In the villages in the mid-land regions and on the summits or even in the more arid and wildest southeast slopes, you will be the witness of centuries-old traditions that are still part of everyday life: farmers who plough their fields with the help of oxen, people who go into the lush vegetation and reappear some time later loaded with medicinal plants, or wood, and village taverns where people talk and listen.
Each delicacy has its own biography. Thus, the succulent and famous island cheeses, which have been internationally and nationally acclaimed in countless competitions, literally start walking at dawn alongside the shepherds who guide the flocks in search of the best pastures. The ‘national’ potatoes begin their journey in the hands of those who grow them and harvest them with their eyes fixed on the earth and a growing restlessness in their minds, waiting for a gentle and good rain.
In some places, such as Valleseco, apple trees grow a peculiar type of this small but vigorous fruit that is used to make cider and the delicious local confectionery. In other places, the white mantle of the blossoming almond trees is the delicate prelude to a harvest of sweet and bitter almonds. In the wonderful Valle de Agaete, an island within this endless island, there are those who grow their own Arabica coffee, because here the most surprising thing can become common practice.
The Biosphere Reserve has more than a thousand native species, almost 300 endemisms and unique vertebrates in the world such as Gran Canaria’s giant lizard, which can grow up to eighty centimetres in length. The Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape acknowledge that an extraordinary aboriginal culture evolved in isolation for over 1,500 years and established a dialogue with the stars. Said aboriginal legacy is visible in places such as La Fortaleza with its cave paintings and defensive walls, echoes of an extraordinary past.
