The town of Moya is at the edge of the Barranco de Moya ravine. This sleepy town is accessible via a narrow road. If you’re driving, you need to take the GC-70 or GC-700 from Santa Maria de Guia de Gran Canaria. The coastline of Moya is just over four kilometres long and you can visit the natural water pools in Charco San Lorenzo or the beaches of La Caleta in the Altillo. Playa de la Caleta is popular with the surfing community because it has great watersports conditions. The International Longboard Festival is held there every November.
Things to See and Do
The volcanic valleys give way to this interesting town which is perhaps worth a visit if you want to see the birthplace of Tomas Morales, one of the most famous modern poets in Spain. His house was transformed into a museum in 1976. This museum houses contemporary art exhibitions, as well as memorabilia dedicated to the life of Morales – photos, paintings, manuscripts, his first typewriter and more.
There is also a Neo-Romanesque church which wasn’t finished until 1957. There are two towers on this piece of architecture and some sculptures inside including a cedar wood figure of the Virgen of Candelaria dating back to the 1400s.
Food and Drink
If you like Canarian cooking you might like to try bizcochos lustrados, which are sugared sponge cakes. Moya is famous for these and you can buy them there. Try the local meringues and bizcochos too, or lemon roscos if you can get them. Truchas are pumpkin-filled pastries and bollos de anis are aniseed buns. All of these are great and you can get them at the Sunday market. Yams are used often in the local cookery, especially in stew recipes. Charcoal-grilled meats (especially beef and goat) are well loved in Moya, although the local restaurants specialise in fish.
Moya is good for buying local handicrafts. Look out for palm or cane basketware, embroidery, perfumes and soaps, Canarian musical instruments, ironware, wooden articles and traditional costumes.