No. 14 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

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GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA Nº 14
The capricious coastline
In the skin of the Atlantic
El Puertillo. Bañaderos
I take a walk along the coast and keep a close
watch on the relationship between the ocean
and the volcanoes, the encounter or dialogue between
the liquid Atlantic and the rocks and sands
of Gran Canaria, where the sea produces and
licks wounds, bites and drags people from under
their feet. The two are engaged in an endless
tug of war, jostling for space and to occupy the
landscape. Confronted, but also, at times, enraptured
and surrendered to an inexhaustible game
of waves that caress the skin of the volcano and
its olivine tears, depositing the remains of rock,
shells or sand that has breezed in from the Sahara.
There are also certain spots where seawater is
imprisoned before evaporating and leaving behind
the salty flavour that is stored in geometric
or anarchic salt fields and their cooking troughs.
This crystallised salt was even used centuries ago
as a currency, giving rise to the word 'salary’ (‘sal’
meaning salt)
Standing between the sea and the land I look
across at the amazing and capricious natural figures,
the different materials, and even man-made
sculptured works such as harbours, avenues, industries
or urbanisations. Other places along the
coast, which have become very popular on the
island, form large lagoons or oases at the mouth
of large ravines, such as the natural ponds at
Maspalomas and La Aldea, the latter being a natural
tidal pool that attracts thousands of people to
its annual festival that celebrates the memory of
the aboriginal embarbascado method of catching
fish in ponds.
The vagaries of the coast are very diverse, while
there are also a series of enclaves that serve as a
refuge and enjoyment for bathers, such as the socalled
natural rock pools, tidal pools, charcones or
maretas. They come in all shapes and sizes, and
in many cases have been adapted in part with
ramps, stairs to facilitate access, or have been
complemented with walls and overflows, while
mostly maintaining the natural environment
shaped by the sea and lava.
42 ponds and 60 tide pools have been counted in
Gran Canaria ('Charcos de marea de Canarias'. Alberto
Luengo Barreto. 2018), with several pools often
being located in a single pond. More than half
of these are to be found in a small stretch along
the northwest coast of the island, in the municipality
of Gáldar, where these natural bathing areas
constitute places of recreation for many users
who not only can bathe safely in a very rugged
and battered coastline, but can also enjoy spectacular
views and sunsets with the island of Tenerife
and Mount Teide dominating the skyline.
Small scale refurbishment works carried out in
many of these tidal pools have increased the surface
area of the water and improved their safety,
and have also created platforms so that everyone
coming to enjoy these bathing spots can lie
down and sunbathe in comfort. In fact, in some
cases the pools are located next to coves, and users
often actually prefer these unique 'pools' to
sandy beaches. That is the case for municipalities
that boast fine sandy beaches, although some of
them don’t even have beaches as such, but they
are home to pools that are perfectly equipped for
bathers of all ages.
Another surprising case is that of La Garita, next
to a bufadero, a kind of spout that shoots columns
of water several metres high into the air. Similarly,
the pools at Castillo del Romeral form a virtual
swimming corridor.
The coastline on an island like Gran Canaria,
this great miniature continent, offers drastically
changing environments, from vertical breaker
cliffs to impassable walls, beaches of sand dunes,
with their camels that for centuries have made up
such a classic image, and possibly one of the top
beaches in the world, Las Canteras beach in the
capital. So make sure you do not miss out on this
unique variety of beaches and pools!