The population of Gran Canaria is 850,000 with about 750,000 living in the northern part around Las Palmas as that is the industrialized area (shipping, construction, electronics, automotive parts, aquaculture, horticulture, desalination plants and tourism being the main industries). The island uses only desalinated water now so the water tables are rising. As the island is buffeted by ocean winds and storms, there are lots of “modern windmills” to generate electricity
and most agriculture has converted to indoor methods – greenhouses and covered fields predominantly - in order to provide protection for the growing plants.The resort was set against the high cliffs of the southern coast, just past the villages of Arguinequin and Patalavaca. Construction started in the late 80’s and the facilities were finished early in the 90’s. All the walkways on each floor to rooms were on the inside against the rock cliff, meaning every apartment had a beautiful view out over the sea. There were actually 4 resorts on the same property – all owned by the same company – but each offering slightly different amenities. Guests were free to take advantage of all 4 sites. Our apartment was on the upper level and this part of the resort had its own pools, café/bar, restaurant, childrens’ playground and games area. Very easy to feel self-contained without going far. As it is located right on the sea, access for the public to the waterfront area is mandatory – which meant the resort was actually gated at the beach end. This lower promenade had numerous restaurants, a grocery store and a performing stage where we were treated to shows every evening. The usual array of water sports were available – scuba outings, banana and paddle boats, sailboards and jet skis.
We did visit Arguinequin for groceries several times and also visited the open-air public market which visits once a week.
We ventured out with the car to travel further up the west side of the island and inland – and found out they weren’t kidding when they talked about the 365 turns in the highway along the coast! Narrow, narrow, narrow and very twisty.
The villages of Puerto Rico and Puerto Mogan which are not far from the resort have clearly been developed solely for tourism. In contrast though, when we traveled inland into the mountains a bit to the village of Mogan, we found a small, more traditional village with narrow streets that wove up and down the hillside – reminded us of our trip to Spain.
We booked one day tour which took us through much of the north
end of the island where volcanic activity thousands of years ago has created a very stark and rugged terrain. 
Here again the roads were VERY narrow and twisty –
and we were very glad that it was a bus driver with experience doing the driving, rather than us (which we’d considered earlier in the week).In the village of Teror,
we came across numerous groups of village people creating beautiful street decorations from natural materials (e.g. flowers, sand, straw), in preparation for the celebration of Corpus Christi, a Christian festival honouring the Eucharist. We learned that many of the villages have few year-round inhabitants as folks who work in the city of Las Palmas – the industrial centre of the island – travel to their “mountain homes” for weekends and holidays.Definitely a resort that would be lovely to return to – if it wasn’t so far to come…….
(By the way, the name of Canary Islands comes from a Latin reference to dogs – and has nothing to do with canaries!)
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