Gran Canaria for 
Tour of the West
- The Tour in 360º
Maspalomas (San Bartolomé de Tirajana) - Mogán - La Aldea de San Nicolás - Agaete
Podcast: Maspalomas
The West is the least densely populated part of the island and La Aldea de San Nicolás is the main township and local point for agricultural activity in the area. It can be reached either from the central mountainous area along a spectacular road, or, more easily, from Agaete via the north-west of the island, or Maspalomas or Mogán if you are driving up from the south. Whichever route is chosen, and prosuming that the visitor is starting out from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it will have been necessary to drive all the way around the island in order to reach La Aldea de San Nicolás.
A good point to start the journey is at the lighthouse Faro de Maspalomas, the southernmost point in Europe, and from here head for the tourist resorts at Playa de las Meloneras and the Marina at Pasito Blanco.
We now cross the municipal boundary into Mogán. The road hugs a coastlina of spectacular cliffs at the feet of which lie the beaches named after the island´s principal ravines at the point at which they meet the Atlantic Ocean. The port of Arguineguin, a fishing village, and the beaches of Patalavaca, La Verga, Puerto Rico, Amadores, del Cura, Tauro and Taurito all have excellent tourist installations with facilities for every kind of water sport. Lastly we reach the Puerto de Mogán, a highly attractive tourist development of great originality and carefulness in the way it has adapted island styles of architecture. The port has a wide variety of pavement cafés and restaurants where the visitor can taste the delights of the local fish.
The port is a great place for organising deep-sea fishinf trips and indeed the area holds no less than 72 world records for a variety of species, outstanding among which is the blue marlin. As in most of the island´s leisure marinas, it is possible to hire boats, either with or without crew to sail on the calm coastal waters.
From the Puerto de Mogán the road heads inland, by-passing the beaches of Veneguera, El Perchel, Güi-Güi etc., all of which are highly attractive but difficult to reach. Finally we reach La Aldea de San Nicolás, situated at the very centre of the west coast, in the outlet of a wide ravine.
Long before reaching La Aldea is the fertile, su-tropical Valley of Mogán, some 8 kilometres inland from the port. The village of Mogán itself is most attractive and is surrounded by the first foothills of the chain of mountains, which rises up to the island´s majestic peaks. Here we can detect the scent of pine trees and UNESCO has claimend that the balmy micro-climate enjoyed by Mogán is the best in the world.
La Aldea, a fishing port and centre of agricultural activity, is home every year to the Fiesta del Charco. The Charco is a lagoon created by the confluence of the sea waves with the fresh water streams which run down to the coast from the island´s centre mountains. The Charco is home to a unique breed of fish known as lisas which are allowed to grow all year until the 10th September. On this day hundreds of participants in the annual festival launch themselves into the water in an attempt to catch the fish by any means possible, including with their bare hands.
Let us return to La Aldea. If the scenery from the south-west of the island was breathtaking, the road from La Aldea to Agaete in the north-west of the island is no less so. As the read clings to the andén Verde, a huge 600 metre high cliff face, and to Tirma we will have an excellent view of the Roque Faneque rock, with a height of 1007 metres above sea level.
Eventually we come to the lush pine forest of Parque Natural de Tamadaba (Tamadaba Natural Park). The forest is caressed by the Trade Winds, which provide it with the high level of humidity required for heather, ferns and lichen to flourish after a gentle rainfall. This forest of Canarian Pine Trees is also the habitat of numerous birds, invertebrates, and a good number of plant species which are exclusive to the area, such as the Tamadaba Thyme.
If in Agaete we can contemplate the crest of pine trees on the soaring cliff faces above us, we can now enjoy an eagle´s eye view down to the bay at Puerto de Las Nieves where our visit to the West of the island via the South terminates. Or commences, if we are to explore the North.
