Aguimes

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Agüimes is a Canarian municipality in the eastern portion of the island of Gran Canaria in the Las Palmas province in the Canary Islands. The population is 23,572 (ISTAC, 2003), its density is 297.33/km² and the area is 79.28 km². The elevation is 275 m. Agüimes is situated between the mountains and the plains. The mountains, including several valleys to the west dominate the west. The plains, along with a residential area that has more inhabitants than the downtown area and is the largest, lies to the east along with the Atlantic Ocean. Agüimes is located south of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, and is accessed with the GC1 superhighway. The main industries are agriculture, businesses and tourism.

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.

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. 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 around 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 dug into the hillside, still occupied today which has its own cave church, cave bar and cave restaurants.

Sporting activities are also very important in the area, with its windsurfing and scuba diving recognized as "world class". One round of the annual PWA windsurfing tour is held at the international windsurfing center at Pozo Izquierdo every year, and the whole of the coast in this area can provide challenging 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, where an extremely wide range of sub-tropical marine species can be found, ranging from tiny seahorses up to rays and angel sharks.