Being in Las Palmas does not feel as if you are on an island near the coast of Africa. It has a very continental Spain feeling. With about 450,000 people on the Island of Grand Canary, and most of them gathered near the economic center of the Las Palmas it seems more like a big city. A beautiful city at that with many parks and tree lined streets, a pleasant combination of old (since 1400's) and modern, and a nice combination of industriousness and relaxation. The main industry of Las Palmas is the huge port operation which seems to be a trans-shipment point for shipping containers while the rest of the island concentrates on the tourist trade. When the Spanish arrived here there was a population of tall Mediterranean /Cro-Magnon people already here. They were living in the stone age but it took the Conquistadores nearly a century do destroy their culture and leave very little for us to see today. Columbus spent time here on his Voyages of Discovery which is documented in a very nice museum within an old villa in the old town. That was the beginning of Canaries being shipping crossroads of the Atlantic. A new photo album has been added which will be updated more in the future.