San Nicolas de Tolentino

San Nicolas de Tolentino is a small town which you will find past the Barranco de Veneguera and Barranco de Tasarte, and on the other side of La Fuente de los Azulegos which is an area with green-blue rocks. The rocks are that colour because of oxidation and the name comes from the Spanish for the blue tiles you see on Portuguese-style houses.

San Nicolas has the official name “La Aldea de San Nicolas de Tolentino” and it is an agricultural centre. Tomatoes used to provide the main income of San Nicolas de Tolentino but today there are also mango, banana, orange, avocado and papaya plantations there. About one hundred thousand metric tons of tomatoes are still exported from this area every year, although production has decreased a lot because of the competition from Moroccan tomato farmers.

This little town is surrounded by slopes covered in bamboo and cacti and you can visit the Iglesia de San Nicolas, which is the local church. It was build in the early 1970s on the site of a old 18th century chapel and there are some interesting sculptures to see inside.

Photo by Guillen Perez

Cactualdea is a nearby cacti park and there are many different cacti there, coming from as far afield as Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Madagascar. There are also aloe vera plants, dragon trees and palm trees, as well as a Guanche cave and a Canarian cooking restaurant for hungry travellers to stop. You might also like to visit the big amphitheatre which was used for Canarian wrestling (lucha Canaria) a while back.

There is not a lot more to see or do in the area but if you are driving around Gran Canaria, San Nicolas de Tolentino is worth stopping at.