Gran Canaria

The Island

There's an island in the Mid-Atlantic offering a gateway to the Americas. An island very much part of Spain but one far more African than Iberian in its make-up. That island's Gran Canaria. Marvel at the Maspalomas dunes featuring grains blown over from the Sahara, making the area resemble a mini-desert. Explore capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, colourful and vibrant, earning it the nickname of Little Havana. Escape to the country by enjoying mountains which wouldn't look out of place in the Alps and valleys as green as their Welsh counterparts, under a trademark Gran Canaria azure sky. The east of the island's often overlooked, but it has some great sports beaches for windsurfers like Pozo Izquierdo, plus pretty towns like Agüimes. The west of the island, meanwhile, boasts the great lost beach of Güigüi, ideally reached by foot. Nearly as unspoilt is the rugged north coast. There’s the deep south of the resorts. The likes of the aforementioned Maspalomas and the just-as-famous Playa del Inglés. Where the weather’s even more ideal for sunseekers than Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, recognized by US academics as the metropolis with a climate more favourable than any other city worldwide.