Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has been built into the mountains. There are hotels at rather strange angles (involving lots of steps and hills) and new ones are springing up all the time! Puerto Rico beach is quite small but there is plenty of space except for at the weekends when the Canarians come down from Las Palmas. If that beach is packed, a 15 minute walk along the sea wall takes you to Amadores Beach which is roomier.

Photo By Guayre

There are 2 shopping centres in Puerto Rico – the main shopping centre or “centro comercial” and the Europa Centre. Each of these has bars, restaurants and shops.

Photo By Darijus

If you are wandering around the main shopping centre, doing some souvenir shopping, a nice place to grab some lunch is El Balcón Canario, a small Canarian café which has won gastronomic awards for its Canarian food. Try a plate of tapas or the goat stew if you want authentic Canarian cooking! If not, try Ma Bakers in the Passarella Centre, Puerto Escala, for some great Cornish pasties (imported from Cornwall! Hey – not everyone wants Canarian cookery all the time!)

The Europa Centre is smaller but if you want to try something different at night, there are quite a few karaoke bars and you can find several places doing games and pub quizzes. In Puerto Rico travel is usually restricted to cabs because of the hills but it’s only a couple of euros to get from one Commercial Centre to the other.

There are several other very good restaurants in Puerto Rico, including Caballito del Mar, Oscar’s and La Taberna. Since there is accommodation in this resort for thousands of people, you might find yourself here! If not, it’s a 40 minute bus ride from Playa del Inglés or Maspalomas. Buses come about once every 20 minutes and cost no more than 4 euros a head. A taxi from Playa del Inglés to Puerto Rico would be 20 euros or more, but they are quicker and don’t stop every 2 minutes!