Elevation 8 m (26 ft) Local time Monday 12:49 AM | Founded 24 June 1478 Highest elevation 300 m (1,000 ft) | |
Weather 18°C, Wind N at 40 km/h, 77% Humidity Points of interest Playa de Las Canteras, Jardín Botánico Canario, Museo Néstor, Bandama Caldera, Casa‑Museo Pérez Galdós |
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Las Palmas (/ˌlɑːs ˈpɑːlməs/ or /ˌlɑːs ˈpɑːməs/, [las ˈpalmas], [laʰ ˈpalmaʰ]), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a city and capital of Gran Canaria island, in the Canary Islands, off the northwestern coast of Africa.
Contents
- Gran canaria travel video las palmas playa del ingles maspalomas
- Map of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas Spain
- Las palmas spain vacation travel video guide
- History
- Administrative divisions
- Climate
- Demographics
- Education
- Culture
- Museums theatres and exhibition halls
- Auditorium and Convention Center
- Libraries
- Other cultural events
- Neighborhoods
- Nightlife
- Beaches
- Parks and squares
- Other sights in the suburbs
- Roads and highways
- Airport
- Seaport
- Public transport
- Train under construction
- Sports
- Twin towns sister cities
- People from Las Palmas
- References
Map of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain
It is the co-capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, and the ninth largest city in Spain with a population of 383,308 in 2010. It is also the fifth most populous urban area in Spain and (depending on sources) ninth or tenth most populous metropolitan area in Spain.
Las Palmas is located in the northeastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the Moroccan coast in the Atlantic Ocean. It enjoys a very mild and pleasant semi-arid climate highly influenced by the Atlantic, with warm temperatures throughout the year.It has an average annual temperature of 21.3 °C (70.3 °F). According to a study carried out by Thomas Whitmore, director of research on climatology at Syracuse University in the U.S., Las Palmas enjoys "the best climate in the world".
The city was founded in 1478, and considered the de facto (without legal recognition) capital of the Canary Islands until the seventeenth century. It is the home of the Canarian Ministry of Presidency (shared in a four-year term with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), as well as half of the Ministries and Boards of the Canarian Government, and the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. It is the judicial and commercial capital of the Canary Islands, and is also home to a large part of the executive power.
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History
The city was founded by Juan Rejón on 24 June 1478, with the name "Real de Las Palmas". Rejón was head of the invading Castilian army, which then engaged in war with the locals.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus (Spanish:Cristóbal Colón) anchored in the port of Las Palmas and spent some time on the island on his first trip to the Americas. He also stopped there on the way back to Spain. The Colon House museum in the Vegueta area of the city is named after him.
In 1595 Francis Drake tried to plunder the town, leading to the Battle of Las Palmas. A Dutch raid under vice-admiral Pieter van der Does in 1599 was only slightly more successful; some of the town was destroyed but the raiders were repelled.
Las Palmas' seaport, Puerto de la Luz (known internationally as La Luz port), benefited greatly from the closure of the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Many foreign workers migrated to the city at this time.
Las Palmas is a sister city of San Antonio, Texas in the United States, which was founded in 1718 by about 25 Canary Islanders.
Administrative divisions
Las Palmas is divided into five administrative districts, which in turn are subdivided into districts, not necessarily consistent with the traditional neighborhoods.
Climate
Las Palmas has a hot desert climate (BWh) with warm dry summers and warm enough winters to classify it as a Tropical climate. Its average annual temperature is 21.2 °C (70.2 °F)–28 °C (82 °F) during the day and 18 °C (64 °F) at night. In January, the coldest month, the temperature typically ranges from 19 to 23 °C (66 to 73 °F) (and sometimes more) during the day, and around 15 to 16 °C (59 to 61 °F) at night, with an average sea temperature at 20 °C (68 °F). In the warmest months — August and September — the temperature typically ranges from 27 to 30 °C (81 to 86 °F) during the day, above 21 °C (70 °F) at night, with the average sea temperature at 23 °C (73 °F). Large fluctuations in temperature are rare.
August 1990 was the warmest month on record, with the average maximum temperature of the month during the day being 30.6 °C (87.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded was 44.2 °C (111.6 °F), and the coldest temperature ever recorded was 9.4 °C (48.9 °F). The highest wind speed ever recorded was on the 28th of November 2005, measuring 113 km/h (70.21 mph). Las Palmas city has never recorded any snow or sleet.
Annual average relative humidity is 66%, ranging from 64% in March to 69% in October. The amount of annual sunshine hours is above 2,800 per year, from around 190 in winter (average of 6 hours a day) to around 300 in summer (average of 10 hours a day). It rains on average only 22 days a year, with total precipitation per year of only 151 mm (5.9 in).
Demographics
As of 2008 nearly half (45.9%) of Gran Canaria's inhabitants live in Las Palmas, as well as 18.35% of the Canary Islands' total population.
Throughout history, Las Palmas received waves of immigrants from mainland Spain and countries from every continent. The majority of the population is Spanish, although there are large North- and Sub-Saharan African and Latin American communities (especially the Venezuelan community, which is growing fast), as well as important historical minorities such as Indians (Sindhi) and Koreans and a growing Chinese population.
Ethnically, most autochthonous Canarians are descendants of a mixture of aboriginal people (guanches) of the Canary Islands (now extinct), the Spanish conquistadores and later European (mainly Spanish, Portuguese, Flemish, Irish, French, Italian, German and British) colonizers.
Education
Las Palmas is home to University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with appr. 25,000 students.
The city also has a wide variety of state and public primary and secondary schools.
International schools include:
The Escuela Complementaria Japonesa de Las Palmas previously provided a weekend supplementary Japanese programme.
Culture
Las Palmas offers a variety of theater, cinema, opera, concerts, visual arts and dance performances. The city hosts the Canary Islands Music Festival, the Theatre and Dance and the International Film Festival. The main City Festival, celebrating the foundation of the "City Fiestas de San Juan" is held in June. The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is known not only in Spain but also worldwide, and is one of the main attractions for tourists. The city center of Las Palmas, specifically the Vegueta and Triana neighbourhoods, are included in the tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Museums, theatres and exhibition halls
Auditorium and Convention Center
Libraries
The city has a wide network of libraries. Along with the 11 municipal libraries, there are three specialized centres:
A library is situated in the first floor of Woermann Tower.
Other cultural events
Neighborhoods
Nightlife
The historic district of Vegueta has regained great popularity in recent years, the meeting place of choice at weekends for many young people, who fill its bars and discos. In the port area are also numerous bars and nightclubs, particularly in the vicinity of Santa Catalina.
The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria usually takes place between January and February each year; popular activities include Mogollon dances and queen and the drag queen galas. The WOMAD (World Of Music, Art & Dance) Festival usually occurs in November each year in the capital of Gran Canaria – 2010 marks the sixteenth edition.
Beaches
The city has four main beaches: Las Canteras, Las Alcaravaneras, La Laja, and El Confital.
Parks and squares
Other sights in the suburbs
Roads and highways
Urban road infrastructure is overburdened on workdays and in certain areas; the city street plan is not at all rectilinear, and may be confusing even to experienced drivers. However, there are no toll roads; entrances, exits, main streets and important zones are all well-signposted.
Las Palmas, being the centre of the Las Palmas metropolitan area, is the hub for the island's motorway network. The city is linked with three highways: the GC-1 to the south, the GC-2 to the west and GC-3 to the center of the island.
The GC-1 links the capital with Puerto Rico in the south. It is the fastest route from the top of the island to the bottom and vice versa with a speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph). It is approximately 75 km (47 mi) in length and runs along the eastern and the southern coasts, and is also the second longest superhighway in the Canary Islands. The road provides easy access from the airport to the major cities and resorts, which include Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés. The increase in tourism over the years has necessitated the route's upgrading and widening to cope with traffic growth. The GC-1 begins south of the downtown area of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the highway runs within the beach of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and 2 km (1 mi) south intersects with the GC-2 and later runs with a few clover leaf interchanges and later forms a junction with GC-5 and south, the GC-31.
The GC-2 North Highway connects Las Palmas with the small northern port and village of Agaete. The eastern portion – about 20 km (12 mi) in length – is a superhighway with interchange numbers, the rest of the highway is a two-laned; the western part is also only two-laned and has exit numbers. The highway begins by the beach area of the island, and runs through the downtown area, linking with the GC31 at a roundabout interchange. The freeway runs within the beaches and the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean for the half part but at around the 20th km, it becomes a highway after the unidirectional parclo interchanges and runs within the coastline, it later has several interchanges and several towns as it passes to the northwest and finally, it ends in Agaete.
Airport
Las Palmas is served by Gran Canaria Airport, also called Las Palmas Airport (IATA: LPA, ICAO: GCLP).
The airport is located in the eastern part of the island, about 18 km (11 mi) from Las Palmas city centre. In 2008, it handled 10,212,106 passengers and 33,695,248 kg (74,285,306 lb) of cargo, and is the fourth busiest in Spain. It is also the only airport on the islands with two runways, thus can accommodate up to 53 landings and take-offs per hour. The lengthy runways made the airport an alternative landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle. This airport is also a base for Binter Canarias and Navegacion y Servicios Aéreos Canarios, airlines which operate regional inter-island flights within the Canary Islands.
An airbase of the Spanish Air Force is located to the east of the runways. Beyond several hangars opposite the passenger terminal, the Gando Air Base (Base Aérea de Gando) contains ten shelters situated on the southern end of the eastern runway.
Seaport
Puerto de Las Palmas (Las Palmas Port), also known as Puerto de la Luz, is a main port for fishing, commercial, passenger and sports in the northwest of the city. It has been the traditional base for scale and supplying ships on their way through the Middle Atlantic for five centuries. The Port of Las Palmas is not only the first port of the Canary Islands, it is one of the main ports of Spain and the first of the geographical area of West Africa. As the leading port in the mid-Atlantic, it serves as the crossroads between Europe, Africa and America. In 2007, the port received some 11,262 ships; it welcomed a total of 907,782 cruise passengers, a 16.26% increase on 2006. In terms of annual TEU, the port of Las Palmas ranks as the 5th in Spain, and is among the first 15 ports of Europe.
The Port of Las Palmas is the first Mid-Atlantic fishing base, with an annual traffic of more than 4,500 stopovers and with some 400,000 tons of frozen fish processed. Despite experiencing some decline in recent years, it retains its dominance in the fishing industry over other ports in the Canary Islands. The port provides 175,000 m3 (6,180,067 cu ft) of cold storage facilities. At the foot of pier, special refrigerated containers and preparation rooms for frozen products owned by Trastainer can carry out the entire chain of post-processing and storage of fish, from refrigeration and distribution, to manufacture and supply of industrial ice. The port's EU-approved border inspection post is responsible for inspecting all types of imports and exports between the European Economic Union and its trading partners.
Public transport
Las Palmas boasts a high quality bus system, provided by Guaguas Municipales. Municipal Bus Lines offers 40 urban transport routes, covering both the bottom and the top of the city. The main lines are the 1 (Teatro - Puerto), 2 (Alameda de Colón - Puerto), 17 (Teatro - El Rincón), 25 (Campus Universitario - El Rincón), 12 (Puerto - Hoya de la Plata) and 30 (Alameda de Colón - Santa Catalina, via Rehoyas). In addition, two circular lines (A: Santa Catalina - Santa Catalina, via Alcaraveneras) and B (Santa Catalina - Santa Catalina, via Ciudad Alta).
The most important bus lines have frequencies of between 3 and 15 minutes during the day and between 10 and 40 minutes at night; most lines have service throughout the night. The bright yellow buses are known simply as 'guaguas'. The unique tariff, paid directly to the driver, is 1.30 euro. A 10-ride ticket is available for €7.50 at official shops in the city. The Tarjeta Insular (Island Card) which offered a 20% discount on both municipal buses and Global buses was discontinued on 1 January 2011.
Global, inter-hire company, has 119 lines, many to or from the capital. This company was formed in 2000, resulting from the merger of the previous Salcai and interurban lines Utinsa.
There is also the Guagua Turística, which covers the most interesting sites of the city with a guide in several languages.
Train under construction
El Tren de Gran Canaria (TG) is a rail project initially proposed as an alternative way to get from Las Palmas to Maspalomas but was later raised to Agaete extension.
Another project is the Tramway Palmas (Gran Canaria), which would cover the same journey as the bus line 1, with an average frequency of 5 minutes and a journey time of 35 minutes.
Sports
Las Palmas is home to three major professional sports teams. These are:
Las Palmas was one of the arenas of 2014 FIBA World Championship for Group D, consisting Lithuania, Angola, Korea, Slovenia, Mexico and Australia. Matches were played in the new arena - Palacio de Deportes de Las Palmas with a capacity of about 10,000.
Many [mainly] outdoor sports are practised in city and neighbourhood, for example: surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, swimming, diving, skydiving, paragliding, running, cycling, rowing, tennis and golf (mainly in Las Palmeras Golf, Real Club De Golf De Las Palmas, El Cortijo Club de Campo and Oasis Golf). Real Club De Golf De Las Palmas, inaugurated on 17 December 1891, is the oldest golf club in Spain.
Twin towns — sister cities
Las Palmas is twinned with: