Surfing,Passion for riding waves in La Cicer´s Spot (Las Canteras beach)

Surfboarders and Bodyboarders surfing the same wave

Surfer riding a wave in La Cicer (Las Canteras Beach)

 

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Surfing and bodyboard in Las Canteras beach (La Cicer)

Las Canteras beach it´s the main beach of the urban city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Nearly 4 kilometers of blond sand and clean transparent water. The name of the beach has always been linked to the barrier called La Barra, a sedimentary rock, of sandstone and limestone depositions that runs parallel to the shore, providing shelter against the north swell and giving it personality. It was formerly known as Reef beach, because the bar emerged from the water as a reef. It´s the favorite beach of most local people and foreigh visitors, who can enjoy it any time of the year due to it´s great weather conditions with an annual average temperature of 22ºC and 3000 hours of sunlight a year.

This passion for the sport makes the Canaries the perfect place for people of all ages to surf, as well as being the best place to learn surfing, boogie-boarding or body-boarding, thanks to the excellent schools available. It is also possible to improve your technique on the board in the various surf camps and surf trips that are held all year round.

 

In the city of Las Palmas there are three official surf spots for all levels, from spots for beginners to  spots for professionals. The best way to learn this sport is the Beach Break at Playa de Las Canteras "La Cicer" here are of course also more surf schools.

La Cicer as it is called it´s a part of Las Canteras beach but locals called it like because before it was separated and it didn´t have an avenue. It is located at the western end of Canteras-beach, right next to the opera Auditorio Alfredo Kraus. The entrance takes place from an artificial built pier or also directly from the Las Canteras avenue. Surfing is a very popular sport in the Canaries, in fact it it´s a life style forms part of the culture of the island thats why for me La Cicer is the beach where I´ve spent most of my childhood, this is beacause my father was one of the first generation of surfers of the island, he tells me with passion that in that time foreigers came from all the world to surf in it´s waters, and they lent their surfboards to locals because there was no where to buy surfboards in Gran Canaria. 

This is the best beach to learn how to surf. You should challenge your self and try to ride them on this beach which has the perfect waves.  

Passion for riding the waves, adrenaline and satisfaction will make want to repeat.

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Tufia beach (Telde)

This beach is located in the town of Telde, in the southeast of the island of Gran Canaria. What stands out of this beach is that it was declared a protected area because it´s located in a place described as a natural reserve in 1987, when they found archaeological remains of the aborigines, called Guanches. 

When you get there you´ll see at the entrance a small parking so you can leave your car. The only thing is that if you want to get there you must rent a car because public transport does not reach this unique place the advantage of this is that the beach preserves the quality of it´s seabed and the peaceful atmosphere.  One of the most beatiful non-touristic places I´ve ever seen.  

Underwater diving and snorkelling in it´s water will make you feel a pleasant sense of peace and freedom due to it´s fascinating colourful seabed. You will see a lot of people fishing in it´s water that´s because of it´s rich flora especially it´s fauna. 

A curious thing you will notice is that the houses of the village are really close to the sea and that there are some houses built inside caves. 

I assure you it´s worth the ride, you will love it.

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The Dance of The Dwarfs (La Palma)

The Dance of The Dwarfs began in 1905, at first it was only a performance in honor to the virgen Nuestra Señora De las Nieves as sample of gratefulness, but now it´s more than that it´s the principal act of the lustral festivities of Santa Cruz De La Palma, it´s an icon of the island. Usually it takes place on the Thursday night of the Big Week.

 

The stage is a small shed and a rug on the floor. In this scene during the whole night up to the dawn 24 men with heights, that overcome in most cases six feet, and displaying the same costume, singing a song with a very catchy lyric, pass through the small shed and when they hear the first notes of a lively traditional polka, get out "magically" transformed into some nice dancing dwarves who interact with children and adults in the audience. The Dance of the Dwarfs is shrouded of mystery. It´s a  secret that all islanders called palmeros are "accomplices" and that we keep with a lot of zeal.

Usually there are 4 or 5 actions performed in an enclosed area especially prepared for the main events of the lustral festivities, starting around 19h. To have access you must buy tickets (you can also buy them by internet). Once they finish the performance in the enclosure,"The Dwarfs" go out to the streets starting in the main street called Calle Real, and continue dancing down the street to Anselmo Pérez de Brito until La Alameda, where they performe another 4 or 5 more times, free for those who have not seen them yet.


These "dwarfs" are not professional dancers they are ordinary people with a nice voice which like to sing, they keep the secret that their parents told them once and they will tell to their children in the future. They are very altruistic spending their time and effort to keep alive a tradition. They train very hard, but still, after so much dancing, with the first light of the dawn, the forces begin to waver, and they almost can not even walk. It is at that moment, when they hear the voice of a child who encourages and says something like "Dance little man, dance ...." That's when they seem to get strength from where they did have and continue dancing and jumping, sometimes even harder than before, as if "by magic", the fatigue was gone just because they don´t what to disappoint the children and adults that stay awake all night, waiting to see them dance.

 

 

For us the "palmeros", is more than a dance. It is an emotion you breathe in the air and you perceive in the people on the streets. It is the smile that it´s drawn in your face a few months before the festivities, when walking the main street you hear a cellphone ringing with the melody of "Polka Dwarfs"... It´s also that emotion you feel  in your stomach when someone tells you the tickets are already for sale ... It's the thrill you feel when you try to tell someone what you felt the first time you saw a performance of The Dwarves and why every 5 years, you wait in a queue for hours so you can buy the tickets. Believe me, there is nothing like seeing it in person. If you see it once, you'll want to repeat... 

That´s why I recommend this experience to everyone. 
It is a magical and unforgettable night especially for children. 

Don´t forget that the capacity of the place is limited and tickets get sold out really quickly but there is always the chance to see them on the street where they interact much more with the audience.

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