Las Palmas
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Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the largest cities in Spain, and is the largest city in the Canary Islands.
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[edit] Get in
[edit] By plane
- Las Palmas Airport, 928 579 095, [1].
Las Palmas has a modern international airport which receives flights from Madrid, about 2 and a half hours, and from Barcelona and Bilbao, both about 3 hours. To get into the city, hop on bus number 60 from the airport to either bus station in the city. The bus runs every 30 minutes from 6:15am to 8:50pm.
[edit] By boat
The Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria receives ships coming to the island from Cadiz and from the other islands. Naviera Armas [2] operates inter-island lines, and Acciona Transmediterránea [3] operates inter-island lines as well as a Las Palmas-Cadiz line.
The Port of Las Nieves in Agaete, 50 km from the city, offers a connection to Santa Cruz de Tenerife at an acceptable price through Fred.Olsen, [4].
Most of the the connections are run by fast ferries.
Residents of the Canary Islands receive discounted fares.
- Fred.Olsen, S.A., C/. Luis Morote, 4, 928 495 040, [5].
- Naviera Armas, Muelle Sanapú s/n. or Juan Domínguez Pérez, 2, tel. 902 456 500, [6].
- Trasmediterranea, Plazoleta Mr. Jolly, s/n., 902 454 645, [7].
[edit] By bus
The only bus company operating interurban lines on Gran Canaria is Global, tel. 902 381 110, email: sugerencias@globalsu.net. Most of the company's lines have Las Palmas as either their origin or their destination. There are two bus stations in the city:
- San Telmo Station in the city center.
- Santa Catalina Interchange near the city's port. This station is serviced also by the municipal bus system and by taxis.
[edit] By car
- GC-1 cuts through the city, connecting it with the airport and other important municipalities as far as Tauro (80 km).
- GC-2 connects the city with the North Zone, extending up to Agaete.
- GC-3 circles the city and connects the other three highways
- GC-4 connects Las Palmas with the communities in the center of the island.
[edit] Get around
[edit] By bus
Las Palmas has the best quality bus system in the archipelago and one of the best in Spain. The service is provided by Guaguas Municipales, tel. 928 446 500, [8]. The bright yellow buses are known simply as guaguas. The simple fare, paid directly to the driver, is 1.10€. A ticket good for 10 rides is available for 5.80€ at official shops in the city. The Tarjeta Insular (Island Card) is good on both municipal buses and Global buses, offering a 20% discount on first validation and a 70% discount on the second.
The most important bus lines have frequencies of between 3 and 15 minutes during the day and between 10 and 40 minutes at night. Most lines have service throughout the night. Among the most useful lines are:
- Line 1 Teatro - Puerto
- Line 12 Hoya de la Plata - Puerto
- Line 30 Alameda de Colón - Santa Catalina
[edit] By car
Dense traffic on workdays and in certain commercial leisure zones mean that driving is really no fun here. The city street plan is not at all rectilinear, so the streets can confuse even experienced drivers. Parking is also pretty expensive in most places. On the upside, the price of gasoline is significantly cheaper that the rest of Spain and Europe, there are no toll roads, and entrances, exits, main streets and important zones are all well-signposted.
[edit] See
- Playa de Las Canteras - Almost 4 kilometers in length, this beach is the very symbol of the city and its citizens.
- Catedral de Santa Ana - Embodying several centuries of history, the cathedral can be seen from almost any point in the city center.
- Vegueta - Historical enclave of the city.
- Plaza Santa Catalina
- Triana
- Alfredo Kraus Auditorium
- Elder Museum of Science and Technology - Most exhibitions have information in both Spanish and English. When you're in, you can also use the internet computers there, so the entrance fee is pretty decent.
[edit] Do
Do as the locals do and make use of the public tourism bus, known affectionately as the guiriguagua.
[edit] Events
- Carnaval - Almost as famous as that of the neighboring island of Tenerife, yet different and perhaps even better. It is without a doubt quite spectacular.
- WOMAD Music Festival - Celebrated in the Santa Catalina Park zone, this festival brings in thousands of spectators every year for quality music free of charge.
- Romería de Vegueta
[edit] Buy
Shop in the city centre or in one of the malls like "El Corte Inglese". There is cheap electronic products and souvenirs for sale everywhere.
For food items, Dino is a chain of stores that has a good range of products and set prices. Some of these stores also has a decent selection of wine.
Buy the local rum: Arehucas.
[edit] Eat
Many restaurants have menus in an abundance of languages, and waiters often will also often be able to converse in your own language.
[edit] Drink
Buy the local rum: Arehucas. Drink clean or with Cola.
[edit] Sleep
Travel agents has been known to put people in rooms with windows with no view whatsoever. This can be frustrating, since you cannot know what to wear when you don't know what the weather is outside. If this happens -complain straight away -it is too late when you've gone home.
[edit] Safety
If you have a veranda/patio on ground level -don't leave doors nor windows open unattended for any period of time.
Stay away from anyone that offers you anything for free -like lottery tickets or a free meal. These are often in reality con artists that wants you to buy worthless "holyday club" memberships or dodgy time-shares. They may seem pleasent at first, but may turn hostile and start threatening you if they get you the leave the relative safety of the street and enter a hotel court or similar place that these criminals control. Don't sign anything no matter what they promise nor threaten with!