Las Palmas

Las Palmas (UK: /ˌlæs ˈpælməs, - ˈpɑːl-/, US: /ˌlɑːs ˈpɑːlməs, -mɑːs/; Spanish: [las ˈpalmas]), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the most populous city in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, and the ninth-largest city in Spain with a population of 381,223 in 2020. 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 km (93 mi) west of the Moroccan coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Las Palmas experiences a desert climate, offset by the local cooler Canary Current, with warm temperatures throughout the year. It has an average annual temperature of 21.2 °C (70.2 °F).
The city was founded in 1478, and considered the de facto (without legal and real 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.
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.
The war began at the mouth of the Guiniguada ravine, where he settled together with his 30 soldiers El Real de Las Palmas, which today is the district of Vegueta.
The struggle lasted for a period of five years, costing a great number of lives, especially on the aboriginal side, which lacked sufficient means to defend itself against the armies sent by the Catholic monarchs. Even so, resistance was fierce. The end of the conquest came in 1483, with the incorporation of the island into the Crown of Castile by Pedro de Vera, who managed to subjugate the natives of Gáldar in the northwest of the island.
On November 20, 1485, the diocese was transferred from El Rubicón (Lanzarote) to Real de Las Palmas. The importance of the city grew gradually, with the establishment of the Bishopric of the Canary Islands, the first Court of the Holy Inquisition, the Royal Court of the Canary Islands and the residence of the Captains General of the Canary Islands. Although the capital, as understood from the 19th century onwards, did not exist as such in the archipelago, given that the Captain General's Residence was in Las Palmas, it can be considered that this was the capital of the Canary Islands during part of the 16th and 17th centuries; afterwards, although without legal or real significance, it continued to be considered the honorary capital of the Canary archipelago.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón) anchored in the port of Las Palmas for a repair of the rudder of his ship Pinta and spent some time on the neighbour island on his first trip to the Americas. He also stopped there on the way back to Spain. The Colón House [es] - a museum in the Vegueta [es] district 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), the construction of which began in 1883 played significant role in modernizing the city and sped up its advancement. The port benefited greatly from the closure of the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Many foreign workers migrated to the city at this time.
In 1927, the Province of Canary Islands was split into two provinces: of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria became the capital of the latter, and integrated the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Las Palmas is divided into five administrative districts, which in turn are subdivided into districts, not necessarily consistent with the traditional neighborhoods.
The city has four main beaches: Las Canteras, Las Alcaravaneras, La Laja, and El Confital.
Las Palmas has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh; Trewartha: BWal) with tropical climate influences has the average temperature on the coldest month does not drop below 18 °C (64 °F). Summers are dry and warm, while winters are also warm. 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 higher) 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 28 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 six 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).
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. According to a study by the National Statistics Institute of Spain Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has a life expectancy of 80.9 years.
Throughout history, Las Palmas received waves of immigrants from mainland Spain and countries from every continent. The majority of the population is Spanish, although large North- and sub-Saharan African and Latin American communities exist (especially the Venezuelan community, which is growing fast), as well as important historical minorities such as Indians (Sindhi), Koreans, and a growing Chinese population.
One street near the city's port has a number of Korean businesses, and has been called the city's Koreatown. It caters to Korean sailors who arrive at the island, who affectionately call the city the "Second Busan", after the port city in South Korea.
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, French, Italian, German, and British) colonizers.
Las Palmas is home to University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, founded in 1989.
The city also has a 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.
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 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.
The city has 11 municipal libraries and there are three specialized centres:
A library is also situated on the first floor of Woermann Tower.
Source:
Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias (Catholic Church), Spanish Evangelical Church (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Baptist Evangelical Union of Spain (Baptist World Alliance), Assemblies of God. There are also Muslim mosques.
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 acting as a city bypass connecting the other two.
The GC-1 links the capital with Puerto de Mogán 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 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.
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 Canaryfly, 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.
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. At the foot of pier, special refrigerated containers and preparation rooms for frozen products 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.
Muelle Deportivo is the main yachting marina on the island opposite the commercial port with a capacity of 1250 boats. Close to the centre of the city it is popular with yachtsmen largely as a base for preparing their trans Atlantic passage. It is the start point for the ARC and ARC+ (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in which up to 300 yachts of different sizes leave in November for the Caribbean.
Las Palmas boasts a bus system, provided by the company Guaguas Municipales. Municipal Bus Lines offers 40 urban transport routes. 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; some lines have service throughout the night. The bright yellow buses are known simply as 'guaguas'.
The 10-ride ticket ('bono de diez') was once a disposable paper card ticket with magnetic stripe at one time widely available in city shops. This is now replaced by a reusable plastic card issued by the company which may be re-charged in multiples of 10 at bus stations and at machines situated at various sites such as public libraries. The Tarjeta Insular (Island Card) which offered a 20% discount on both municipal buses and Global buses was discontinued on 1 January 2011.
A separate bus company Global with distinctive blue color, inter-hire company, has 119 lines, many to or from the capital. This company was formed 17 March 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.
There is currently no rail transport system on Gran Canaria. Between 1893 and 1944 steam tram ran between Las Palmas and Puerto de La Luz. The line was electrified in 1910, although the line reverted to steam traction in 1944, when trams were hauled by a steam locomotive known as La Pepa. A reproduction of this locomotive is now on display in the Elder Museum of Science and Technology in Las Palmas. In the early 1970s an experimental elevated railway line operated through Las Palmas. Called the Tren Vertebrado ("vertebrate train"), it was designed by Basque engineer Alejandro Goicoechea and consisted of an unusual low-profile train running on elevated concrete tracks through the city. The project was unsuccessful and was dismantled in 1974.
In the early 21st century, plans were put forward by the Gran Canaria Cabildo to develop a rapid transit railway line on Gran Canaria. If built, the Tren de Gran Canaria (TGC) line would run along the eastern coast and connect Las Palmas with the airport and Maspalomas in the south. In 2004 the Spanish Ministry of Development put a contract out to competitive tender for a feasibility study on a 50 km railway line from Las Palmas to Maspalomas. This railway project is currently suspended due to funding difficulties.
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 – Gran Canaria Arena 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.
The two general hospitals of Gran Canaria are in Las Palmas. While Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín (Doctor Negrín University Hospital of Gran Canaria) is geared to health care in the north and west of the island, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria (Insular University Hospital of Gran Canaria) is geared to health care in the south and east of the island. There are also smaller private hospitals and clinics.
Las Palmas is twinned with:
In addition, the municipality has approved in plenary willingness twinning with the following cities, if they are not well formalized these twinning: