THE HIDDEN CANARIES; The Canary islands are our favourite winter sun destination. But forget the crowded beaches – the islands are amazingly varied. Henry Sutton offers a definitive guide
0 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, Dec 6, 2003
Byline: HENRY SUTTON
ATTRACTING more than 7.5 million tourists a year, the Spanish-owned Canary Islands are hardly a big secret. They have been the favourite winter sun destination for the British since the 1960s, when mass tourism began.
However, the seven main islands are all very different.
While a couple are trying to reverse the worst effects of over-development, others are just beginning to open up. Even the weather varies wildly.
TENERIFE
THIS is the largest Canary island, home to both the tallest mountain in Spain, Mount Teide, and one of the world’s largest artificial beaches, Playa de las Teresitas.
The weather in the rocky north of the island is humid and often misty – perfect for growing bananas and grapes, and putting off an overabundance of tourists.
In the south, where the biggest resorts are located, it is hot, dry and sunny. The capital, Santa Cruz, has a new cultural landmark – the wacky-looking Tenerife Auditorium.
Scheduled flights from the UK are also now landing at Tenerife North, which it is hoped will help bring visitors to the more unspoilt parts of the island, such as the medieval harbour town of Garachico.
Despite some great hiking trails, the excellence of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, and the unspoilt north, golf and water sports are still major draws – as is the cheapness of family packages to resorts such as the relentlessly tacky Los Cristianos.
Top hotel is the Victorian-style 8120a-night Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque Resort (tel: 34 922 74 69 00) in the rapidly expanding southern resort of Costa Adeje.
GB Airways has two flights a week from London Gatwick to Tenerife North and five to Tenerife South, from [pounds sterling]179. Tel: 0845 77 333 77.
LANZAROTE
FOR years dubbed Lanzagrotty (due to sprawling resorts such as Puerto del Carmen), Lanzarote is fast becoming the coolest island in the Canaries. This is largely due to a resurgence of interest in the work of the late architect, artist and local, Cesar Manrique.
Just outside the capital Arrecife is his old house, fashioned in 1968 from a lava field, with rooms tunnelled out of the rock. It is now a popular contemporary art museum, Fundacion Cesar Manrique, stacked with Picassos and Miros.
As a conservationist, he successfully battled to introduce strict building regulations, which now cover most of the island.
Nearest island to the African coast, Lanzarote is exceptionally arid and largely devoid of vegetation, except for the prickly pear.
Camels are a common sight, lugging tourists up the Fire Mountains range of still-active volcanoes.
The beaches mainly consist of golden sand. A string of particularly beautiful and remote bays and coves make up Playas de Papagayo in the south, best reached by 4×4, while La Santa in the north is renowned for its surfing.
Hotels are generally big and basic, though the 372-room Hotel Occidental Oasis, in the heavily developed resort of Costa Tequise, has become a member of the Council of Biosphere Hotels, which aims to promote ‘responsible, sustainable’ tourism.
Hotel Occidental Oasis all-inclusive doubles from 8180 per room (tel: 34 928 59 04 10). Prestige Holidays has B&B; packages to the fourstar Los Jameos Playa in Playa de los Pocillos from [pounds sterling]539 per person, including BA flights, 01425 480 400.
FUERTEVENTURA FORMIDABLY arid,
Fuerteventura is made up of sand dunes and scrub and is becoming increasingly popular with German naturists – which may, of course, put the rest of us off.
Because of an almost complete lack of water, the island has been slow to develop and the tourist industry is still in its infancy.
This winter season, however, GB Airways is to start a twiceweekly service to Fuerteventura
LA PALMA LA GOMERA EL HIERRO – the first scheduled flights to the island from a British carrier.
What passengers will immediately be aware of when they disembark is the sheer number of goats roaming the semi-desert – far outnumbering the island’s human population, which stands at around 40,000.
The more accessible beaches are found in the north, around Corralejo, while the wilder ones are near Cofete, in the far south.
The aptly named Costa Calma in the north-east is the island’s biggest resort, though compared with many of those found on Lanzarote and Tenerife, it has been sympathetically constructed – lots of white villas and stylish, low-rise hotels.
Hotel Risco del Gato, perched on a headland, is expensive, though the restaurant is one of the best on the island
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