Arucas is a municipality in the northern part of the island of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

, province of

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Arucas is west of

city. Its population is 36,852 (2013),Instituto Canario de Estadística
, population and the area is . The GC-2 motorway passes north of the town.

Sites of interest

The Church of San Juan Bautista is the leading architectural and social monument in the municipality. It was built entirely in Arucas stone by local master masons, and it dates from 1909. Apart from the wealth of the carved stone columns and column heads, there are also some beautiful stained glass windows, the works of Canary Island painter Cristobal Hernandez de Quintana, and an extraordinary carving of the Reclining Christ, by Manuel Ramos. To the north is the Montaña de Arucas which is thought to be the area where courageous Doramas the Guanche leader was killed in 1481 by Pedro de Vera in the Battle of Arucas. Arucas is known for the production of rum.

History

Arucas was rebuilt in 1480 after being completely destroyed in 1478. Since the 15th century, the main crop of the Arucas area was sugar cane.

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...

was produced here long before sugar plantations were cultivated in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. One of the main features of modern-day Arucas is its rum factory. Arucas boomed with the demand for

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

(a beetle feeding off cactus pear, crushed to produce red dye) in the second half of the 19th century. Arucas 2016 07

Gallery

File:Arucas 2016 05.jpg, The Church of San Juan Bautista File:Arucas vista.jpg, City of Arucas File:BotanischerGartenDerHerzoginVonArucas.jpg, Jardín de la Marquesa de Arucas, the Botanical Garden in Arucas. File:BotanicGardensinArucas.JPG, Jardín de la Marquesa de Arucas, the Botanical Garden features more than 500 plant species. File:Church of San Juan Bautista, Arucas, May 2018.jpg, Church of San Juan Bautista as seen from Calle Párroco Morales.

References

External links

English version of Arucas tourism site
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 1480s 1481 establishments 15th-century establishments in Africa Municipalities in Gran Canaria 1481 establishments in Spain

Sites of interest

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links