Experience in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain by Samuel

What's it like to live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria? Would you recommend it? What's the city like?

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the capital city and the biggest, most populated city in all of the Canary Islands, with almost 400, 000 inhabitants. In turn the island of Gran Canaria itself has more than 850, 000 citizens. One of the good things about the island is that you can travel through its entirety by car or bus in a short space of time. The city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is very cosmopolitan, and it has Las Canteras beach that is, according to experts, the best urban beach in the world. There are a lot of shopping centres where you will find all kinds of international shops. You can eat whatever type of food from anywhere in the world; Asian, Spanish, American, Canarian... As I said earlier, outside the city you can travel the island and enjoy its white sand beaches, the sand dunes of Maspalomas, go to the summit of the island where you will see some incredible landscapes and the famous sea of clouds at sunset. In the north of the island there are an abundance of enchanting towns and municipalities. And the south is distinguished by its tourism and it is always sunny down there.

Source

What is the student lifestyle like in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

The student lifestyle is very good, the university departments are divided between the Obelisco (in the middle of the city) and the Tafira campus (in the outskirts of the city, but very close by "guagua" - bus).

How much does it cost to live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

It all depends on how much you like to spend, but in general it's cheaper than a lot of European cities.

Accommodation costs between €180 and €350 (depending on how much you want to spend), plus about €100 on shopping and a bit more on a travel card. I think that you would need €500 per month to live well, that is if you are sharing a flat.

Was it difficult to find your accommodation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

Generally it's easy to find accommodation in Las Palmas. There are many areas you can live in. The best place is in the area of Las Canteras, where there are shopping centres nearby and the beach Las Canteras itself. Another could be the Obelisco area, where you will find the department of education, languages, geography and history...

It's easy to find accommodation. On the boards in the university departments there are a lot of posters from students who are looking for flatmates, and there are student houses, but I don't know the prices of them. You could also live in the nearby towns such as Arucas or Telde where the rent is much cheaper, and a house with several rooms would cost somewhere between €350 and €400. Living here you would have to use public transport to go to Las Palmas de GC and the university.

What's the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

Well, you can eat in any type of restaurant with food from all over the world.

What people tend to eat is pasta, salads, rice, fries or stews with some sort of meat, soup, pizzas, vegetables, etc.

The staple dishes of the island are wrinkled potatoes (papas arrugadas) with spicy "mojo" sauce, gofio, local cheese... Click this link to see more typical Canarian food: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastronom%C3%ADa_de_las_Islas_Canarias#Primeros_platos

What places would you recommend visiting in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, I would recommend walking through the old towns of Vegueta and Triana, they are beautiful. And in turn you must visit Las Canteras beach, the Jardín Canario, the Caldera de Bandama, the Port and La Isleta...

And of course before the city itself, it's best to visit the rest of the island: for example Roque Nublo, the Port of Mogán, the sand dunes of Maspalomas, the Port of Agaete, Teror, Arucas, Telde... Here are plenty of routes to take to get to these places:

http://www.grancanaria.com/patronato_turismo/Rutas.26863.0.html

The transport is great and the island is well connected by "guaguas" (buses). Also you can rent a car and travel the island as you please.

Is it good to eat out in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria? What are your favourite spots?

Honestly, any of them.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria?

In Las Palmas, the Port area is where most of the clubs are and there are plenty of different varieties.

Also, on Thursdays you can go to Vegueta where you can get tapas and beers for €2 and there is a great atmosphere.

Every week at the Port there are parties in different clubs for Erasmus students.

Also it's obligatory to attend the Las Palmas carnivals around February time in the city, where people come from all over Spain and the wider world and spend about a month celebrating. Without a doubt, you cannot miss it!

There are plenty of other festivals around the island too, such as the traditional Romerías that are celebrated in each region throughout the year. People dress in old-fashioned costumes (they are sold in many shops at varying prices) and typically they sing traditional songs, you will see carts pulled by cows and bulls and don't forget to have the famous Arehucas Rum (speaking of this rum, it is made in Arucas and I really recommend visiting the centenary factory, entry is free and they show you how they make the rum, and they sell it in shops all across the island and actually in many parts of mainland Spain).

Source

Also during the Romerías there are many open-air dances in the municipalities and towns that the locals go to. The dances have orchestrated music where there are also food and drinks stalls where people drink and have a very good time.

The bigger traditional parties where more people gather during the carnivals are: La Rama in Agaete (in August), La Vara de Pescao on Arinaga beach (also in August), La Virgen del Pino in Teror (September), the Charco festival in La Aldea (also September) and the festival of San Juan, which is held in many parts of the island including Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (in June).

Ah, how could I forget! Also you can go to the south of island, where you will find the touristic area, with many clubs that all the tourists go to.

Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the future?

I don't think so, this island has everything that you could imagine, whatever you could want to buy, there are so many facilities that you can do or have whatever you like without any problems.

I almost forgot to say that if you like football or basketball, there are two very important teams at national level, for football there is the Union Deportiva Las Palmas, where they play in the second division, but right now they are about to be promoted to the Spanish first division. And for basketball the team is called Herbalife Gran Canaria, and they play in the top category in the ACB in the Gran Canaria Arena, a new pavilion where the best teams in Europe will play in the Basketball World Cup in September 2014.

I still have so many things to say, but I will leave you to discover them yourself, there is no doubt that you will have the best time.