10 Great Reasons to Visit the Canary Islands
You don’t have the Canary Islands on your summer hit list? Pop them on. Diverse landscapes, mid-century architecture and independent vineyards are just some of the reasons this Spanish archipelago off the African coast is one of our top travel destinations.
15 July, 2020
At
some point over the last half-century, as the Balearics
became increasingly chic, this string of Spanish islands off Africa‘s west coast lost their aspirational
sheen. However, if you know the right places to go (and where not
to go) the Canary Islands can make for an exciting summer getaway.
It’s certainly not all high-rise, all-inclusive resorts.
Spotlighting César Manrique, the acclaimed architect and
designer responsible for streamlining Lanzarote’s fashionable
aesthetic, and the all-natural handicrafts of the islands – the
type of dangerously pretty things that will land you an excess
baggage fine – we’ve pulled together 10 reasons to visit the Canary
Islands.
10 reasons to visit the Canary Islands, including the best
things to see and do
You’re guaranteed a spot of African sun
They might be Spanish territory, but the islands’ North African
climate certainly gives the Costa del Sol a run for its money. It’s
perhaps the most obvious reason for visiting, and one that has
played to the island’s detriment in recent decades with tourists
flying over and flopping into plasticky resorts, with little
interest in exploring the islands’ unique culture, diverse
landscapes and modish architecture.
Work out on world-class mountains and volcanoes
If you’re the type who prefers to work up a sweat in the great
outdoors rather than the gym, look no further. These are
mountainous, volcanic islands, so there are plenty of rip-roaring
climbs that will set your heart racing. Gran Canaria is a boon for
cyclists, with its swirling, shrubby hummocks and 360-degree
hilltop viewpoints, while trail runners can take their pick of
terrains from flat and mild Lanzarote to leafy La Palma.
For handicrafts that could have been lifted from the pages of Elle Decor
Most people are unaware that the Canary Islands have a cultural
heritage that is distinctly theirs – one moulded by their historic
ties with the Caribbean and Africa, underscored by old-school Spanish style.
For a lesson in cultural heritage, head to Casa de Los Balcones.
Its creaky, wooden balconies and palm-strewn courtyards are
themselves exemplary of the islands’ plantation-style architectural
influences, and the intricate wickerwork furniture speckled therein
is just the sort of thing you might find front and centre in The
Conran Shop.
For a lesson in minimalist design from César Manrique
If it weren’t for César Manrique, who knows what towering
monstrosities might have colonised Lanzarote? After a successful
international art career, Manrique returned to his homeland in the
60s and set about implementing strict building regulations to
prevent the island from being sold out to package tourism. Not only
that, but he installed numerous public sculptures and designed an
impressive host of exquisite buildings, thereby shaping Lanzarote’s
signature, laid-back style – think: smooth, white stucco in simple,
curvilinear forms, bursting with tropical greenery. Standout
masterpieces include the Fobos sculpture in Tahiche, the futuristic
Mirador del Río restaurant and Jameos del Agua, a restaurant
embedded in a lava cave.
They do chiringuitos like nowhere else
Struggling to place “chiringuitos”? If you’re a true SUITCASE
reader, you likely have a list of favourites you revisit year after
year. A chiringuito is a casual beach bar – the type that serves a
light tapas menu under canvas parasols which ripple to
a Balearic beat – and those in the Canary Islands
are masters at crafting the perfect ambience. For some prime
examples, make tracks for Playa de Papagayo in Lanzarote or Playa
de las Teresitas in Tenerife, where upscale beach-shack tipples
come garnished with paradisiacal sunsets.
Get one over on your wine-buff friends
The Canary Islands are big on their wine, don’t you know? The
blistering climate and fertile, volcanic earth make for bodaciously
fruity vintages. La Geria in Lanzarote is one such pocket of
industry, or try Tenerife which has more than 70 wine-producing
bodegas to check out. Our tip? Don’t shell out at the vineyards,
but buy from your local supermarket to cut the best deal.
Diverse landscapes
By which we mean, an impressive scope of varied terrains for
such a concentrated patch of islands. Yes, you’ll get some soaring
volcanic mountains, but you also have the ever-shifting dunes of
Maspalomas in Gran Canaria – a protected ecosystem of sweeping,
powdery sands which spans 400 hectares – Lanzarote’s Cuevea de los
Verdes caves and the rifts of La Palma, scored by rivers and made
kaleidoscopic by algae and naturally occurring minerals in the
rock. Textbook-perfect beaches are a given.
Explore the works of pioneering modernist, Nestor
That’s Néstor Martín-Fernández de la Torre, of course. This born
and raised Gran Canarian is considered one of modernism’s foremost
proponents. You’ll find a hefty archive of his colourful, symbolic
paintings in Gran Canaria’s Museo Néstor Álamo. In his lifetime, he
mingled with the biggest and brightest names in Paris and London before returning to Gran Canaria in 1934
and launching Tipismo (meaning “picturesqueness”), a campaign which
highlighted the islands’ heritage crafts to bolster tourism. The
posters from that era are buried in the annals of the internet –
tricky to find, but beautiful.
It’s one of the best places in the world for astrotourism
La Palma is actually Unesco’s first Starlight Reserve, meaning
its skies are some of the best
in the world for stargazing and fall under certain protective
measures to prevent further light pollution. La Palma has long been
at the vanguard of sustainability efforts. After much lobbying from
local inhabitants who’d noticed the gradual impact of climate
change on their farming practices, La Palma signed an EU initiative
called the Pact of Islands in 2012 and contributed to the Action
Plan for Sustainable Energy Islands. Various plans are in motion to
up the island’s solar and geothermal energy resources too.
It’s known as “The European Hawaii” for a reason
These beaches are second to none. For waves which rumble over a
low, volcanic edge before breaking onto shallow shores, hit up El
Confital in Gran Canaria. Punta Blanca in Fuerteventura is the
place to go for total surf virgins, while the uninhabited island of
Los Lobos is a riot of Instagrammable tube sections and long,
gurgling right-hand waves.
