A total of 27 kilometres separate Gáldar from the capital. The highest part of the municipality is situated at some 1,700 metres above sea-level. In the high areas of this northern municipality we find well differentiated morphologies which originated from the volcanic eruptions of “El Montañón Negro”, “La Caldera de los Pinos de Gáldar” and the “Hondo de Fagagesto”
The town of Gáldar, capital of one of the ancient kingdoms of the island before the Spanish conquest of Gran Canaria, shows part of its ancestral past in the Cueva Pintada (Painted Cave) Archaeological Park in the centre of town. Here we have one of the main findings of rock drawings in the Atlantic area. Public opening times: Tuesdays to Saturdays from 09:30 to 19:00 hours (last visit at 17:00 hours); Sundays from 11:00 to 18:30 hours (last visit at 17:00 hours); Mondays closed.
The Town Centre, declared Historical Group in 1981, preserves various notable buildings. The Matrix Temple of Santiago de Gáldar, one of the most beautiful in the Canaries, is a link between the baroque and the first neo-classical style of the archipelago. The temple holds interesting pieces of art such as the Pila Verde (the Green Christening Stone), where the first defeated Canarians received their first baptism after the Conquest of the Island.
The old Town Hall (Casas Consistoriales), constructed over an old building of the XVIII century, is custodian to one of the oldest Drago trees in Gran Canaria, already documented back in 1718. Public opening times: Mondays to Fridays from 08:00 to 14:30 hours. Annexed to the Town Hall is the Municipal Theatre, a 1912 construction that came to substitute the old theatre founded by Queen Isabel II of Spain.
The so called Plaza Grande (Great Square) is one of the best examples of Public Walks of the XIX century in the Canaries, where examples of centennial trees, such as the South American Laurels and the Araucarias, deserve a mention. The Antonio Padrón Museum, a few metres away, houses more than one hundred works of art by one of the most distinguished artists in the archipelago. Public opening times: Mondays to Fridays from 09:00 to 14:00 hours.
Gáldar is one of the places with the greatest number of beaches and natural pools in the northern part of Gran Canaria. Here we must distinguish the beach of Sardina with its various restaurants and small fishing harbour. The beach is frequently used by divers, especially due to the convenience of equipping themselves and beginning their inmersions from its harbour. One of the main attractions of this place, for divers, are the night dives close to the dock of the fishing harbour.
For more tourist information on the municipality, Gáldar has a Tourist Information Office in the town centre.
