Gran Canaria General Info

In the Atlantic Ocean, about 150 Km (93 miles) from the northwest coast of Africa, and at 1350 Km (838 miles) from Europe, close to the tropical line, one can find Gran Canaria – one of the seven beautyfull islands of the Canary Islands archipelago.

Gran Canaria World Location

The island most probably derived the origin of it’s name from Latin term Insula Canaria (meaning “Island of the Dogs”) from the first visitors from Europe – the Roman Empire. It is speculated, that the “dogs” were actually a species of Monk Seals (“sea dog” in Latin), later extinct and no longer present in the islands.

On the other hand, it is well known that Gran Canaria was inhabited with 6 different types of endemic wild dogs, worshiped by the original inhabitants – the Guanches. When the Romans first visited the island, they gave it the name: canaari, which means in Latin: “the ones who worship dogs”, or “the ones with dogs”. Thus the name Gran Canaria can be freely translated as “the island of great dogs”.

Nowdays these dogs are domesticated and mainly used as prestigious hunt dogs, as they are incredibly fast – can run up to 70 Km/h.

Geography of Gran Canaria

The geo-physical location of Gran Canaria is show at the top image. Together, the 7 islands of Canaria, Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Savage Isles form the Macaronesia ecoregion. The archipelago consists of seven large and several smaller islands, all of which are volcanic in origin. The originally volcanic islands were formed by the Canary hot-spot, appearing about 60 million years ago. The Canary Islands are the only place in Spain where volcanic eruptions have been recorded during the Modern Era(after the Middle Ages). The volcanoes are currently inactive.

A scenic view on approach to Roque Nublo, the second highest peek of Gran Canaria

The islands rise from Jurassic oceanic crust, associated with the opening of the Atlantic. The underwater magmatism during the Cretaceous started forming the archipelago, and ultimately reached the ocean’s surface during the Miocene. The islands are considered a continuation of the Atlas Mountains, part of the larger African Alpine System division.

Gran Canaria is the second most populated island of the Canary Islands after Tenerife. The surface area is 1,560 km², with a diameter of approximately 50 km, and the highest spot at Pico de Las Nieves (1,949 meters / 6,394 ft). The capital of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria counts around 380000, and the entire island around 830000 inhabitants.

It is also important to mention that the island possesses 32 Natural Protected Spaces, that they emphasize the Rural Park of Nublo, Doramas’ Jungle, the Ravine of Azuaje, Tamadaba, Pino Santo, etc.

History

Mumified remains of a guanche in the museum at village of Guayadeque

Gran Canaria has a rich history extending back to ancient times, with earliest visits from the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Carthaginians. There are various historic data ranging back to those time describing the island and the findings of ancient seaman.

There is a special section as part of this web-site dedicated entirely to Gran Canaria history, as it extends to quite some amount of data. It is warmly recommended to check that section out, as the history is very interesting and intriguing. For example, the indigenous people (called guanche) that lived previously on the island mummified their dead, what brings up some interesting questions about the ancient history of Gran Canaria and the origin of Guanche tribes.

Economy

Various goods arriving to the port of Las Palmas

Gran Canaria’s economy is mainly based on tourism, what basically makes 32% of the GDP. Generally, the archipelago recieves around 10 million tourists per year.

The next important area is construction, creating 20% of the GDP, mainly caused by a rapidly increasing tourism and thus hotel and accomodations contructions in the area. A significant amout of forign investment helped the growth.

Other than that there is a typical tropical agriculture production of primarily bananas and tobaco, followed by tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cochineal, sugarcane, grapes, vines, dates, oranges, lemons, figs, wheat, barley, maize, apricots, peaches and almonds.

The economy of 25 billion euros (2001 GDP figures), had a constant growth over the past 20 years with a growth rate of 5% per year. The turistical growth, forign investments, and the monetry injection from the European Union of nearly 11 billion euros in the period of 2000-2007 blossomed the island into a real tropical paradise, since the Canary Islands are labelled Region Objective 1 (eligible for euro structural funds).

The EU also allows the Canary Islands Government to offer special tax concessions for investors who incorporate under the Zona Especial Canaria (ZEC) regime and create more than 5 jobs. The Canary islands are not tax heaven, but are close to being one.

As Gran Canaria is outside the European Union customs territory and VAT area, but politically within the EU, instead of VAT there are local Sales Tax (IGIC). At a general rate of 5%, an increased tax rate of 12%, a reduced tax rate of 2% and a zero tax rate for certain basic need products and services (e.g. telecommunications).

Tourism

Maspalomas - an artificial waterfall

As mentioned at the home page, Gran Canaria is called a miniature continent. The variety of landscapes, beaches, dunes brought by the winds from Sahara, traditional villages, and on the other hand modern highways and accomodations and hotels makes the island a very popular turistical destination. Approximately 2.2 million tourists come Gran Canaria anually, mostly to the southern parts of the island (Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles).

With shopping centers and leisure zones, duty-free prices, wonderfull sandy beaches, great places for night-life, bars and restaurants, museums and fun places for the whole family Gran Canaria is one of the great touristic places in entire Spain and in Europe.

After the fall of the regime of Franco, Gran Canaria and generally the Canary islands have been descovered as a possible source of revenue via tourism. As described in the previous section about the economy, serious efforts were taken and realized for the benifit of creating and later enhancing mass tourism to Gran Canaria and the archipelago.

Gran Canaria and Canary Islands History
Gran Canaria Climate
Gran Canaria Weather Forecast
Gran Canaria Flora and Fauna