Where to go within Europe when you have a week off in December? Where can you have guaranteed sun and not go too far? Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.
It takes about a week to get a good perception of one of the seven Canary Islands. The others are Tenerife, Fuerteventurea, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Each of these islands was a former volcano.
The plane lands at in Las Palmas and we make our way by car to Santa Lucia, located in the centre of the island. After some research it became clear that we would mainly stick to the mountain towns instead of the overpopulated and destroyed coast. We were well equipped with a list of hikes to occupy us for the coming days.
Carmen greets us at the door of our casa rural (country cottage), La Montaneta. It used to be a former tobacco-drying house. We follow her through a gate and into a lovely garden with olive and mandarin-orange trees. A wooden covered entrance leads up to 3 separate houses.
http://www.tirajanarural.com/en/Montaneta
The first days are spent visiting the village, joining the local festival, practising Spanish after a long break and going on day trips to various parts of the island. Gran Canaria has a sub-tropical climate, impressive mountains, very winding roads and spectacular, varied vegetation. You can find soaring peaks, sand dunes, long beaches, forest, palm trees, cactus, etc.
Photo 1: Mount Teide on Tenerife Island, 3718 m. It is the world’s 3rd largest volcano!
Photo 2: Casa Rural La Montaneta, Santa Lucia
Photo 5: One of the many Spanish greenhouses spread all over the island.
