Splendid Views & Rum in Arucas
Most visitors to Gran Canaria arrive on the island as part of a package deal vacation and are rushed to their hotels in the South near the tourist resorts of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles. Many thus fail to look beyond the usual routine of Sun and Beach, unable to savor the true local spirit of Gran Canaria. In previous Sidetracks articles we covered some alternative trajectories for a culturally enriching stay in the Canary Islands, including our post on a Cultural-Immersion Carnival in Las Palmas over a year ago. In two subsequent articles, we would like to shed further light on Treasures off the Beaten Track Destinations on the island of Gran Canaria. Both focus on the less touristy North of the Island and offer viable alternatives to mass tourism and monotonous beach vacations. And both are centered in and around Las Palmas de GC, the administrative and cultural capital of the Eastern Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura & Lanzarote).
A mere 40 minutes Northwest of Las Palmas, we find the island's third largest city and among its most scenic, the agricultural town of ARUCAS. Sugar cane has been cultivated here even before it became popular in Cuba, making Arucas a center of RUM production on the Canaries. The Rum Factory located inside the city's well-groomed city park, Jardin de Hespérides, attests to the area's prestigious past in the distillation of the local "AREHUCAS" rum. A walk around town, particularly in Arucas' pedestrian zone, reveals a vast array of 19th & 20th century town houses featuring ornate facades as a testament to the community's former wealth and glory. Apart from sugar cane for rum, the area also grows cactus for the cultivation of COCHINELLA beatles used as a natural form of red dye for fabrics.
When rum production seized to be of economic importance to Arucas and less sugar cane was cultivated, much of the fertile land was used for planting banana crops, the most extensive on the archipelago, as well as many exotic plants and flowers, giving Arucas the nickname of "ciudad de las flores" (City of Flowers). The by far most imposing building in town is the monumental "Church of San Juan Bautista" or "Catedral de Arucas" built entirely of Arucas stone in Neo-Gothic style as recently as 1909, although its appearance suggests a much older age. Its splendid interior offers magnificent stained-glass windows by local artist Cristobal Hernandez de Quintano as well as ornate carvings by Manuel Ramos, most famous of which is the "Reclining Christ".
Following our stroll around central Arucas, its pedestrian zone and park areas, we head 3 miles onwards to the nearby "Montaña de Arucas" for splendid views of the surrounding countryside. Upon parking our car, we ascend towards the panorama restaurant, next to which several observation platforms, "MIRADORES", open up to allow us a spectacular glimpse of Northern Gran Canaria. At a height of 412 meters, one side near the parking lot offers views of Arucas city including its cathedral, while at the opposite end several platforms allow scenic views of the Atlantic Coast and an entire aerial view of Las Palmas de GC including Las Canteras Beach. On clear days, even the mountain of Teide may be seen on the neighboring island of Tenerife. In addition, the "Montaña de Arucas" features many tropical plants as well as bird cages with parrots. It is thus an ideal destination for families for a weekend getaway with great hiking opportunities and several local beaches nearby.
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