The Best Features of Gran Canaria By Dan Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

A holiday to Gran Canaria can easily be justified on the weather alone. Its year-round mild climate make a trip there worthwhile at any time and during the cold winters of Europe it’s even more attractive. Gran Canaria may be part of Spain but it’s over 200 miles further away from the Spanish mainland than the Mediterranean is from the UK.

So great weather and over 50 kilometers of Europe’s best beaches all washed and warmed by the Gulf Stream should be enough for anyone, but the islands has plenty of other good features to make a break there very enjoyable.

For those who like a bit of retail therapy Gran Canaria has the El Muelle shopping centre, voted one of Europe’s best shopping centres in 2004 by International Council of Shopping Centres in 2004 in the specialised centre category. The centre in Las Palmas which covers an area of over 34,000 square metres includes over 100 shops, restaurants and cafes and even has an open-air disco. The centre welcomes over 6 millions visitors per year.

The island is divided into two halves as far as tourism is concerned. The northern part is cooler and wetter due too, while the southern half is warmer, sunnier and attracts most of the 2.2 million people who come to the island to holiday every year. In the west there are very few resorts due to the steep rocky coastline and in the east the airport makes it a less attractive area for hotels. The capital, Las Palmas, in the North East is an interesting centre with its own selection of beaches, the best being Playa de las Canteras, a 2 kilometer strip to the west of the town with plenty of room for everyone and the scene of some beautiful sunsets. The resort was one of the first to get established on Gran Canaria and has continued to grow and modernise over the years. At the southern end of the beach is the imposing structure of Auditório Alfredo Kraus, a concert venue that is the home of the Las Palmas Philharmonic Orchestra. The building was constructed in 19997 fro natural stone and houses no less than 10 concert halls. It is the main venue for the annual Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival whose 10th edition took place in March 2009. The Auditório also hosted some events of 25th Canary Islands Classical Music Festival which took place in January and February 2009.

Close to the resort of Playa del Inglés in the south is Maspalomas an area famous for its magnificent beaches, a lighthouse and a natural lagoon. The Maspalomas dunes look very much like an African desert which is not that surprising given that the African mainland and the Western Sahara is only 120 miles away. Due to the fact that the beaches on the island are formed from volcanic rock, many are dark, even black, in colour. The tourism authorities have taken to importing some of the golden Saharan sand for the beaches to make them more attractive for visitors. Hardly environmentally friendly but tourism is very important for the island’s economy.

Unlike Tenerife and Lanzarote perhaps, Gran Canaria has plenty of attractions to tempt tourists away from its beaches. Golf courses, jeep safaris, water parks and tropical gardens are all options. There are now seven golf courses on Gran Canaria, a perfect number for a week’s stay. The oldest course is the Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas, which opened in 1891, but international competitions tend to favour either the Campo de Golf de Maspalomas, because of its challenging length, or the El Cortijo Golf Centre which is where Sergio Garcia won a European Tour event in 2002.

A jeep safari on Gran Canaria is a great way of seeing the inland areas of the island, taking guests through old towns and villages and up into the mountains in the centre of the island. For anyone who doesn’t relish the thought of a hot dusty day in the back of an open-top jeep on bumpy roads, then a camel safari may be a preferred option. These are available on the Maspalomas dunes and also from the picturesque village of Fataga which lies in a valley in the centre of the island. Sitting at a height of over 1200m the highest and oldest village on the island is Artenara, a strange yet beautiful place, affording spectacular views in all directions, including across to Tenerife and Mount Teide 60 miles away.

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