Punta del Castellano (Taliarte) Viewpoint

In the words of Telde writer José Luis González Ruano, a lover and staunch defender of the municipality’s natural values, “every single day the Telde coastline is the setting for a fantastic colourful dawn. The early hours are the ideal moment to come and contemplate the beautiful morning sea views provided by the rocks of Taliarte”.

As we leave the beaches of Hoya del Pozo and El Hombre behind, the coastal promenade of Telde heads southwards to the Faro de Taliarte, with its fishing port and the old Canary Institute for Marine Science, which was set up at the start of the 1970s as a research centre to provide support for the flourishing Canary fishing industry, as well as providing university level studies for Marine Life. Today it is an annex centre for the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Canary Oceanic Platform (PLOCAN in Spanish).

Along the way, walkers can drop anchor opposite the well known Rincón del Castellano, next to Taliarte. Right here, barely 100 metres from the coast, is the stunning feature of two rocks connected to the shore via an underwater rock plateau some three metres deep, and joined together. Low tides at this point reveal a superb display of brown algae, the secret home to the romero fish. This area is of high ichthyological relevance, for its highly specific diversity. Indeed,over the last few years there have been sightings of families of fish species which have never previously been recorded in the Canaries.

_{Text: Álvaro Monzón (environmental writer)}