.0	2.3	1.3	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.1	1.1	2.4	3.9	4.5	22.1
Hours of sun	184	191	229	228	272	281	308	300	242	220	185.	179	2819
Relative humidity (%)	65	66	64	64	65	66	65	66	68	69	67	68	66
Source: AEMET

Flora and fauna

Natural monument of the Roque Nublo

Originally, Gran Canaria was one of the Canary Islands with the largest forest mass. However, after the conquest of the Canary Islands, the island suffered a serious process of deforestation as a result of continuous felling, land distribution and other intensive uses. This caused that forest mass to be reduced to just 56,000 hectares, making the island the most deforested in the archipelago by human action. However, in the century XX reforestation work began on the island's summit area, recovering part of the lost forest mass.

Currently, as in the other higher-altitude Canary Islands, in Gran Canaria there is also a stratification in vegetation layers. It is recommended to visit the Viera y Clavijo Botanical Garden, or Jardín Canario, to observe a sample of these different floors of vegetation. In Gran Canaria the following are distinguished:

Tabaibal-Cardonal

From 0 to 700 m depending on the slope. It is a semi-desert stratum, with little rainfall. It is characterized by the presence of a xerophilous scrub of species of the genus Euphorbia such as cardón, various types of tabaiba such as sweet tabaiba or wild tabaiba and verodes. On the slopes and mouths of ravines there are many other species, among which stand out shrubs that can reach several meters in height such as balos and tarajales or tajinastes blancos, widely distributed throughout the island.

Regarding the fauna, invertebrates are very well represented, having the highest percentage of endemism. On the other hand, this ecosystem is poor in vertebrate animals, represented by some reptiles, where it is necessary to mention the giant lizard of Gran Canaria and birds such as the canary, the apupu or the kestrel.

Thermophilic forest

Canary or African blacksmith.

From 200-500 to 1000 m depending on the orientation. It is an area with a higher degree of humidity and precipitation, and less insolation. It is characterized by arborescent thermophilous species such as palms, dragon trees, wild olives, mastics, almácigos, junipers and other Macaronesian endemic species such as mocanes and barbusanos, and exclusively Canarian species such as guaidiles. Although it is a highly anthropized area, there are still good representations of this type of vegetation in places such as the Cernícalos ravine.

As for the birds, we can mention the quail or the common turtle dove and insectivores such as the canary tit and the robin.

Humid forest or monteverde

Tajinaste blue of Tenteniguada or Gran Canaria.

Canary Islands Laurel Forest

From 500 to 1,200 meters above sea level and in areas directly influenced by the trade winds. It is an ombrophilous, dense forest with large trees present in the north of the island, which is made possible thanks to the hydric conditions provided by the sea of clouds and its horizontal rain. The superior plant species that abound are laurels, tiles, viñátigos, barbusanos, and other smaller ones such as the bicacaro, the crest of gallo, and a great variety of ferns. In Gran Canaria, due to anthropic pressure, only a few protected redoubts of laurel and fayal-brezal remain in places like Los Tilos de Moya and the Brezal de Santa Cristina. It is the remains of an ancient laurel forest, very extensive in the past, known as the Selva de Doramas.

Regarding the mammalian fauna, it is worth mentioning the Osorio shrew and among the birds we can mention the capirote, etc.

Fayal-heathland

Between 1000 and 1500 m, this strip is somewhat drier and poorer in species, it is made up mainly of fayas and heather that serve as protection for more demanding species. The blue tajinaste of Gran Canaria is present in symbiosis and even substituting the monteverde in areas with greater insolation.

In the fauna there is a social insect that does not go unnoticed, the canary bumblebee, well present throughout the island and especially at these levels.

Pine Forest

Picapines

From 600 to 1000-1956 m, depending on the orientation. The Canary Island pine occupies large areas, generally open, with specimens taller than 20 metres, and almost always scarce understory, rarely associated with other tree species. There is less influence from the sea of clouds, and a progressive decrease in rainfall at altitude. The undergrowth may be made up of fayal-brezal on the northern slope; by yellow broom and elbows, on the summit; and by brooms, rockroses and vases, on the southern slope.

The fauna is not very diverse, but there are two particularly attractive endemic birds such as the blue chaffinch (Fringilla polatzeki) and the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major thanneri).

Natural symbols of the island

According to a law of the Government of the Canary Islands, the natural symbols of Gran Canaria since 1991 are the perro de presa canario and the cardón.

• 

  Canary Islands

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  Cardón

Protected natural areas

This is the list of natural spaces on the island of Gran Canaria according to the catalog established by the Government of the Canary Islands.

Comprehensive nature reserves

• Integral natural reserve of Inagua
• Integral natural reserve of Barranco Oscuro

Special Nature Reserves

special natural reserve of the Dunes of Maspalomas.

• Special natural reserve of El Brezal
• Special natural reserve of Azuaje
• Special natural reserve of Los Tilos de Moya
• Special natural reserve of the Marsles
• Special natural reserve of the Dunes of Maspalomas
• Special natural reserve of Güigüi

Natural parks

• Tamadaba Natural Park
• Pilancones Natural Park

Rural parks

• Nublo Rural Park
• Doramas Rural Park

Natural monuments

Natural monument of the Roque Nublo.

• Natural monument of Amagro
• Natural monument of Bandama
• Natural Monument of the Black Mountain
• Natural monument of Roque Aguayro
• Natural monument of Taurus
• Natural monument of Arinaga
• Natural monument of the Barranco de Guayadeque
• Natural monument of the Riscos de Tirajana
• Natural monument of the Roque Nublo
• Natural monument of the Barranco del Draguillo

Protected landscapes

• Protected Landscape of La Isleta
• Protected Landscape of Pino Santo
• Protected Landscape of Tafira
• Protected Landscape of the Summits
• Protected Landscape of Lomo Magullo
• Protected Landscape of Fataga
• Protected Landscape of Agüimes Mountain

Scientific sites of interest

• Site of scientific interest of Jinámar
• Site of scientific interest of Tufia
• Site of scientific interest of Roque de Gando
• Site of scientific interest of Juncalillo del Sur

Political-administrative organization

Escudo y Flag de Gran Canaria

City Hall

The governing body of the island is the Island Council, created by the 1912 Law of Councils. It is an administrative figure typical of the Canary Islands, which in addition to the functions of island government provides services and exercises its own powers of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Since May 2015, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has been chaired by Antonio Morales Méndez, from the Nueva Canarias political party.

Municipalities

Municipal map of Gran Canaria.

The island is divided into 21 municipalities:

Population

The population of the island of Gran Canaria is unevenly concentrated, especially in the capital and adjacent municipalities, that is, in the eastern part of the island, while in the center and in the western part the population it is rather scarce. The island has a registered population of 853,262 inhabitants (2022), the second most populous island in the Canary Islands, although the first in population density with 545.12 inhabitants/km. Gran Canaria is also the third most populous island in Spain after Tenerife and Majorca.

45.5% of the total population of the island lives in its capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (379,925), the city with the largest population in the archipelago. The municipalities that follow it in population are Telde (102,647), Santa Lucía de Tirajana (73,863), San Bartolomé de Tirajana (53,288), Arucas (36,745), Ingenio (29,640) and Agüimes (29,431). Since tourism is the main economic activity on the island, it has a large floating population.

Demographic evolution

Graphic of demographic evolution of Gran Canaria between 1900 and 2021

Official regular residents according to ISTAC population censuses.

At the end of the XVII century, Gran Canaria had 8,000 inhabitants and in the XIX with about 49,000, always ranking as the second largest Canary Island in population, after Tenerife. However, in the XX, from 1940, the population multiplied by six, becoming the most populated island in the archipelago until 2002, when Tenerife surpassed it again.

Religion

As is the case in the rest of Spain, and according to the most recent surveys (2019), Gran Canaria society declares itself mostly Catholic, although the majority is non-practicing. However, the growing migratory flows (tourism, immigration, etc.) are increasing the number of followers of other religions on the island such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, evangelical Christian denominations, Judaism and Afro-American religions.

The island has nineteen archpriestships belonging to the Diocese of the Canary Islands, with headquarters in the towns of Agüimes, Arenales, Arucas, Centro-isla, Ciudad Alta, Gáldar, Guanarteme, Guiniguada, La Isleta, Las Rehoyas, San José, San Lorenzo, Sardina, Siete Palmas, Telde Norte, Telde Sur, Teror, Vegueta and the Arciprestazgo del Sur.

The island is under the patronage of the Virgen del Pino and San Pedro de Verona. On September 8, it is a holiday on the island for the festivity of the Virgen del Pino.

Economy

The great economic engine of the island is tourism, which has given a strong boost to the construction sector. Commercial activity is equally noteworthy, particularly around the port area of the capital. There is a small industrial sector, focused mainly on agri-food production, light manufacturing and cement. Agriculture continues to be important in some rural areas, although to a lesser extent than a few years ago.

Tourist centers

Night view of Playa del Inglés and San Agustín.

The island receives more than 4 million tourists annually, making it the second tourist destination in the archipelago. Tourism on the island of Gran Canaria is mainly beach tourism, although in recent years there has been a certain boom rural tourism, as well as golf tourism, water sports, hiking, cycling and health. Apart from the capital, the main tourist centers on the island are San Agustín, with a natural sandy beach 640 m long and 70 m wide, Playa del Inglés, the largest tourist center on the island, with a natural beach of 2700 m, Maspalomas, with three ecosystems; the dunes, a large palm grove and the coastal lagoon known as La Charca, constitute the special natural reserve, whose conservation is in danger because the urban development itself prevents its regeneration, Meloneras, located between the Maspalomas Lighthouse and Meloneras beach is currently the area with the greatest tourist expansion, Puerto Rico, an artificial beach created in the 1960s and Puerto de Mogán. All these construction actions have finished with almost the entire basal floor.

Playa de La Aldea.

Agriculture

The irrigated crops of banana and tomato stand out, destined for export. Tomatoes are grown in the southeast and southwest, with large landowners using sharecropper labor (until a few decades ago, social conflicts in this sector were relatively frequent). Plantains are grown in the northern zone. It is worth noting the importance of agriculture in the western zone, being La Aldea de San Nicolás one of the main tomato exporting municipalities of the archipelago

In the medianías there are dryland crops of cereals, legumes and potatoes, all of them for internal supply. Farm crops have suffered a great setback in recent decades.

Transportation

The island's main means of communication with the outside world are through its international airport and its ports, these being an important route of inter-island maritime communication. The neuralgic point of the island's road network is the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The interior roads tend to be organized following the orography of the island, through the main ravines to the central zone.

Airport

Gran Canaria International Airport (Terminal de salidas)

Gran Canaria airport, formerly known as Gando airport, is located about 20 km from the capital, on the eastern slope of the island, between the municipalities of Telde and Ingenio.

The origins of the airport date back to the end of the First World War, at which time an airline linking France with its African colonies and South America arose. The name of the Canary Islands begins to sound as a stopover point on this route. In 1933 the first passenger flight was made and in 1935 this route became the Madrid - Canary Islands line. The first terminal building dates from the period from 1944 to 1946, declaring itself in this year as an airport open to national and international traffic, and is classified as customs.

In 2015, Gran Canaria airport received more than 10,600,000 passengers, making it the main airport in the Canary Islands. In addition, it is one of the few airports that in 2014 obtained benefits, according to AENA.

Ports

Port of Light

Port of La Luz and Las Palmas, with cruise ship Queen Mary 2

The Port of La Luz and Las Palmas, is a fishing, commercial, passenger and sports port located in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Its strategic geographical location, the excellent conditions of its bay and the quality of its services make the Port of La Luz a maritime crossroads between Africa, America and Europe. So much so, that from the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, you can reach some 380 ports around the world, thanks to some thirty maritime passenger and cargo lines that connect with them.

Some facts to highlight are:

• Commercial/Containers

In terms of annual TEUs, the port of the capital holds the first position in West Africa with 1,292,741 TEUs in 2011.

• Cruises/Passage

In 2011 he was awarded by the prestigious international magazine "Dream World Cruise Destinations" with the prize for the port with the best connection, transport offers, hotels, baggage handling and world tourism level in the Best Turnaround Port Operations 2010 category in tough competition with the ports of Barbados, Dubai, Fort Lauderdale, Montreal, Johannesburg and Vancuver. In the same year, it had a total traffic of 1,224,351 passengers, of which 425,881 were tourist cruises.

• Fisheries

Being located on the rich African fishing grounds and due to its infrastructure, it is the first fishing port in the area, with a movement of 538,234 tons of frozen fish in 2011.

Puerto de Las Nieves

Port of Las Nieves, Agaete.

The Port of Las Nieves is located in the municipality of Agaete, northwest of the island and about 30 kilometers from the capital. It is a small fishing and transit port for passengers and cargo, regularly connected by ferry with the nearby island of Tenerife, being the most important route of maritime communication between the two islands.

San Telmo Park, where one of the city's guaguas stations is located.

Roads

Among the main means of communication, it is worth highlighting the motorway-highway system: the GC-1 motorway is the main island axis, connecting Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with the southern tourist area through the southeast coast; the GC-2 motorway, which connects the island capital with Agaete, supports the northern slope; and the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Ring Road, which runs through the city's metropolitan area, is made up of the GC-3 highways; GC-4; GC-23 and GC-31.

Bus

Guagua articulada de Guaguas Municipales

There are currently several road passenger transport companies in Gran Canaria. The ones with the highest volume of work are: Global and Guaguas Municipales.

Overall

It is a Canarian social economy company dedicated to interurban passenger transport. It has 760 workers, a fleet of more than 305 vehicles and more than 120 lines that cover the entire island territory, transporting more than 23 million passengers annually. Most of its routes begin or end at one of the stations in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The company also has garages in the La Paterna neighborhood of the capital, in Vecindario, Arucas, Gáldar and next to the Ocean Park in Maspalomas.

Municipal buses

Guaguas Municipales is the public transport company of the municipality of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It has more than 680 workers, its fleet is about 230 vehicles, of which 35 are articulated, and with 42 lines that connect the different points of the capital. 85% of the fleet is adapted for people with reduced mobility.

Train

The Gran Canaria Train (TGC) is a railway project proposed as a transportation alternative to go from Arucas to the island capital, from where it would continue its journey south to Maspalomas. Up to now, the Las Palmas de GC - Maspalomas section has already been put out to tender, with the section from the capital to Agaete being under study.

Culture

Gastronomy

Wines

Logo of the D.O. Gran Canaria

Vine growing in Gran Canaria dates back to the end of the XV century, when the first vines arrived of vines from Crete. Already in the XVI century, Canarian wines, due to their quality and prosperity, began to be exported to England, Flanders, Hamburg and the new World. Around the middle of the century, wine in Gran Canaria played a fundamental role in the island's economy, becoming the main export product due to the fall in sugarcane cultivation. However, this privileged situation will soon be adversely affected due to the international situation: that is, the war of succession to the Spanish crown. The English will give preference to Portuguese wines, thus definitively undermining the production and trade of Canarian wines practically until today.

The current denomination of origin Gran Canaria was achieved in January 2006, after the unification of the two denominations of origin previously existing on the island; DO. Mount Lentiscal and D.O. Gran Canaria, obtained in November 1999 and May 2000 respectively.

Cheese

Cheese is one of the most consumed products in the archipelago. In Gran Canaria there is a wide variety of cheeses, usually artisanal, that depending on the milk or mixture of milk used, the rennet with which it is made and also the time allotted for its preparation, various Gran Canarian cheeses are obtained. Counting some of them, in the northwest region, with a protected designation of origin. These cheeses are characteristic of the municipalities of Gáldar, Santa María de Guía and Moya.

• 

  Flower cheese and canary knife, characteristic of the island and one of its identity symbols.
  Flower cheese: product with denomination of origin, which follows a peculiar system to cook the milk, using the flower of cardo or forusa, as a vegetable garnish, obtaining a very fragile cheese due to its fine and elastic bark, which can have small cracks. The paste is of very creamy texture, almost melting according to ripening, with smells and aromas that recall pastures and sometimes dry fruits. In the palate the bitter taste predominates, with a medium-high persistence, a spicy post-gusto appears.
• Half-flower cheese: with a denomination of origin, is made with 50% vegetable cuajo and 50% animal cuajo. The texture of pasta is creamy in young cheeses, acquiring firmness with ripening; odors and dairy aromas, such as fresh butter and vegetable notes. The bitter aftertaste and taste is not as intense as the flower cheese, appearing spicy, burning and astringent sensations in the most cured cheeses.
• Guide cheese: also with the name of origin, and made entirely with animal cuajo. Its texture is soft in semi-cured cheeses, lasts in the heals, and brittles in the aged. When tasted, we will perceive aromas of the lactic family (milk, curd, butter) and animal (colour, garlic), sometimes appearing notes of the vegetable family (dry straw, pastures). The taste is balanced, slightly salty and acidic and with a bitter touch. It highlights its spicy and ardent tasting, sometimes also astringent, which are intensifying with ripening.

Museums

Gran Canaria has various museums of different natures that are under the domain of different institutions. Some of the most prominent are:

Idolo de Tara, in El Museo Canario, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

• The Canario Museum, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a scientific and cultural institution founded in 1879, where they are preserved, studied and exhibit collections of archaeological and ethnographic materials and artistic creations, together with a Library and Archive specialized in Canary Islands.
• Casa de Colón, nestled in the historic neighborhood of Vegueta, this architectural set, among which is the old house of the Governors of the Island, visited by Christopher Columbus during the First Journey to America (1492), shows the role of the Canary Islands in the Discovery, as well as paintings of the centuries XVI Al XIX.
• CAAM - Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, also located in the historical district of Vegueta, has as its mission the interpretation of the historical avant-garde and the most current manifestations of art. To this end it maintains a continuous line of temporary exhibitions, solo or in collaboration with the world's leading art centers, which include trends and essential artists of the art of the centuryXX..

Spring Museum Nestor

• Néstor Museum, with a domicile in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, exhibits the work of Néstor Martín-Fernández de la Torre (1887-1938), one of the most prestigious Canarian symbolist painters, and the most unique of the European movement. Apart from their most important canvases, they are displayed; portraits, landscapes; designs for theatre, architecture, crafts, drawings, sketches. The Museum is part of the architectural ensemble called Pueblo Canario, which also includes catering and trades, in a style called “neocanario”, made by a brother of the artist, Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre.
• Elder Museum of Science and Technology, located in the capital of Granada, the interactive and didactic character of most of its more than twenty spaces dedicated to rebuilding and reproducing the great scientific advances of mankind are part of this interactive scientific dissemination center, which has as motto “prohibited not to touch”.
• Cueva Pintada Archaeological Museum and Park, located in Gáldar, this enclosure offers a museum proposal around one of the most representative archaeological sites on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an artificial cave excavated in the volcanic toba and whose walls are decorated with geometric motif friezes. No less spectacular is the village that has been discovered around it after more than twenty years of archaeological excavations.

Geometric rock painting, in Museum and Archaeological Park Cueva Pintada, Gáldar.

• Guayadeque Museum, nestled in the Guayadeque ravine, between Ingenio and Agüimes, in a place of high archaeological value, where different elements of what is found in this area are shown: archaeology, architecture, geology, fauna, flora and traditions.
• Zafra Museum, located in Vecindario, Saint Lucia de Tirajana, this museum complex shows the history of agriculture in this area of the island, focusing on tomato cultivation.
• Casa-Museo Antonio Padrón, in the heart of the city of Gáldar and not far from the Cueva Pintada. The museum is housed in the same house as the Canarian artist, where his works and other places of the painter's old property are shown.
• Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós, located in the heart of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is the home of Benito Pérez Galdós, where he lived until the age of nineteen. In its rooms are shown furniture, works of art, photographs, decorative objects, musical instruments, etc., by Pérez Galdós that give us testimony of the physical spaces of the daily environment of the novelist and place us in the atmosphere of the centuryXIX.
• Museum Néstor Álamo, the museum of Don Néstor Álamo, canary musician, is located in the town of Santa María de Guía.
• Rama Museum, nestled in Agaete, is dedicated to the traditional feast of the "Bad of the Rama".
• Museum of the history and traditions of Tejeda, the museum is just outside the village of Tejeda.
• Agüimes Museum of History is located in the center of Agüimes and tells the history of the municipality.
• Abraham Cárdenes Museum, located in Tejeda, exhibits the works of the sculptor Abraham Cárdenes.
• Casa-Museo Tomás Morales, the museum is located in the village of Moya in the home of the poet Tomás Morales.
• Museo de la Zafra is located in the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, more important aspects of the recent history of the municipality of Santa Lucía, related to the cultivation and packaging of the tomato in the lower part of the municipality.

Historical monuments

Canary Islands Cathedral

Most of the monuments that can be seen in Gran Canaria date back to the time of the conquest, although some sites and places belonging to the aborigines of the island have been preserved (Cueva pintada de Gáldar, the Cenobio de Valerón in Santa María de Guía).

Some notable monuments are:

• La Catedral de Canarias, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• The Basilica of Our Lady of Pino Patrona de la Diocese de Canarias.
• The Basilica of Saint John the Baptist (Telde).
• La Parroquia de San Francisco de Asís (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
• The Church of Saint John the Baptist (known as the Cathedral of Arucas, despite not being a cathedral).
• The Church of Santiago de Los Caballeros, the only headquarters of Jacobea de Canarias.

Also in the island capital, in the historic neighborhood of Vegueta, there are monuments to highlight:

• The Canary Museum.
• The Rectorate of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Plaza Mayor de Santa Ana.
• The Holy Spirit Square.
• The House of Columbus.
• The hermitage of San Antonio Abad (where Christopher Columbus prayed before continuing his first trip to America).
• El Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• La Casa Regental, next to the Town Hall (historically residence of the General Captains of the islands and the Regents of the Royal Audience of the Canary Islands; currently headquarters of the Government Hall of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands)

Other buildings of interest are the fortifications:

• The castles of La Luz, Mata, San Francisco and San Cristobal, all of them in the capital.
• The Fort House of Agaete or house Rome (built in 1481 and therefore one of the oldest Castilian buildings on the island).

Parties

Feast of Our Lady of the Pine Tree

Virgin of Pino, patron of Gran Canaria.

The main festival of the island is on September 8 in honor of the Virgen del Pino in Teror, patron saint of the Diocese of the Canary Islands, which includes the Province of Las Palmas. In this festival, very characteristic and even unique acts take place, such as the Descent of the image of the Virgen del Pino from her dressing room to her processional throne. Another event to highlight in the Canary archipelago is the traditional Romería-Ofrenda which is held on September 7 with the participation of all the municipalities of the island and with a representation from each of the Canary Islands. The Villa Mariana de Teror is also the nerve center of Gran Canaria manifested in the massive official pilgrimages held throughout the year, emphasizing above all the Eve of the Feast of Our Lady of the Pine in which people who come from all the points of the Canary archipelago pilgrimage to Villa de Teror.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

In Gran Canaria, this Liturgical Festivity revolves around the Christ of Telde celebrated every September 14 in the City of Telde.

Holy Week

The most important and characteristic Holy Week on the island of Gran Canaria is Holy Week in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

• The Palm Sunday, takes place the procession of The Burrita that leaves the parish of San Telmo. In the afternoon, it takes place from the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in the capital neighborhood of Vegueta, the procedural departure with Penitential Station in the Cathedral of the Canary Islands Real and Ilustre Brotherhood and Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus of Health and Mary Most Holy of the Hope of Vegueta.
• The Holy Wednesday takes place the procession of Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Triana with her Sacramental Brotherhood and Brotherhood of Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Triana, Our Lady of the Angustias and St. Telmo, which proceeds from the parish of San Telmo, being the procession by antonomasia of the afternoon of Holy Wednesday in the city. In the same night, tradition marks the processional departure from the parish of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in the capital neighborhood of Vegueta, Real, Ilustre and Historic Brotherhood of the Holy Meeting of Christ with the Cross to Cuestas and Our Lady of the Doloresin which they produce the images of Christ with the Cross to Cuestas and Our Lady of the Dolores known as the "Wednesday" (the work of José Luján Pérez), St.John Evangelista, St.Verónica and St. This Procession of the Encounter make a penitence station in the Cathedral of the Canary Islands, after the official meeting of the thrones in the Plaza de Santa Ana.
• On Good Friday, the streets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are filled with religious acts and processions that throughout the day are carried out fervently. The Holy Friday morning from the hermitage of the Holy Spirit takes place the procession of the Way of the Cross with the image of the Blessed Christ of the Good End walking the streets of the historical district of Vegueta.

In the morning from the Cathedral of the Canary Islands, the Procession of Las Mantillas takes place with the images of the Holy Christ of the Chapter House and the Dolorosa of Luján Pérez.

In the afternoon of Good Friday the Procession of the Holy Burial takes place, vulgar "Magna Interparroquial", where the steps of the Parishes of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, San Agustín and San Francisco de Asís leave. From the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán procession: the Holy Christ the Preacher and Saint Mary Magdalene, the Holy Christ of the Hail, the Lord of the Fall, Saint Veronica and Saint Mary Magdalene. From the Church of San Agustín, the Holy Christ of the True Cross, Saint John the Evangelist and Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as La Genovesa, procession. From the Parish of San Francisco de Asís and the Marian Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad procession: Holy Christ of Agony in the Garden, Holy Christ of Humility and Patience known as Tears of Saint Peter, the naked Holy Cross with Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Mary Magdalene, the Holy Sepulcher and Our Lady of Soledad de la Portería Crowned with her Pontifical and Royal Archconfraternity. Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de la Portería is the most venerated image in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and enjoys great devotion from people who come from different parts of the islands. It is also the only canonically crowned painful image in the Canary Archipelago with pontifical rank and the only Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Diocese of the Canary Islands that has received the canonical coronation of said rank.

On the night of Good Friday, the so-called Retiro Procession takes place, which takes place in the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán with the image of Our Lady of Sorrows on Wednesday; and in the Parish of San Francisco de Asís with the image of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de la Portería Coronada, this procession of the Retreat and Silence of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad being the procession par excellence of the city.

Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the most important in the archipelago, as well as that of other municipalities on the island, it is very popular and can be considered one of the most important festivals in Spain.

Branch of Agaete

This is one of the most popular celebrations in the Canary Islands. The Fiestas de Agaete, with its massive act of the Bajada de la Rama, were declared in 1972 of National Tourist Interest and since April 2018 it is an Asset of Cultural Interest.

On August 5, the Main Festival of the Villa Marinera is celebrated in honor of Our Lady of the Snows. On August 4, the Bajada de la Rama takes place, a festive act with ritual reminiscences of the ancient aborigines, where thousands of dancers, to the rhythm of one of the two municipal bands, leave from the center of the town to the upper part of it. to take pieces of Rama and dance down with them to the sanctuary of the Virgen de las Nieves in the port. The festive procession is headed by some big-headed or papahuevos, made of cardboard and representing popular characters from the town.

Notable people