Every Tuesday morning a large and colourful market is held in the former fishermen’s village Arguineguin.

Besides a variety of products manufactured and grown on the island (aloe vera, mangos, cacti fruits, potatoes, the famous “mojo” sauces etc.), one can also find cheap clothes, second – hand goods, everyday objects, watches, sun glasses, African handicraft and a lot more.

Basically everything you can expect of such a diverse market place.

The market area is situated just at the entrance to the town, only meters away from the first big roundabout when coming from Maspalomas.

The bright sun and the restaurants surrounding the market are the reasons for all the happy people there. A soft breeze carries the scent of the sea, which can be seen sparkling behind the market stands. Street musicians and artists entertain the visitors.

Dozens of different languages can be heard in the alleys and streets.

The market has become a must see not only for tourists from all over the world, but for the locals too.

Around noon the market place starts to fill with visitors. After we satisfied our curiosity and desire to buy, a walk along the sea front of Aguineguin presents itself to be the perfect option.

The warm air and the crystal clear water of the Atlantic Ocean give us a wonderful idea: swimming in the sea.

It’s in the middle of January but everything seems to be different here.

Gran Canary has everything one can wish for. One just feels comfortable here…even on a very normal Tuesday in the middle of January.

This heavenly beach covering miles and miles of the south-east coast of Gran Canary is no longer an insider’s tip.

But despite of mass tourism and all of its implications, this gem of nature situated near the Maspalomas sand dunes has not lost any of its charm.

The team of Cárdenas Real Estate walked along this sea front for you, enjoying the enchanting view of the Malpalomas sand dunes.

Early in the morning, we ventured to the beach, where for thousands of years the waves of the Atlantic Ocean have thundered against the golden sandy shores.

Sunset Gran Canaria, taken by myself with an Iphone

View over Arguineguin, Gran Canaria, taken by brother of Lucy

Maspalomas has an annual football tournament that attracts the European football, this year on 9 January the first game will take place at 8.30pm between FC Twente of Holland  and Lausanne of Switzerland at the San Fernando stadium. The next day matches up Brondby of Denmark with Aalesunds of Norway, the two winners will meet in a grand final on 12 January at 9pm, after a third place decider at 6.30pm.

Many people who invest in a new property in Gran Canaria are drawn by the outdoor life and sporting and active ways to relax. Some take advantage of the sea while others enjoy walking and hiking, there are plenty of challenging trails across the island. Cardenas Real Estate know island life well and can point you in the right direction to enjoy your favourite past time.

Cycling is another way to explore Gran Canaria, some explore in a slow relaxing way but top professional teams are attracted by the chance to pit themselves against nature. Team Saxo Bank from Denmark are saddling up for a January visit, this professional team includes three of the country’s top young prospects who are aiming to impress the national team selectors at time trials and road racing.

So whether you choose Gran Canaria for the beaches, the sun, or the keenly priced properties, it’s good to know there is a rich heritage of sport to enjoy as you discover the wonders of the island.

Barranco de los Cernicalos

Barranco de los Cernicalos

A Hidden beauty inland

Nearly all visitors to our island will no doubt have visited many of the beautiful beaches and coastal areas in Gran Canaria but how many know about the hidden beauties inland?

One of my favourite places on the island is “Barranco de Los Cernícalos” translated to “Ravine of the kestrels”.  For those who love walking this is a route that will become a firm favourite thanks to the stunning natural beauty of the area.

The ravine is a forest composed of wild olives, willow trees and plenty of unique flora that thrive thanks to the year-round running water in forms of streams and waterfalls. The walk takes you up along the stream, under the shade of huge trees and lush vegetation passing smaller waterfalls before finally reaching a spectacular 10m fall.

The route is approximately 6 km long and a return journey will take you approximately 3 hours taking time out to sit and enjoy the surroundings. A picnic area can be found at the start of the walk next to the parking areas or you can sit down along the way in the midst of the Forest.

This really is a magical place where the young, old and even the four legged furry friends can all enjoy a memorable day out.

Directions from the south:

-Take the motorway direction Las Palmas

- Take the GC10 off to your right (sign posted “Telde todas direcciones”)

-Continue along the GC10 through the main town of Telde until you see sign posts to “Lomo Magullo”

-Follow directions to Lomo Magullo, approx. 10 minutes drive

-Continue until you see a sign post for “Barranco de los Cernícalos”

-At the bottom of the Valley you will see parking spaces next to a picnic area; a small track will   take you to the beginning of the walk.

We trust this measure will help to pusth the market of main residence, quite stagnant because of lack of bank finance.

Source: http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?id=227080

The village of Fataga is located in the rocky Valley of Tirajana. Fataga is an Oasis surrounded by many palm and pine trees.

Fataga has an history which goes back 2.000 years in time. Already the ancient Canarian aborigenes used to live and cultivate in this very fertile area.

You can visit Fataga taking the road GC-520 from Playa Inglés. The way to the village is already worth seeing. If you have more time you can continue the road passing by Roque Nublo and the highest point of Gran Canaria: Pico de las Nieves.

As a picture say more than a thousands words we would like to leave you with some pictures of the Austrian photographer Thomas Borstner.

Gran Canaria is widely known as the European capital of windsurf and Pozo Izquierdo is the most radical place to practice this sport.  Many famous windsurfers live in Gran Canaria and surf in Pozo Izquierdo and we are very proud of Gran Canarian born twins Daida and Iballa Ruano who have been crowned World Champions on various occasions.   Better known is the veteran Björn Dunkerbeck who has been crowned World Champion a massive 35 times and has broken the world speed sailing record on seven occasions, his career dates back to 1986 and his passion for the sport began in Playa del Ingles and spread further up the east coast until he found what was once the deserted beach of Pozo Izquierdo.  Or the young Philip Köster, actual champion of the 2010 contest in Pozo. Other well known Windsurfers who live here are Darío Ojeda, Marcos Pérez, Vidar & Orjan Jensen, Jonas Ceballos, … (there are many so sorry for not putting them all).

Another radical and attractive contest is the Red Bull Air Rocket which is going to be celebrated on one day between the 24th and the 31st of June giving 2 days notice in advance being the contest day published on http://www.redbull.es/rockets. The highest jump and best trick will be prized. Jumps up to 8 meters and more will be normal. Watch this video of a high jump of Philip Köster in Pozo Izquierdo.

But not only radical windsurfers are welcomed, Gran Canaria attracts many windsurfers the whole year. The Club Mistral in Bahía Feliz in the South offer great conditions for all levels and other locations near Pozo offer as well great flat water conditions if the conditions in Pozo are too strong. Shops and schools in Pozo as Hullon or Cutre offer great material and windsurfing school for all levels.

A beautiful fishing village carefully extended with new buildings that blend in perfectly with the old traditional Spanish style, a marina full of vibrant colours & walkways and a golden sandy beach.  This is how you will picture Puerto de Mogán today but how many of you know about its past and what it looked like years ago?

Until the 1980´s Puerto de Mogán was a sparsely populated fishing village. The people of Puerto de Mogán earned their livelihood from 2 main sources:  fishing and agriculture but once the coastal road network reached Mogán the change began and with this the traditional agricultural and fishing activity started to be replaced by its current tourism activity.

Rafael Neville, born in Malaga was the mastermind and main sponsor of what is now known as “Puerto de Mogán – The Little Venice of Canarias”, his intention was to build the best breathtaking urbanization in the Canary Islands and even though many believed that there would be no room for expansion either physically or economically he insisted and work commenced in 1983 finishing in 1988, the project required extensive land reclamation from the deep Atlantic Ocean and this is where the fishing harbour and marina area now lies.

More recently constructed in 2004 is the hotel “Cordial”, a four star hotel distributed over a surface area of 48.000 square meters full of botanical gardens.  The design of the hotel and its grounds fit in perfectly to maintain the delightful and peaceful atmosphere that Playa & Puerto de Mogán have become known for thus making it one of the most popular places to visit in the Canary Islands.

Photo from 1965 from website http://www.fotosantiguascanarias.org/

The elections were a victory for the centre-right opposition Popular Party (PP), which won its best result in local elections since Spain returned to democracy in 1978. The governing Socialist Party (PSOE) suffered severe losses in every region and lost nearly all the largest cities of Spain.

Both our municipality Mogán and the neighbour town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana gave the absolute majority to the Popular Party too, which will not depend on any other party to form the local government. It might now be possible to approve the new PGOU (General Plan for Urban Organisation), which has long been postponed in both towns due to the lack of a sufficient majority and the impossibility to reach an agreement between the different parties. The approval of that legal instrument is absolutely necessary for the further development of the south of Gran Canaria.