If you are thinking about booking a holiday to Gran Canaria in 2011 and you want to see the Carnaval in Las Palmas, hurry up and book your tickets. Oh, and a word of advice – the signage which is appearing all over the island has the WRONG days on it (someone can’t translate the day names between Spanish and English) so use the website instead!!

This exciting carnival (or Carnaval in Spanish) kicks off on 15th February with the Murgas Contest. This band, who performs at 8.30pm in Parque Santa Catalina, Gran Canaria, sings songs about various political and social issues in the Canary Islands. The carnival ends with the Burial of the Sardine at 9pm on 12th March on Las Canteras beach.

The Las Palmas 2011 carnival will give you a real taste of all things Canarian, as the food and drinks flow freely and a party atmosphere takes over the city.

You can stay in Playa del Ingles or Puerto Rico and travel up and down by bus or try to find a hotel in Las Palmas itself. Of course you don’t have to go to every event – just pick and choose the ones that appeal. The Carnival Queen Gala at 10pm on 25th February will be a nice event and the Drag Queen Gala is usually a hoot – that’s on the 4th March at 9pm in Parque Santa Catalina.

See you there!

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The Bella Vista shopping centre in San Fernando has a Punta Roma. So does the Atlantico shopping centre in Vecindario. You can find eight more Punt Roma shops in Las Palmas – one in the El Muelle shopping centre, one in the Las Arenas shopping centre, one in the La Ballena shopping centre, one in the Siete Palmas shopping centre and then four more in various streets. The Canarians love this shop which is why there are so many of them!

More About Punta Roma Gran Canaria

Punta Roma Gran Canaria stocks clothes from sizes 40 to 54 (in English sizes that would be 12 to 26). The clothing in Punt Roma is aimed at the 40 plus age group but if you go to any of the above mentioned shopping centres you will find all different kinds of shops. My favourite is probably Stradivarius although Pimkie is good too!

You can find more information about Punta Roma (or Punt Roma!) here and more about shopping in Gran Canaria here.

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This ship can hold 2098 passengers and there are 996 crew members. The cheapest ticket for this trip was 2500 euros so if you’re looking for cheap holidays to Gran Canaria you might prefer to fly instead

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Las Canteras was actually the first tourist resort in Gran Canaria. The beach is about three kilometres long and the sea is safe for swimming. Click here to see a good map of Las Canteras.

Photo by Rafael Tovar

Near to this beach are lots of restaurants, bars and shops and the beach is bordered in the north by La Isleta and in the east  by Santa Catalina, which is where the bus station is. Las Arenas, a really big shopping centre, is nearby.

There is a landscaped promenade in the south of Las Canteras which takes you to the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus. This is home to the Las Palmas Philharmonic Orchestra and it is an interesting piece of architecture which was build as a tribute to the tenor Alfredo Kraus in 1997.

If you want some tips for exploring Las Palmas then make sure you take a walk along Las Canteras beach or even spend a day there. Not everyone speaks Spanish there (like in the south) and you might not find English menus but that all adds to the fun! Recent temperatures have been good (27 degrees C today!) so we’re well into the summer now, making the Las Canteras beach even more tempting for a visit.

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Because Las Palmas is not full of tourists, like Puerto Rico or Playa del Ingles, it can be hard finding somebody who speaks English if you do happen to get lost.

Photo by Barto Garcia

Saying that, if you do fancy having a day trip to Las Palmas, you can catch a bus in the south and be there within the hour. Take a map with you because Las Palmas is quite big. You might like to stroll around or you might want to visit a museum or gallery while you are there.

If you want to go to El Corte Inglés for some shopping, the best way is to take a taxi from the bus station. I haven’t been there for a while but I remember it’s only about 4 euros for a cab.

Eating Out in Las Palmas

You won’t find multilingual menus in Las Palmas eateries, like in the resorts in the south of the island, so a good idea is to visit a tapas bar. These have the tapas in a cabinet on the counter so you can just point at whatever looks appealing. Ask for “una ración” if you want a plateful or “una tapa” for half a plateful.

Boquerones (white pickled anchovies), albóndigas (meatballs), papas arrugadas (potatoes in mojo sauce) and jamon serrano (cured ham) are some good ones to try, if you like Canarian cooking and eating like the locals do. Order a “copa de vino tinto” (glass of red wine) to go with it if you like.

Photo by Jlastras

Organised City Tours

In order to ensure you see as much as possible you might like to book a day trip to Las Palmas. You will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the city, then you can visit some of the best places including Christopher Columbus’s house, an art museum, the Santa Catalina Parque and Las Canteras beach.

You will also have a guide who speaks English, which is definitely handy! Take your camera with you because there will be plenty to take pictures of.

You will find Las Palmas to be very different from the resorts in the south and it’s a great place to spend a day if you are in Gran Canaria and if you want to see how the locals live and visit some of the most interesting parts of the island.

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Photo by Nisa Arce

The Las Palmas Carnival, also spelled Las Palmas Carnaval, is going to be a huge event and if you are planning to be in Gran Canaria around carnival time, it is well worth visiting Las Palmas and seeing the parades, processions and amazing displays.

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The Las Palmas carnival 2010 is going to be great fun, if previous years are anything to go by. There is a carnival in Las Palmas every year in February and a lot of the events are beauty pageants, fancy dress parties and more. The contestants hoping to be Miss Las Palmas 2010 have to sing a song as well as look great. The crowned queens (and drag queens) get to ride on the biggest and best carnival floats during the Gran Cavalgata, which is the main parade.

In mainland Spain, Lent usually begins on Ash Wednesday, but in the Canaries Lent is postponed until the Burial of the Sardine fiesta.

The carnival is free to attend and you can get the full programme here.

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Photo By Sergio Pixel

How to Get There

You’ll need to get the bus. Here is an up to date bus timetable for the island but the buses tend to come “within 20 minutes” or so of when they are meant to (this is Spain, after all!) There are 2 main bus terminals in Las Palmas, Santa Catalina and San Telmo. They’re both pretty central and once you’re there, you can walk or get a taxi to wherever you want to go. It’s fun to just stroll around too. The bus from the south takes between 30 minutes and an hour depending whether the driver thinks he’s Michael Schumacher or not.

If you are at the Plaza San Telmo station, there is a very good cafe right outside where you can have a coffee. There are often exhibitions at the weekend. From there, you can walk through the main shopping street (look in the side streets too for some old architecture) until you come to the library. There’s a nice tapas bar there. Keep walking in the same direction across the main road and you will be at the cathedral. If you happen to be in Gran Canaria at Christmas there are many festive displays to enjoy too.

Museums

The Canary Island Museum is interesting if you want to learn about the indiginous Canarians and how they lived. It’s open on weekdays from 10am until 5pm and weekends from 10am until 2pm. Ask for “Museo Canario” if you’re in a taxi.

The Nestor Museum is quite comprehensive too and you can see plenty of paintings and Canarian handcrafts. This one is “Museo Néstor” if you’re in a cab and it’s open Tuesday to Friday from 10am until 1pm and 4pm until 8pm, or from 11am until 2pm on Sundays.

The Columbus Museum (Casa Museo de Colón) is where Christopher Columbus once spent the night and is the current residence of the Mayor. You can see objects relating to Columbus’s passage through the Canaries. It’s open from 9am until 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am until 3pm at weekends.

Columbus Museum Photo By Frenz_69

Art Galleries and the Cathedral

The Atlantic Centre for Modern Art (Caam-Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno) is popular. It is open from Tuesday until Saturday from 10am until 9pm and between 10am and 2pm on Sundays.

Atlantic Centre for Modern Art Photo By Frenz_69

The Santa Ana Cathedral is worth a visit, whether you are interested in the architecture or the art inside. You can visit between 10am and 5pm from Monday to Friday or 9am until 2pm on Saturday.

Cathedral Photo By Ahisgett

Shopping

If you fancy some shopping, there are several big shopping centres, including El Muelle, Las Arenas, La Ballena and Siete Palmas. El Muelle and Las Arenas are probably the best for clothes and Siete Palmas is good for electrical gadgets.

Eating and Drinking

You can’t walk very far without coming across a bar (most of which serve tapas), cafe or Canarian cooking restaurant in Las Palmas, so don’t worry – you won’t go hungry! You’ll find the food and drink much cheaper than in the touristy South too.

You might want to spend the day in Las Palmas and do some shopping or see a couple of museums but, to be honest, you could spend several days up there because there is plenty to enjoy!

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