The Cunning Canary

January feels decidedly cool to us residents but even when we are walking around shivering in coats (21ºC feels cold to us!) there are sweltering tourists everywhere in bikinis and trunks. 21ºC is a hot summer’s day at home so that is understandable. We sometimes get rain here in Gran Canaria but usually not for more than an hour or so. You will only get about 10 days rain a year (if that!) If you visit in January, you will still go home with a suntan. The temperature averages 15ºC at night.  

January 6^th is Día del Reyes, or Kings’ Day. This is when the Canarians open their Christmas presents (although a lot of them now have some gifts on Christmas day because the English kids at the Canarian schools do!) There is a definite air of festivity around this time, especially in Agűimes where there is a street parade and men dressed as Kings give presents to the local children. A lot of soccer clubs come to Gran Canaria to train in the winter, around the Maspalomas area. There are also plenty of music festivals and arts shows in Las Palmas, which you can easily get to by bus.