The Canary Islands: Gran Canaria & La Gomera

Gran Canaria, the third largest island of the Canary Islands, offers something for every guest: urban flair in the capital Las Palmas, beautiful sandy beaches in the south and dreamy villages with a wild mountain world in the interior. Three million people spend their vacations on Gran Canaria every year, Maspalomas alone has a hundred thousand beds ready for the visitors. Nevertheless, in the south and in the interior of the island you can still find dreamy villages in remote valleys, the unknown Gran Canaria. In Maspalomas, rare water birds are now breeding again in the Charca, a recently created freshwater pond. The film accompanies the head of Gran Canaria's environmental authority as he photographs pond chickens in camouflage clothing early in the morning at the edge of the charca. This is his hobby. But his big concern is the increasing storms that are causing more and more dune sand to be carried into the sea. What can be done to save the dunes of Maspalomas? On the city beach of Las Palmas, in Las Canteras, one of the best Lucha Canaria fighters in the Canary Islands trains regularly. She even manages to put a 110-pound man on his back. In the old town of Las Palmas, in La Vegueta, the young award-winning fashion designer Aurelia Gil has her studio. In the dreamy village of Tejeda, confectioner Rosa Marí Medina Vega reveals the recipe for her famous almond cake, and in Galdár an archaeologist tells what the indigenous people, the Guanches, once believed in. La Gomera is the little sister of Gran Canaria. Those who live and work here have chosen a life of leisure. Like the shoemaker Domingo, who turned a hobby into his profession. The film shows how children learn the Gomeran whistling language El Silbo. It introduces the enchanting Garajonay National Park and the best cook on the island, who conjures up an entire menu from bananas. The film explains how palm honey is produced in an ecologically correct way and why you need to be free from giddiness when making it.