Canary Islands Travel Guide

The whole of Spain is football crazy and Gran Canaria is no exception. The main local team is floundering in the lower divisions but everybody on the island supports a top division Spanish team, mostly Madrid or Barcelona (but never Tenerife). If you are walking about in a town and the whole place seems a little deserted the chances are there is a match on and everybody is either at home or in the bars watching it. Other sports, other than cycling, don’t... Read More

The Las Palmas Carnival In February every year Las Palmas goes carnival crazy for three whole weeks. The Las Palmas carnival is one of the biggest in the world but is still a completely local affair. There are huge street parties every weekend where everybody goes out in fancy dress carrying bottles of rum and Coke and bags of ice and a whole series of organized events, including a carnival queen and drag queen competition and a huge procession with dozens... Read More

Free Things to Do on Gran Canaria Visit the Canary Gardens Just outside Las Palmas city in the town of Tafira is the Jardin Canario Viera y Clavijo, or the Canary Gardens for short. It’s a huge botanical garden (the biggest in Europe) with lawns, lakes, palm trees, forests cliff paths and all the weird and wonderful plants that grow on the island. Best of all, it is open every day and it is completely free. To catch the gardens at their very best, go in... Read More