Way out in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa you'll find a cosmopolitan
city of 400 000 people that claims to have the best climate in the world - that city
is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Serena and i are staying in the city's oldest and grandest hotel, the Santa Catalina.
It opened its doors in 1890, the product of a British developer and the mind of the Scottish
architect James Maclean.
It was a huge success in its early years but it couldn't withstand the effects of the first
world war - incredibly it remained closed until 1946.
More recently it was purchased by the hotel group Barcelo and after a huge programme of
renovations and refurbishment it reopened in 2019 to now take its place once again amongst
the greatest hotels in Europe.
Now las palmas isn't the easiest city to walk around because rather than one distinct city
centre it has a number of different commercial and entertainment district,s so inevitably
you'll need to catch the odd taxi or even a guagua - a what?
a guagua!
on mainland spain a bus is an autobus but here the canary yellow buses that dash around
the city streets are known as guavas
In the Parque San Telmo you'll find the prettiest cafe in the whole of las palmas, no contest,
an absolute modernist masterpiece!
just south of the park is the main street in the Triana district, a great place for
more modernist architecture shopping and, should you feel like it, a bit of dancing
27 degrees centigrade at the beginning of February, you know maybe this is the best
climate in the world!
this is where 15th and 16th century las palmas really comes alive, in la Vegueta district,
it's where you'll find the cathedral and also the columbus house.
Now you can't come to las palmas without discussing christopher columbus or as he's known here
cristobal colon.
Now i'm well aware that christopher columbus was not the first european to set foot in
the americas, the vikings were there centuries before and probably even a few whalers from
the Basque country, but nevertheless those incursions did not have the same impact as
that voyage in 1492.
The explorer from genoa brought his ships here to las palmas for final fitting and stocking
up before setting off across the atlantic and everything you need to know about those
famous voyages is here at the casa de colon, now that's not to be taken literally, it wasn't
columbus's house, but it is thought that he stayed here in my opinion the most interesting
part of the museum lies in the crypt, the pre-columbine section, there are artifacts
here from cultures that would never survive the colonial invasion that came after the
famous voyage of 1492.
It's a beautiful yet poignant insight into what was lost
the heart of the city is the plaza santa ana and of course the cathedral the best place
to get a view over the rooftops of Vegueta and indeed the wider city is to take the lift
of the cathedral bell tower - how about this for a view
the cathedral took an incredible 350 years to complete and without doubt its most beautiful
architectural feature are the columns which take on the form of enormous stone palm trees
if you're on an island in the atlantic with volcanic soil and the perfect climate then
you know that the market must be something really special!
you know the youth of this city really are fortunate because here in the city centre
there's not only this beach here on the port side but a few blocks that way you'll find
la playa de las canteras, one of the largest urban beaches anywhere in the world
las palmas is a historic club in spanish football and from time to time even graces the top
flight, and it used to have an iconic stadium with a huge yellow and blue terrace at one
end so i was really sad to hear the club had moved to an all-purpose stadium outside the
city.
I assumed that like most old football stadiums it would now be either derelict or buried
beneath a housing complex but i was wrong because el estadio insular is still very much
alive in spirit, you can still stand on the yellow and blue terrace and now anybody can
play on the pitch albeit you may need to dribble past the odd palm tree.
This is exactly the kind of regeneration that i approve of, the stadium is still here, converted
into an urban park that everybody can enjoy
it's the last night of our city break so beachfront buzz or the atmosphere of the old town?
i think I fancy tapas in the old town
that's all from las palmas we're off to la Gomera for a complete change of pace - press
subscribe and we'll see you there!