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Too much sex on the beach is destroying Spanish sand dunes

By Condé Nast Traveller

Not over-tourism. Not rising sea levels. Not smuggling of sand. It’s tourists who can’t keep it in their pants who are ruining a Spanish beach, according to new research. The Dunas de Maspalomas Special Nature Reserve on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria is losing some of its fragile sand dunes due to too much sex on the beach, points out a new paper in the Journal of Environmental Management .

The study is titled “Sand, Sun, Sea and Sex with Strangers, the five S’s”, the research examines the effect of “cruising (anonymous sexual encounters) and its environmental impact on a protected coastal dunefield.”

The study found that salacious seaside endeavours were causing damage to “eight native plant species, three of which are endemic.”

But how is sex destroying the beach?

While getting frisky, tourists tend to trample over the vegetation and plants, creating little hollows or “sex nests”, leaving behind cigarettes, condoms, toilet papers, wipes and cans. Gran Canaria’s giant lizards have also been feeding on these condoms leading to death, said Patrick Hesp, one of the report's authors, in an article for The Conversation .

Researchers have found 298 such “sex spots” among the busy and dense vegetation. 56 spots were also found in restricted areas which are off-limits to the public. The research was conducted in May 2018, when the local pride festival took place. Despite the fact that the area is friendly to members of the pride community, authors had “no intention to criticise the actions of some of the LGBTI community,” per the study.

According to the research, “the bigger the sex spot, the higher the number of people who made use of it, the greater the likelihood of it being a low-lying area covered by vegetation, and the larger the amount of waste.”

But it doesn’t just stop at sex. Some people also turned the dunes into their toilet, with researchers finding “urination and defecation locations”.

Located on the south coast of the island of Gran Canaria, these dunes have been protected since 1982 as the last remaining shifting dune systems for Europe. Before it was turned into a sex haven, it provided a resting spot for thousands of migratory birds making their way from Africa to Europe.

While the degradation of these dunes has had devastating consequences, the authorities don’t want to call for an end to sex in public. “But we do want people to be aware of the damage it can do,” wrote Hesp.

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Spain's Canary Islands Are Home to Stunning Black-sand Beaches, National Parks, and Dormant Volcanoes

Off the coast of northwestern Africa, the Canary Islands are a remote beach paradise. Here's how to experience them.

Salva LÓPEZ

A few years ago, I left my home in Athens and settled on the Greek island of Tínos. I had never lived on an island before — let alone spent any prolonged amount of time in a place without an airport — but I quickly adjusted. Islands are detached in all senses of the word: time moves differently, and communities are usually more self-sufficient. Surrounded by horizon and only able to leave by boat, I fell in love with the harmonious way islanders live, and became fascinated by the way nature and the elements rule everyday life.

And then I started learning about the Canary Islands.

A Spanish archipelago of seven main islands and several islets scattered off the northwestern coast of Africa , the Canaries are an expression of geological and biologic diversity: damp  laurisilvas  (laurel forests), rocky deserts, temperamental volcanoes, tropical beaches. Each island has its own microclimate (in some cases, several) and its own particular energy.

Salva López

But rugged, elemental landscapes aren’t necessarily the first thing that spring to mind when thinking of the Canaries. Starting in the 1960s, the two largest islands, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, became popular holiday spots for sun-starved northern Europeans, and a reputation for mass tourism was born. These were places to go to for a Club Med–like experience, a mai tai by the pool, and not much else.

I fell in love with the harmonious way islanders live, and became fascinated by the way nature and the elements rule everyday life.

I’m drawn to stereotypes — to unraveling them, that is. So in late June of last year, I flew to Tenerife, the most populous of the Canaries. I picked up a rental car from the airport and dropped my bags at the Ritz-Carlton, Abama , a sprawling resort on the beachy western coast. Its design is a nod to the architecture of North Africa, with wood-trimmed balconies and exteriors painted the same red color as the land around Pico de Teide , the island’s dormant volcano. The Ritz-Carlton is a particularly luxurious example of the many properties on Tenerife that are popular with couples and families — but it also makes an excellent base for exploring.

As I drove north through lush rolling hills, I passed a hand-painted sign: Fukuoka Farm . I performed an extremely illegal, screeching U-turn on the mountain road. The name of Masanobu Fukuoka, the Japanese farmer and philosopher who invented “do-nothing” farming, is a bat signal for certain types of agriculture-obsessed people; being one of them, I navigated my car down an unpaved dirt road to investigate. When I reached the end, I found myself warmly invited into a family home.

Federico Negrisolo and his partner, Romina, moved from their home in Italy to Tenerife nearly a decade ago, seeking a more intentional lifestyle — one intimately connected to nature and the rhythms of the seasons, away from urbanism and intense commercialization. “Living like this is a philosophy,” Negrisolo explained over tea in their living room. “We can’t fix decades of bad agricultural treatment of the earth in one day, but we can contribute.” They use Fukuoka’s methods to grow their own vegetables, like cabbage and lettuce, which they sell in local markets, and give tours to visitors by appointment.

The two insisted I stay for lunch, so I played with their toddler daughter and infant son while they prepared an omelette (with eggs from their chickens) and boiled potatoes. The soil on Tenerife is so full of minerals that even though they’d been prepared without any spices, the potatoes tasted like they’d been marinated for hours. Federico put a jar of powder in front of me: my first taste of  gofio,  a Canarian staple made from ground cereal (Romina makes hers from homegrown lentils). I tasted a spoonful and then promptly sprinkled it all over my plate.

Around the volcano, gigantic pieces of dried lava emerging from the ground, creating a tactile, alien landscape. I scrambled up rocks, the wind picking up speed around me. It felt like being in a geologist’s dream.

After a tour of the garden, the family sent me on my way, waving as I drove back up into the mountain fog. Then the weather changed, as it does constantly on Tenerife — some say this island alone has 28 distinct microclimates — and a hot wind propelled me back south toward the Ritz-Carlton pool.

The best explanation for the ever-changing weather came from the Guanche, the Indigenous people of the islands. They believed that Teide, Spain’s highest peak, was home to Guayota, the devil. His anger would make the earth tremble and the sun go dark; calm was restored by Achamán, the Supreme Being. Before the Spanish invasion in the 15th century, the Guanche would climb the mountain every summer with their flocks of goats.

Teide rises from the island’s middle like a ball of resting dough. Today there’s a cable car that takes visitors partway to the top, though strong winds had grounded it on the day I visited. Never mind — there was plenty to see around the volcano: gigantic pieces of dried lava emerging from the ground, creating a tactile, alien landscape. I scrambled up rocks, the wind picking up speed around me. It felt like being in a geologist’s dream.

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If a geologist dreamed up Tenerife’s center, then only a witch could have conjured the  laurisilva  in Anaga, on the island’s northeastern tip: this wild area of ravines and mountains is carpeted in bright-green laurel trees, their branches bent toward one another in secret conversation. At Anaga Rural Park , a damp mist floated through the scene; I gulped down big mouthfuls of fresh air. As I leaned in close to inspect a moss-covered branch, I noticed tiny, practically translucent mushrooms growing. At no point did I come across another soul. Everyone else must have been at the beach.

I found even fewer people on El Hierro, the smallest of the main islands and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that runs almost entirely on wind and hydroelectric power. I headed there by ferry from Tenerife; the boat pitched and rolled in the frothy Atlantic waves, but after 2½ hours I arrived, stomach more or less intact, at Puerto de la Estaca — a tiny port near the island’s capital, Valverde, where a handful of people were drinking coffee inside the terminal, waiting for the arrival of their loved ones.

El Hierro is at the westernmost edge of the archipelago, with a population of just 11,500; a sense of solitude immediately enveloped me as I drove through tunnels and around some of the island’s hundreds of volcanic cones. Often, my car was the sole vehicle on the road; the only radio station I could tune in to played melancholy Catholic hymns. Within El Hierro’s 104 square miles, there are tropical mountains, tide pools, barren plateaus, damp woodlands, and plunging gorges. As ideal a place as it is for hikers, it might be even better for divers: the sea along the southwestern end is a marine reserve.

There is little development on the island, and certainly no resorts, but on a wave-battered outcrop of volcanic rock I found Hotel Puntagrande , the island’s most fabulous hotel — or more accurately,  hotelito,  as it has only four rooms and one suite. Its owners, Italian David Nahmias and his Spanish-Colombian wife, Paula Pascual Luna, left their busy routines on mainland Europe five years ago in search of a more tranquil, nature-filled lifestyle. They have filled the stone fisherman’s house, built in 1830, with so many nautical items (including a vintage scuba suit) that the lobby and restaurant resemble a museum. In the guest rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows provide generous views of the Atlantic coastline and its fiery sunsets.

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Puntagrande could pass for a five-star hotel, and the restaurant could easily win awards for its five-course tasting menus. But as David told me, raising his eyes skyward, “We don’t need any Michelin stars. We have enough stars here.”

El Hierro doesn’t have the overcrowded, commercialized beaches of its neighbors; instead, people often swim in charcos, natural seaside pools that seem to have been carved by Poseidon himself. The result of ancient volcanic activity, they are scattered among the coastline’s coves, caves, and arches. Charco Azul, with its towers of hardened lava, looks like a smaller version of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland; evaporated puddles in the rocks had left behind crystalline sheets of sea salt, which I scraped into a plastic bag, a souvenir for my kitchen back home. At Charco Manso, I jumped into the tropical blue water and floated on my back, looking up at the shiny obsidian-black walls that surrounded me. I blinked: the rocks seemed to be moving. Swimming closer to inspect, I saw that the entire surface was covered in a layer of camouflaged black crabs, scuttling sideways over the rock face.

This island lends itself best to aimless driving and wandering, but I did have one planned activity in mind: a trip to the interpretive center at the Parque Cultural de El Julan , in El Hierro’s southwest. I was the only visitor in the glass-walled building; the landscape outside was scrubby and sunbaked, the greenery of the rest of the island having given way to burnt sienna.

El Hierro was settled by the Bimbache people at least as early as A.D. 120, and while much about the Bimbache is today a mystery, I was astonished as I read a placard at the ethnographic exhibit: the Guanches, the ancestors of the Bimbache, were a Berber group originally from North Africa (perhaps Tunisia, my father’s country) and crossed the sea by canoe. They were particularly adept at foraging, both on the island and in the sea.

Despite an abundance of natural produce, cheeses, and seafood, El Hierro has not been known for its food scene. But the 2021 opening of the restaurant 8Aborigen began to change that. Inspired by his own Indigenous background and what archaeologists have discovered about Bimbache culinary culture, chef Marcos Tavío has created a fine-dining experience that reenvisions Canarian ingredients and flavors. Unlike other restaurants on El Hierro, which import some of their seafood from as far away as Norway, everything at 8Aborigen is local.

More Trip Ideas: 15 Remote Islands You Can Actually Visit

During my lunch there, attentive servers brought out earthenware pottery (all replicas of archaeological finds from around the archipelago) that revealed thoughtful interpretations of a long-forgotten cuisine: unleavened Berber-style bread, served warm with fermented goat butter and cheese;  gofio  crumble made from native barley;  lapas  (limpets) served with a  mojo  made of sea fennel. Dessert was a “Berber cheesecake” made from goat-milk cheese, a  gofio  crust, and olive-oil foam.

Of all the Canary Islands, I was most eager to see Lanzarote. Friends in Athens and Paris had told me about its natural wines: high in minerals, the soil produces grapes with an earthy, salty flavor, and Lanzarote wines are increasingly recognized on the mainland for their delicate, balanced body. But the unique climate has also forced winemakers to plant ingeniously. Scattered across the dark landscape are semicircles of volcanic rock that act as wind breakers; inside each ring, a bright green vine emerges.

I took a turboprop plane from El Hierro’s tiny airport — an experience that left me silently praying, white-knuckled — to transfer through Tenerife, then caught an only-slightly-larger plane to Lanzarote. It is named after the Genoese navigator Lanceletto Malocello, credited with the archipelago’s “rediscovery” in 1312. But its original name, in the native Guanche language, is more fitting: Tytheroygaka, said to mean “one that is all ocher.”

Periodically buffeted by the  alisios,  a hot seasonal wind, Lanzarote is defined by its volcanic features, from César Manrique’s famed Volcano House — built within air pockets in the volcanic rock — to the black-soil vineyards that produce the island’s distinctive minerally wines. Lanzarote seemed hotter and drier than El Hierro, which felt humid and tropical. I headed straight to Costa Teguise, a resort town on the eastern coast, and checked in to Alava Suites , a tranquil collection of guesthouses centered around a small plunge pool in a residential nook of town. Owner Maria Alava grew up in Lanzarote and returned home to open the hotel in 2019. “For me, Lanzarote means simplicity,” she told me. The sentiment was reflected in the clean, calm design of the hotel, where floor-to-ceiling windows looked out onto black-rock gardens peppered with flora that Alava had brought over from nearby Fuerteventura.

Alava Suites, like many of the structures on Lanzarote, was influenced by Manrique. The native-born architect, painter, and sculptor was obsessed with the idea of preserving the island’s natural beauty and protecting it from mass development and overtourism; in the 1980s, amid a construction boom on the islands, he lobbied the local government to protect traditional buildings and architectural techniques and prohibit roadside billboards.

The César Manrique Foundation has opened both the mind-bending, hedonistic 1968 Volcano House, where the artist once lived and worked, as a museum, along with the more conventional house and studio he later used. But my favorite Lanzarote building is by local Manrique collaborator Jesús Soto: LagOmar , named for Egyptian actor and heartthrob Omar Sharif. As the (unconfirmed) story goes, Sharif bought and subsequently lost the house in a card game; that’s good news for the rest of us, as its newest owners have opened it to the public. Built into a former quarry, it’s a labyrinth that wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond movie.

I was reminded of something I’d seen earlier in the day while exploring the southern edge of the island: the volcanic rock had refracted the sunlight into a kaleidoscope of color — cobalt blue, deep purple, red, gold, and silver.

Some villages on the island hark back to the days of Spanish colonial rule — an intriguing contrast to Manrique’s surreal architectural empire. After lunch the next day I drove inland to Teguise — once the capital of the Canary Islands — just in time for siesta. I wandered the empty cobblestoned streets, the July heat dry and heavy in the air. The buildings were squat and whitewashed, with colorful wooden doors; the town’s main church kept watch over a square that, I was told, comes alive on market days. After a stroll, I checked in to the Hotel Palacio Ico , which was built as a family home in 1690. With its white walls, vaulted wooden ceilings, and shaded courtyard, it’s a classic example of the Lanzarotian aesthetic — Manrique included Palacio Ico in his reference book  Lanzarote: Unpublished Architecture.  In 2018, husband-and-wife team Sonsoles López and Eduardo Riestra turned the property into a nine-room hotel, preserving the original details and adding a few personal touches, like a collection of vinyl LPs.

Waking up from a quick siesta in my airy room, I realized the sun was setting and I was late for dinner. I headed to SeBe , a restaurant opened a few years ago by Santi Benéitez and Begoña Ratón, who had moved to the island from the mainland. Today, SeBe is the island’s most sought-after reservation, and for good reason: the couple has paired Catalan culinary know-how with Canarian ingredients and inspiration. As a waiter served me a glass of the crisp local Puro Rofe wine, the first plate appeared: a cold  leche de tigre  with psychedelic dollops of prawn roe and green drops of spicy cilantro  mojo  oil. I was reminded of something I’d seen earlier in the day while exploring the southern edge of the island: the volcanic rock had refracted the sunlight into a kaleidoscope of color — cobalt blue, deep purple, red, gold, and silver.

But SeBe is best known for its rice dishes, cooked to crispy perfection in a wood-burning oven using the rectangular pan known as a  llauna.  Veronica insisted I try a version with dark-green rice and marine plankton, served with a huge slab of raw fatty tuna. The dish is meant for two people, but was so delicious that I ate nearly the whole thing.

After the check arrived, the island’s bounty filling my stomach, I went for a short walk along the port to stretch my legs. As the waves lapped lightly, the canopy of stars stretched out before me. The edge of the world had never felt so close at hand.

Island-Hopping in the Canaries

Where to stay.

The Ritz-Carlton, Abama : This terra-cotta-red resort is large but still has a sense of privacy, with sea views and attentive staff. Abama Kabuki, one of two Michelin-starred restaurants on the property, deserves a visit.

Where to Eat

La Bola de Jorge Bosch : A chic guanchinche (traditional Canarian bistro) featuring local produce. The five-course prix fixe menu gives you all the highlights.

What to Do 

Anaga Rural Park: Located within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, this popular hiking destination is known for its enchanting laurel forest.

Fukuoka Farm : An organic, low-intervention operation that sells vegetables and natural soaps at farmers’ markets and offers tours by appointment.

Teide National Park : Centered around the 12,000-foot Pico de Teide, this reserve is known for stark landscapes and endemic flora, like the Teide violet.  

El Sitio: Seven lovely bungalows amid lush greenery, run by German transplant Sabine Willmann.

Hotel Puntagrande: With a stunning location on a wave-battered promontory, this tiny inn is one of the most romantic stays in the Canaries.

Con Fusion: Near Puntagrande, this spot is known more for ambience than food — on weekends, there’s live music under the stars.

8Aborigen: Fine-dining interpretations of Indigenous food make this El Hierro’s best restaurant, though it manages to stay unpretentious. Service is excellent, as is the wine list.

Charcos: These cavelike coastal pools are perfect for a scenic swim; Charco Azul, with its bright-blue water, is one of the most famous.

Parque Cultural de El Julan : A reservations-required archaeological site with Bimbache petroglyphs and an informative visitors’ center.

Alava Suites: Six modern guest rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over landscaped gardens. Breakfast, which changes daily, can be delivered to your door.

Hotel Palacio Ico : A renovated 17th-century home built around a beautiful, sun-filled courtyard. Its restaurant highlights Lanzarote cheese, produce, and seafood.

SeBe: Santi Benéitez and Begoña Ratón prepare Canarian ingredients with Iberian flair. The rice dishes are standouts.

César Manrique House Museum: The late artist and architect, born on Lanzarote, designed many buildings and gardens around Spain and the Canary Islands. His former home in the village of Haría is open to the public.

LagOmar: Jesús Soto, a Manrique collaborator, designed this labyrinth of whitewashed buildings and hidden pools, reportedly owned, briefly, by Omar Sharif. It’s now on the market for $8 million — but still available to tour.

A version of this story first appeared in the June 2023 issue of  Travel + Leisure  under the headline "Earth, Wind, & Fire ."

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A holiday guide to the Canary Islands

The Canaries are Spain’s most accessible destination under current UK travel rules – and home to historical towns, dramatic coastlines, wild walks and excellent seafood

A way from their pockets of mass-tourism development, Spain’s Canaries are an archipelago of endlessly varied landscapes, slow-going villages, lively towns, gastronomic delights and a thriving local culture that is at once firmly Spanish and distinctively Canarian. With two Unesco geoparks and four national parks, these eight sun-baked islands are home to a growing lineup of sustainable tourism initiatives – and you’re never far from a dip in the Atlantic.

This week, Spain opened its borders to British tourists , allowing them to enter without a Covid test or proof of vaccination. The change prompted UK tour operators to resume holidays to the Canary Islands – the only part of Spain exempt from the Foreign Office’s non-essential travel warning . That doesn’t mean that going on holiday to the Canaries is completely straightforward – along with the rest of Spain the islands are on the amber list , meaning visitors returning to the UK are required to self-isolate for 10 days and take a Covid test before landing, and two more on days two and eight. In addition, a negative PCR test is required prior to arrival if staying in an official tourism establishment. After a flurry of contradictory comments by ministers last week, Boris Johnson said no one should be going on holiday to amber-list destinations, though that hasn’t stopped airlines increasing the number of flights to them , encouraged by consumer demand. As travel expert Paul Charles put it: “Consumers are voting with their feet and booking trips to Spain; they know the rules, they know it’s not illegal and they know they have to self-isolate when they get home.”

Beyond its resort towns, Lanzarote means wild coasts, white-walled villages, rust-red volcanic cones, swirling bougainvillaea and buzzy farmers’ markets. It also has lively arts and gastronomy scenes. The entire island is a Unesco geopark .

What to do Base yourself in the rugged north, where low-key fishing villages – Arrieta, Punta Mujeres, La Santa, Órzola – and major works by the Lanzarote-born artist César Manrique await, including the Casa-Museo César Manrique (in leafy, historical Haría) and the Jameos del Agua .

Inland, Teguise was Lanzarote’s capital until 1852; its protected historical core is packed with ancient mansions, fanning out from a restored 15th-century church. The nearby village of Teseguite has classic Canarian architecture, a 17th-century chapel and a couple of wonderful pottery workshops.

Lanzarote’s increasingly lauded wine region, known for its volcanic malvasia grape, is best savoured with local experts Wine Tours Lanzarote , who visit independent wineries as well as La Geria’s big-name bodegas. For the lunar-like Parque Nacional de Timanfaya , sidestep the crowds by hiking the coastal Ruta del Litoral path, or hop over into the Parque Natural de los Volcanes .

Surf-friendly Famara beach in the north is one of the Canaries’ most beautiful, and you can do day trips to the dazzling beaches at Punta del Papagayo in the south. Don’t miss the natural pools in Punta Mujeres and, time permitting, all-natural Playa del Risco (accessible by a one-hour hike), or Los Caletones coves near Órzola.

Where to stay With its island-inspired boutique design, circular pool and divine breakfasts, Álava Suites (doubles from €110) in Costa Teguise is a great place to tap into the local creative scene. Lanzarote Retreats (doubles/rentals from €115/95) has stylish yurts, stone-built cottages and a solar-warmed pool at its eco-finca in Arrieta.

Eat and drink People travel from all over Lanzarote for fresh grilled fish, seafood paella and other local delights at Casa de la Playa, overlooking Arrieta’s beach (mains €10-€15). Bar La Piscina , by the Punta Mujeres pools, is a go-to for typical tapas (chunky tortilla, seafood salpicón ) at around €3-€10. La Santa’s Alma Tapas & + is a favourite for its creative, market-based small plates (€8-€15), which might include ossobuco cannelloni.

Isla Graciosa

Off northern Lanzarote and reachable only by ferry from Órzola, sand-dusted Graciosa is a go-slow, back-to-nature escape (no paved roads here). It became the official eighth Canary Island in 2018.

What to do Cycle to Caribbean-worthy Playa de las Conchas, hike up Las Agujas Grandes or Montaña Amarilla volcanoes, swim at golden Playa Francesa and wander the “capital”, Caleta de Sebo , with its views of Lanzarote’s Famara cliffs. La Graciosa sits within the Parque Natural del Archipiélago Chinijo , which protects various uninhabited surrounding islets known for their rich birdlife; explore them with conservation-focused Eco-Insider .

Where to stay Family-owned Pensión Enriqueta (+34 928 842 051, doubles €35) is one of La Graciosa’s tourism pioneers, with cheery, rustic rooms in Caleta de Sebo.

Eat and drink El Marinero, opposite Caleta de Sebo’s 20th-century church, is a locally loved tapas haunt serving home-cooked tortilla and seafood rice dishes (up to €10). Or try a platter of Lanzarote goat’s cheese at beachside Casa Margucha/Restaurante Girasol (tapas €10-€20).

Fuerteventura

With its salty breezes, renowned surf, volcanic landscapes and honey-gold coastline, Fuerteventura is the Canaries’ destination for beach bliss.. What to do Stay in northern Fuerteventura to soak up the surf vibe in El Cotillo, Corralejo and Lajares, hike to tiny, beach-side Majanicho, take a day trip to the near-deserted Isla de Lobos (for snorkelling, paddleboarding and more) and get away from it all in the dune-lined Parque Natural de Corralejo . Around 15km south of Corralejo, La Oliva is known for its historical architecture and the Centro de Arte Canario Casa Mané, devoted to Canarian greats.

In the lusher interior, explore gentle-paced villages such as Betancuria (Fuerteventura’s oldest settlement, surrounded by a mountainous natural park), pint-sized Casillas del Ángel and Pájara (home to a 17th-century Aztec-style church). Then drop down to Ajuy, where a black sand beach hosts fresh-as-it-gets fish restaurants. On the east coast, Pozo Negro is another fishing hamlet popular for its seafood restaurants.

On the unmissable southern Península de Jandía (it’s worth tacking on a couple of days here), you’ll uncover dreamy, protected beaches (including Playa de la Barca, Playa del Matorral and Cofete), surfy La Pared village and the lonely Punta de Jandía lighthouse.

Where to stay A 200-year-old volcanic-stone home just north-east of La Oliva has been sensitively restored as the Hotel Rural Mahoh (doubles from €60 B&B), with nine rustic rooms, a pool and a superb Canarian restaurant. The Avanti Lifestyle Hotel (doubles from €120) sits right on the coast in Corralejo, and if that’s too far to walk there’s a rooftop Jacuzzi from which to take in the sea view.

Eat and drink In Fuerteventura’s often overlooked capital, Puerto del Rosario, La Jaira de Demián is an island highlight for creative dishes, such as entrecot “tacos” with listán negro sauce (€8-€15). The delightful terrace at El Cotillo’s nautical La Vaca Azul overlooks a volcanic cove; try the fresh fish with papas arrugadas (mains €15). Another seafood favourite is La Lonja in Corralejo’s port (dishes €10-€20).

Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria might be famous for its southern resorts, but it’s also a superbly scenic land of forested hills, plunging valleys, intriguing historical sights and seafood restaurants .

What to do Stay in Gran Canaria’s leafy north, where you’ll find the lively capital, Las Palmas, Spain’s ninth-largest city – and with a standout beach. The lofty, mountainous interior unfolds in a series of dramatically located villages, exhilarating hiking trails, volcanic calderas and distant peaks.

Las Palmas’ historical Vegueta neighbourhood has a magnificent cathedral (dating back to the 15th century), the Columbus-themed Casa-Museo de Colón , the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno and other worthwhile sights. Nearby, Gáldar has some of Gran Canaria’s major pre-Hispanic archaeological remains (the Cueva Pintada ); Arucas is filled with colonial-era architecture and a dazzling neo-gothic church; and the lush Barranco de Guayadeque makes a popular excursion (hike out beyond the crowds). For beaches, try north-west coast villages such as Sardina del Norte and Puerto de las Nieves.

In the rugged, elevated heart of the island, explore Teror (with its 18th-century church and weekly local market) and Artenara, the highest village (known for its cave houses ). And go walking around pretty Tejeda, the much-photographed Roque Nublo and Gran Canaria’s tallest peak, Pico de las Nieves (1,949m). If time allows, squeeze in Agüimes, Temisas, Fataga and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, or head further south to mellow Mogán and, beyond, to the protected Maspalomas dunes .

Where to stay Hotel Fonda de la Tea has rustic rooms, apartments and independent homes in Tejeda (all from €105). In Las Palmas, Bed and Chic (doubles from €52) makes a boutique splash across two tile-floored 20th-century buildings, or stay at the beautifully revamped, 19th-century landmark hotel Santa Catalina (doubles from €110).

Eat and drink In Las Palmas, Deliciosamarta (dishes from €15) serves innovative seasonal menus powered by (mostly) Canarian produce – tuna tartare, truffled gnocchi, Lanzarote’s Uga salmon. Tejeda’s creative Restaurante Texeda (dishes from €5) focuses on homegrown farm ingredients and its own craft beers; the rice dishes are a signature.

Dominated by the snow-dusted Pico del Teide, Tenerife is the most-visited Canary Island – a mix of lively towns, twinkling beaches, remote mountains, cultural delights, evocative villages, and a lava-sculpted, Unesco-listed national park .

What to do Home to laid-back villages, rugged mountains and some of the island’s outstanding architecture, northern Tenerife offers a refreshing contrast to the developed south. There’s no better introduction than the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where you can explore Santiago Calatrava’s performing arts centre the Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín , the contemporary design TEA gallery and other cultural highlights, before diving into the shopping, dining and drinking scenes.

Just inland, pastel-painted La Laguna is Tenerife’s prettiest town; its centre bursts with historical, Canarian-style mansions. There’s more classic architecture over in La Orotava (also known for its crafts), near the attractive beach resort of Puerto de la Cruz while further along the northern coastline you’ll reach peaceful, historic Garachico, with its attractive sea pools. Spain’s highest peak, El Teide (3,715m), headlines any Tenerife itinerary, but it doesn’t take long to slip away from the crowds along the hiking trails of the lunar Parque Nacional del Teide . Stretching across the island’s north-eastern tip, the ancient Anaga Mountains are another walkers’ highlight; drop into San Andrés village for beachfront seafood restaurants, as well as surfy north-coast Roque de las Bodegas.

Where to stay La Laguna Gran Hotel (doubles from €94) in San Cristobal de la Laguna is a stylishly reimagined 18th-century manor with a rooftop pool. An impressive 17th-century mansion on Garachico’s palm-dotted plaza, La Quinta Roja (doubles from €114) has smart, wood-beamed rooms around a leafy courtyard.

Eat and drink In Santa Cruz, Guannabi (mains €15-€25) fuses Canarian, Peruvian and Mexican flavours in glorious rice dishes and other market-fresh bites. La Laguna’s Tasca 61 specialises in organic seasonal cooking (up to €10) such as curried vegetable salad and artisan cheeses, as well as Tenerife-brewed craft beers. For super-fresh fish (€10-€20) served alongside papas arrugadas , salad and mojos , try the harbour-side La Cofradía in Puerto de la Cruz.

Distant El Hierro, the Canaries’ westernmost island, is an off-the-beaten-track adventure, with thrilling footpaths, sweeping viewpoints, glinting Atlantic pools and misty forests. A Unesco-listed geopark since 2014, it’s on its way to becoming the first island in the world to run on exclusively renewable energy.

What to do El Hierro’s most spectacular base is El Golfo, where the volcanic coastline sits at the foot of an amphitheatre-like, 1,000m-high natural wall. The two main towns here, Tigaday and La Frontera, blend together, with restaurants, a food-and-crafts market and a 19th-century church. The popular (and challenging) Camino de Jinama hike begins (or ends) in La Frontera.

Explore some of the up-and-coming wineries ( Bodega Elysar , Bodegas Uwe Urbach), the bottle-green El Pinar forest and the laurisilva (laurel forest) at the heart of the island. Then venture out to El Hierro’s far western tip, where you’ll find wind-twisted juniper trees, the 18th-century chapel of Ermita de Nuestra Señora de los Reyes and the isolated Orchilla lighthouse. In the low-key capital, Valverde, the 18th-century church and down-to-earth tascas are worth a visit. At the La Peña viewpoint, the Mirador de la Peña restaurant , designed by César Manrique, has views across El Golfo.

Divers will want to plunge into the tranquil waters off La Restinga, which is also renowned for its seafood restaurants. Another El Hierro speciality are its sparkling natural pools; jump in at El Golfo’s La Maceta, Los Sargos or Charco Azul, at Cala de Tacorón near La Restinga or at Tamaduste in the north-east.

Where to stay La Frontera’s boho-feel El Sitio (doubles from €50) occupies a thoughtfully converted, sustainably run bodega with seven lava-stone casitas and views across El Golfo. Or stay at the east-coast Parador de El Hierro (doubles from €97), which has an elegant historical look, a pool with a view of the Atlantic and a smart restaurant.

Eat and drink Opposite La Frontera’s pretty plaza, Joapira specialises in Venezuelan-influenced herreño cooking (mains €10), including stuffed cachapas and peppers filled with local goat’s cheese. In La Restinga, Casa Juan offers creative island produce, with seafood rice dishes among its signature dishes (€10-€15).

From its desert-like southern expanses, dotted with volcanoes, to the pine-forested north, “La Isla Bonita” – protected as a Unesco biosphere reserve since 2002 – is a place for escaping into the wild.

What to do Arguably the most beautiful of the Canaries’ capitals, Santa Cruz de la Palma has a 16th-century core filled with traditional balconied homes, renaissance architecture and the glittering Iglesia del Salvador. With a volcanic beach, it makes a characterful, convenient base.

Most visits to La Palma start with the 47 sq km Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente , whose scented pine forests sprawl around the Caldera de Taburiente depression (accessed from El Paso or Los Llanos). Hiking here is a Canary Islands highlight, especially around the Barranco de las Angustias, the Roque de los Muchachos and the 1,854m-high Pico Bejenado. There’s more walking among the Los Tilos laurel forests in north-east La Palma. Take a dip in the saltwater pools in nearby San Andrés, with its 16th-century church.

In the far south, Fuencaliente’s bare, volcano-studded landscape produces distinctive malvasia vines; visit wineries such as Bodegas Teneguía , and drive to the wonderfully scenic salt flats, beach and lighthouse on the island’s southernmost tip.

Where to stay Hotel San Telmo (doubles from €69) in Santa Cruz has eight boutique-inspired rooms strung around a flower-filled patio in a mango-yellow 17th-century house. Hacienda San Jorge (doubles from €64) looks out on to the black sand beach in Los Cancajos, and has a lagoon-style pool and subtropical gardens.

Eat and drink In Santa Cruz, book one of the handful of tables at Enriclai for home-style Canarian cooking (mains €10-€15), and stock up on island produce at the municipal market. El Paso’s Tapas & Trekking does excellent Canaries-inspired tapas – cheese boards , squid-ink caldoso rice, all with local wines (up to €10).

Walkers travel to lush La Gomera for its outstanding mountain trails, but there’s much more to this bohemian island, where cliff-edged coastlines give way to palm-filled valleys, ancient subtropical forests and eerie volcanic rock formations.

What to do Combine a stay in La Gomera’s pastel-hued seaside capital San Sebastián with delightful agricultural Hermigua in the less touristy north (near lovely volcanic Playa de la Caleta). San Sebastián’s historic centre features laurel-shaded plazas, ancient mansions and the 15th-century church where Columbus is said to have prayed before setting off for the Americas.

However, La Gomera’s hands-down highlight is the magical, misty Parque Nacional de Garajonay , whose elevated, Unesco-protected laurisilva forests conceal some of the Canaries’ most rewarding walking paths. A fabulous route through the 40 sq km park meanders down the Hermigua valley from the Alto de Garajonay (1,484m).

Elsewhere, drop into northern villages such as 17th-century Agulo or Vallehermoso and Alojera, both with black sand beaches. Peaceful El Cercado, just south-west of the national park, is home to La Gomera’s last remaining traditional ceramicists, whose workshops you can visit.

Where to stay Looking out on Hermigua’s banana-palm valley, Los Telares offers smartly rustic studio apartments (from €47) with balconies and a pool. The Parador de la Gomera (doubles from €97), designed to resemble a 15th-century mansion, sits above San Sebastián, surrounded by Canarian gardens and an Atlantic-facing pool.

Eat and drink In Las Hayas, on the western edge of Garajonay, Casa Efigenia is a classic for traditional, all-vegetarian La Gomera cuisine (menus €10). Hermigua’s El Faro does excellent seafood paella, goat’s cheese salads and fresh fish (mains €10-15), while San Sebastián’s market is great for local produce, including gomero cheese.

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Condé Nast to Launch Condé Nast Traveller in Germany

Condé Nast today announced plans to launch Condé Nast Traveller in Germany in autumn 2024. Part of the Condé Nast portfolio, Condé Nast Traveller is the world’s leading luxury travel and lifestyle media brand providing inspiration and expert advice to discerning travellers across the world. Authoritative and influential, Condé Nast Traveller’s flagship properties include their annual Readers’ Choice Awards, Gold List and Hot List.  

With a dedicated editorial team based in Munich, Germany will join as the 8th owned and operated market for Condé Nast Traveller and is part of a larger strategy to expand Condé Nast’s market reach with its brands. Conde Nast Traveler was launched in the US more than 35 years ago; in autumn 2023, it launched an O&O edition in the Middle East. It also has O&O editions in the UK, Spain, Italy, India and China.  

The first print issue of Condé Nast Traveller Germany hits newsstands in fall 2024. It will publish six issues per year accompanied by a robust digital and social media presence. The Munich-based editorial team will report to Divia Thani, Global Editorial Director, Condé Nast Traveler, and work closely with the brand’s international editorial teams. More details on the German editorial team will follow soon.  

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Condé Nast Traveller Germany is the fifth brand in the portfolio of Condé Nast Germany alongside AD Architectural Digest, GLAMOUR, GQ and VOGUE.

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Travel Guide To Granada

The city of Granada has one of the most dramatic locations in Spain, poised below the magnificent snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada. It is the perfect setting for one of Europe's most stunning monuments - The Alhambra Palace, the romantic palace-fortress of the Nasrid Sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Muslim Kingdom. Modern Granada is both worldly and mystical - a vibrant melting pot of east and western cultures, with a large student population thanks to its university, and an eclectic contrast of Muslim and Spanish culture.

Where to stay in Granada

AC PALACIO DE SANTA PAULA

Gran Via de Colón 31 (00 34 958 805 740; www.ac-hotels.com ). High-design values have been applied to the restoration of this Renaissance convent. The minibar in the rooms is entirely free, as is the coffee shop/bar downstairs. £

HOTEL CASA MORISCA

Cuesta de la Victoria 9 (00 34 958 221 100; www.hotelcasamorisca.com ). Many of the Albaicín's traditional dwellings are being turned into boutique hotels - none more successfully than this late 15th-century house at the foot of the Alhambra hill. Some rooms have their original Moorish ceilings. £

HOTEL ALHAMBRA PALACE

Peña Partida 2-4 (00 34 958 221 468; www.h-alhambrapalace.es ). First opened in 1910, this faux-Moorish palace is still a good luxury option - especially for connoisseurs of full-on Orientalist kitsch. There are fabulous views from the terrace. £

CASA DEL CAPITEL NAZARI

Cuesta Aceituneros 6 (00 34 958 215 260; www.hotelcasacapitel.com ). This hotel is another fine Moorish restoration at the posh end of the Albaicín, close to the Plaza Nueva. £

Where to eat out in Granada

RESTAURANTS

MIRADOR DE MORAYMA Calle del Pianista Garcia Carrillo 2. The first and best of the carmén -restaurants, now so much in vogue (the carmén represents the grandest sort of Albaicín house). Tables are set out on various terraces and food hovers between traditional granadino cooking and the pre-Christian culinary heritage. Feast on cardoons with an almond sauce, baby broad beans with ham and a fantastic cured sheep's cheese flavoured with rosemary.

RESTAURANTE SEVILLA Calle Oficios 12 (00 34 958 221 223). The Sevilla was founded in 1930 and became a favourite haunt of Lorca, de Falla and their artistic friends. Seventy years on, its dining room remains essentially unchanged. The menu is classically granadino (try the habitas con jamón , baby broad beans with ham, the regional dish par excellence).

COLINA DE ALMANZORA Calle Santa Ana 16 (00 34 958 229 516). 'Traditional granadino and andalusí cuisine' is the order of the day at this fascinating restaurant, which has won various awards for its novel interpretation of Hispano-Arabic fusion cooking. House specialities include aubergines with honey, chicken salad with cumin and endives, and stewed partridge with chestnuts.

CASA JUANILLO Camino del Sacromonte 83 (00 34 958 223 094). Down-home eating house in the heart of Sacromonte, an eccentric neighbourhood where much of the population (mostly gypsies and hippies) lives in caves. It's a one-room dining room with a few tables, terracotta plates and tooth-mug glasses. The food ( pisto - the Spanish ratatouille - baby lamb chops, tortilla Sacromonte) is plain, authentic, hearty and good value. Book ahead.

DRINKS AND TAPAS

BODEGAS CASTANEDA Calle de Almireceros 1 (00 34 958 215 464). The classic choice around the Plaza Nueva. An ancient tavern serving good tapas such as Trevelez hams from the Alpujarras mountains, and cheeses. As in all good Granada bars, a free aperitivo is offered with your drink.

BAR DIAMANTES Calle Navas 26 (00 34 958 227 070). Famous for its superb tapas, which are slapped onto a zinc counter along with your glass of manzanilla or foaming Alhambra beer (the tasty local brew). Seafood is a speciality, perfectly fried in a light batter. Try the aubergine slices, featherlight and piled into a delicate heap.

BAR PASIEGAS Plaza de las Pasiegas (00 34 958 535 766). This brand-new designer tapas bar on the little square beside the main door of the Cathedral is a good place for a beer or a glass of wine and a tapa or two at midday. If the look is Barcelona (metal floor, purple chairs), the kitchen tends towards Bilbao. Creative and delicious pinchos such as avocado, apple and langoustine tartlet, prawn and bacon brochette.

What to see in Granada

THE ALHAMBRA

Granada is most famously home to the extraordinary Alhambra Palace, the most exciting and sensual of all European monuments. It was the palace-fortress of the Nasrid Sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Muslim Kingdom. For many visitors to Spain, Granada simply equals the Alhambra - they are one and the same. There are 3 distinct groups of buildings on the Alhambra hill, the Casa Real (The Royal Palace), the palace gardens of the Generalife and the Alcazaba.

THE ALCAZABA

The earliest, although most ruined, part of the fortress. Once inside, make sure you visit the Jardin de los Ardaves, a delightful 17th-century garden laid out along the fort's southern parapets. There is access from here to the Alcazaba's summit, the Torre de la Vela, named after a huge bell on its turret. The views from here are spectacular.

THE CASA REAL (ROYAL PALACE)

It is amazing that the Casa Real has survived, as it was built lightly and often crudely from wood and brick. Its buildings were essentially a vehicle for ornate decoration. Arabic inscriptions feature prominently in the ornamentation. The Palace is structured in three parts, each arrayed round an interior court and with a specific function. The sultans used the Mexuar, the first series of rooms, for business and judicial purposes. In the Serallo, they would receive embassies and distinguished guests. The last section, the Harem, formed their private living quarters and would have been entered by no one but their family and servants.

THE PALACIO DE CARLOS V

The exit from the Casa Real to the Generalife is through the courtyard of the Palacio de Carlos V, where bullfights were once held. The palace was begun in 1526 but never finished. It seems totally out of place here but is a distinguished piece of Renaissance design in its own right. Behind Carlos V's palace are the remnants of the town which once existed within the Alhambra's walls, with a population of 40,000 during the Nasrid period. Before visiting the Generalife, look into the 15th-century Convento de San Francisco. Built by Fernando and Isabel on the site of another Moorish palace, this is now a parador whose plant-filled patio preserves part of the chapel where the Catholic monarchs were buried.

Sophie Heawood

Arati Menon

Lauren Burvill

CNT Editors

THE GENERALIFE

The Generalife are the gardens and summer palaces of the sultans. Its name literally means 'garden of the architect'. Deeply evocative, the Patio de los Cipreses is a dark and walled garden where the Sultana Zoraya was suspected of meeting her lover. Nearby is the inspired flight of fantasy of the Camino de las Cascadas, a staircase with water flowing down its stone balustrades.

LA CALLE CALDERIA AND THE ALBAICIN

'The street of the makers of cooking pots' lies just behind the Gran Via de Colon - the main artery of the bustling city centre. This marks the beginning of the Albaicín neighbourhood - the old Arab quarter, with its walled gardens and maze-like alleys. These days, the neighbourhood plays host to a fully fledged economy, with restaurants, bakeries, health-food shops and halal grocers. Take time to explore the Albaicín's labyrinth of whitewashed alleyways. The Mirador de San Nicolas, in the trendy Albaícin, is the lively social centre of the area, where people go to see and be seen. It also has fantastic views of the Alhambra, with the mountains of the Sierra Nevada behind it.

LA PLAZA DE LA TRINIDAD

A pretty, shaded little square, with an abundance of flower stalls, kiosks of various sorts and benches to sit on and rest for a few minutes.

CHURCHES ON THE CALLE SAN JERONIMO

You can go on a good church crawl down the Calle San Jerónimo, taking in a succession of half-forgotten churches - each more sumptuous than the last, from the Basólica de San Juan de Dios (built in 1759) to the Monasterio de San Jerónimo, a Renaissance building founded by Ferdinand and Isabella in the nearby town of Santa F&eacute, and later moved to Granada.

HOSPITAL SAN JUAN DE DIOS

This 17th-century hospital still functions as it did originally. But there is nothing clinical about its columned and galleried cloisters planted with palm and orange trees, and painted with 18th-century frescoes illustrating the miraculous life of the Saint.

THE LORCA FAMILY'S SUMMER HOUSE

This is another must-see - the summer house in the Huerta de San Vicente where Federico spent his last 10 years before being cruelly dispatched by Francos' forces in 1936. It is now a museum and stands in a well-groomed municipal park. A few of Lorca's possessions remain here, including the desk where he wrote such legendary works as Blood Wedding , and The House of Bernarda Alba .

How to get to Granada

AIRPORT Granada has its own international airport.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK Iberia ( www.iberiaairlines.co.uk ) offers at least three daily connections to Granada, from Gatwick and Heathrow via Barcelona or Madrid; some flights are code-shares with BA. Iberia also flies three times daily from Gatwick and Heathrow to Málaga. Easyjet (0905 821 0905; www.easyjet.com ) flies up to four times daily from Bristol, East Midlands, Gatwick, Liverpool, Luton and Stansted to Málaga. Málaga is about a two-hour drive from Granada.