Agüimes is a Spanish town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the eastern 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 ...

in the

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a 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 the auto ...

province in the Canary Islands.

Presentation

Agüimes is situated 5 km from the coast, and 26 km south of the island capital

. The GC-1 motorway passes east of the town. The population is 30,214 (2013),Instituto Canario de Estadística
, population and the area is 79.28 km². The elevation is 275 m.

Evolution of the population

Climate

Economy

The major growth of the last few years has been the creation of a huge industrial estate on flat land once covered by tomato plantations. This has brought new jobs and industries into the area and has spurred the development of a new purpose-built port which is due to open in 2007.

Tourism

The district was not at one time a major tourist destination, but after the careful restoration of the old town, this has become the best example of a traditional Canarian

hill town {{Unreferenced, date=May 2010 A hill town is any citadel town built upon hills to make invasion difficult. Often protected by defensive walls, steep embankments, or cliffs, such hilltop settlements provided natural defenses for their inhabitants. ...

. The streets of the old town exude a gentle, relaxed, timeless atmosphere, and the carefully positioned street statues and sculptures add a series of surprises to a visit to the old town. The local plan for 'rural tourism' has led to the development of other small visitor centres on the district, the biggest of which is in the Guayadeque ravine. This area has many cave houses dating back hundreds of years, and a complete village excavated into the hillside, still occupied today, with its own cave chapel, cave bar and cave

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

. The Temisas Astronomical Observatory, on Montaña de Arriba near Temisas, is a popular visitor attraction, offering regular events related to

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

Sports

Sporting activities are also very important in the area, with its

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

recognized as "world-class". The windsurfing world cup at Pozo Izquierdo is an important event on the PWA World Tour. The whole of the coast in this area can provide challenging windsurfing conditions at any time of the year. The main area for scuba diving in Gran Canaria is in the area known as the 'El Cabrón' marine reserve, next to the town of Arinaga. The diving in this area includes caves, arches, walls and volcanic

reefs A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

where an extremely wide range of

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

marine species can be found, from tiny

seahorses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

up to

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

and

angel shark The angelsharks are a group of sharks in the genus ''Squatina'' of the family Squatinidae. They commonly inhabit sandy seabeds close to in depth. Many species are now classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservat ...

Heritage sites

In the centre of the town, the large, domed in Plaza Nuestra Señora del Rosario is a noted example of Canarian

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

. Construction of the church started in 1796 and it was only completed in 1940. south-west of Agüimes on the south coast of the island there stands a full-scale replica of the San Sebastián Church. It was erected in 2014 by the hotelier , who originated from Agüimes, as part of a luxury hotel complex, the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Hotel in

Maspalomas Maspalomas () is a tourist resort in the south of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, stretching from Bahía Feliz in the east to Meloneras in the west, including the resort towns of San Agustín and Playa del Inglés and San Fernando. ...

. The hotel consists of buildings designed in a Canarian Spanish Colonial Revival style to recreate the historic environment of Agüimes, including a copy of the church. The Agüimes municipality's territory is rich in historical sites, among which the El Maipés necropolis in Agaete is a well-known site. The caves and granaries of the Audience site in Temisas and the caves and hillocks in Avila have been declared Sites of cultural interest in 2016.Notice on the caves and granaries of the Audience site in Temisas, and on the caves and hillocks in Avila"
(''Cuevas y Graneros de la Audiencia de Temisas y Cuevas y Morros de Ávila''). Municipality of Aguimes - Notice, July 25, 2016.

Gallery

File:Aguimes 2016 05.jpg, Aguimes 2016 File:Aguimes 2016 08.jpg, Aguimes 2016 File:Aguimes 2016 01.jpg, Aguimes 2016 File:Aguimes 2016 12.jpg, Aguimes 2016 File:Templo Parroquial de San Sebastián.jpg, Templo Parroquial de San Sebastián File:Eclipse Superluna (Luna de Sangre) desde el Observatorio Astronómico de Temisas Agüimes Gran Canaria (21194774104).jpg, The Temisas Observatory

References

External links

Agüimes.es
Website of the local council (Ayuntamiento de Agüimes)
Patinegro
Local environmental action group Patinegro {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguimes, Las Palmas Municipalities in Gran Canaria