Canary Islands Holidays

Canary Islands is a haven of sunshine islands located westerly of the North African continent with weather conditions of typical warm African coastal climate.

The Canary Islands, in spanish 'Islas Canarias' consist of seven islands, being Gran Canaria with the capital Las Palmas and mainly mountaineous regions and some flatlands only at coastal regions. The island of Tenerife with the capital Santa Cruz De Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and its highest elevation mea-sures over 3700 metres. Somewhat less mountaineous are the islands Fuerteventura with the capital of Puerto del Rosario and Lanzarote with the capital of Arrecife. La Palma with the capital Santa Cruz is the third smallest island followed by La Gomera with the main centre of San Sebastian and El Hierro with the main centre of Puerto del la Estaca. All islands are connected by mainline shipping and five islands have international airports and the national airport Valverde on El Hierro but no airport on La Gomera. After Tenerife Gran Canaria is the biggest tourist attraction of the Canary Islands. At the top of the tourist list are Germans, British and Spanish visitors from the mainland. The Canary Islands were populated by by aboriginals up to the middle ages, living their early stoneage culture undisturbed by any foreign influence.

Allthough firstly invaded by the Portugeese, Spanish and Mallorcans in 1330 - 1342, the Spanish domi- nation only started 1500 - 1554 with the cultivation of sugar cane and the native inhabitants had to adapt to Spanish customs in the 16th and 17th century and in 1977 there are for the first time more than one million tourists a year on Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria is a Holiday Island to suit every taste with beaches in the South, the mild North and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria's beauty is mainly evident in the central mountain region, with the 1,949-metre high Pico de las Nieves and the 1,817-metre high Roque Nublo. The cragged rock formation were considered holy the ancient inhabitants, to todays visitors they are more reminiscent of Wild West movies. Most international visitors to Gran Canaria arrive at the only major airport the Aeropuerto de Gando. See the videos of the Canary Islands.