Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a Spanish city, the capital city of Gran Canaria one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, 210 kilometers located off the northwestern coast of Africa. It is also the capital of the province of Las Palmas and co-capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.

The city was founded in 1478 by Juan Rejón, after fighting the local Guanches. In 1492, Christopher Columbus stopped in the city prior to his first trip to the Americas. He also stopped on the way back to Spain.

The population of the city of Las Palmas in the year 2001 was 365,000 inhabitants (Gran Canaria island had 755,500 inhabitants in the 2001 census). This makes Las Palmas the biggest city in the Canary Islands.

Las Palmas is today a very cosmopolitan city. There are popular beaches nearby (Las Canteras) and a busy harbor (Puerto de la Luz harbor).