Valleseco is an inland municipality located in the northern part of the island of Gran Canaria. It is located about 1000 metersBeing one of the coolest and greenest areas of the island. This municipality is also known for its delicious apples. Currently they look like colorful umbrellas on the main street of the town, something that attracts many visitors to take photos. But Valleseco It's not just a place instagrameableNext, we mention everything you can see and do in this municipality.
What to see in Valleseco, Gran Canaria
Valleseco went worldwide viral when en 2019 saw one of the worst fires of the history of the Canary Islands. The well-known #IFValleseco destroyed about 10.000 hectares affecting several municipalities and natural spaces. This event had repercussions in practically all international media, not only because of the natural disaster, but because of all the populations that had to be evacuated. Luckily, 2019 is now behind us and the environment has been slowly recovering its greenery.
✔ Town of Valleseco
One of the points of interest of this municipality is its urban area, that is, where we will find its largest population and the Valleseco City Council. The town can be explored in less than half on foot. Here you can appreciate its famous pedestrian street with the colorful umbrellas, the old canarian houses, the Church of San Vicente Ferrer, Ethnographic Museum (free access) and Valleseco Ecological Market EcoValles. Here you can delight yourself with the gastronomy of the area with the Valleseco apple as the protagonist (we'll tell you about it at the end).
La apple is one of the main fruit trees of this municipality. For this reason, Valleseco celebrates every year the Apple Festival y It has several cider houses. On the other hand, when you walk through the center of Valleseco, look at its houses and, above all, its roofs. They are full of canary veroles. A very typical image of the old Canarian houses and that you can always appreciate in this town.
✔ Nature and protected spaces
At the same time, in Valleseco there are numerous natural Protected Areas. And practically the entire territory of this municipality has some type of environmental protection. They highlight the Doramas Rural Park and Protected Landscape of Las Cumbres. Although it also has within its territory part of the Barranco Oscuro Comprehensive Natural Reserve and Montañón Negro Natural Monument.
Many of these protected natural spaces are shared with its neighboring municipalities. These are Moya, Firgas, Teror, Vega of San Mateo y Tejeda. At the same time, you should know that Valleseco is located between two of the most beautiful ravines in Gran Canaria: the Las Madres ravine and Madrelagua ravine. It is thought that the name Valleseco comes from the abundance of water that its bordering ravines used to have, unlike its central valley.
✔ Valsendero and hiking routes in Valleseco
Another area that you should know in Valleseco is Valsendero, both its urban center and its trails. Until recently you could visit the spectacular El Andén Ravine that we show you in the previous photo. However, this ravine is located within the El Pinillo private estate, property of the Firgas and Arucas Water Estate. Today access is prohibited. A shame, since this area of the island is incredible. In any case, we recommend this circular route of hiking through Valleseco that passes through Valsendero.
On the other hand, in the section of hiking in Gran Canaria from the blog too We share with you one of the greenest routes on the island that runs along the Barranco del Rapador and Barranquillo de Las Ánimas. The walk begins in La Laguna de Valleseco, which we talk about below.
✔ La Laguna Recreational Area
La Laguna is a place ideal to go with friends, family or even just to enjoy the outdoors. It has a renovated racecourse of almost 1 kilometer. Next to it, a circular path has been left, perfect for walking, running or cycling. Furthermore, here they take place horse races and different meetings related to livestock. In the center of this circle you can walk several trails where you will find several explanatory signs about the flora and fauna of the Doramas Rural Park.
Inside, you will find the famous lagoon where several species of birds live. On weekends they usually put millo (corn kernels) at the entrance to feed them. On the other hand, the recreational area also has a barbecue and picnic area, toilets, a park children's, etc. For You have to pay to use the picnic areas. We tell you everything in our article about Valleseco Lagoon.
Restaurants in Valleseco
To eat in this area of Gran Canaria we recommend several places. First of all, The food is very good at the Niebla Cider House., within the Valleseco ecological market. Here, in addition to being able to delight you with its award-winning ciders, their dishes with local products and Valleseco apples will amaze you. We recommend the Canarian cheeses (Valsendero, Madrelagua, Fagajesto and Lomo del Palo), the cachopo with Valsendero cheese, Iberian ham and apple chutney) and the pork rib. The truth is that everything is delicious. Be careful, they are only open from Friday to Sunday.
On the other hand, at Valsendero we really like the Valsendero Neighborhood Association. The place does not have great luxuries, but they have homemade food at a very good price. Finally, if you are looking for a place with more elaborate gastronomic options, we recommend the Restaurant Los Arcos de La Laguna, a few meters from La Laguna. Here you will find delicacies such as steak, suckling pig or its famous torrija.
Cottages
If you are looking for a rural house in Gran Canaria, this area of the island could perfectly be one of the most outstanding for practicing rural tourism. As we have told you before, Valleseco is a paradise for walkers and even cyclists, both road and mountain. We take this opportunity to invite you to take a look at our bike routes in Gran Canaria. Below you can take a look at all the options that Valleseco offers to spend a few days.
Valleseco video
Next. We leave you with a video about the route of hiking from Valleseco to Valsendero with food at the cider house. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for discover Gran Canaria with us!
Gran Canaria Guides
Finally, as you may have seen, Valleseco is a very rural municipality with a number of plans to do in nature. In Our guides will tell you more authentic places in Gran Canaria to visit and the restaurants that locals frequent.. If you liked this content and want to support us, by purchasing any of our guides or tracks, in addition to discovering the island, you will help us keep this blog alive. Thank you!
Hello! I am Ruth, Canarian with a traveling soul. With training and experience in the tourism and digital marketing sector. In this blog I tell you all the tips you need to get to know the most authentic side of Gran Canaria on your own. I also share my travel guides to all the places in the world that I am visiting so that you can discover the destinations like a local and save time planning. In addition to traveling, I love gastronomy and sports. I run and hike in the mountains with my “dog-children” (Silver and Plata). In all these adventures my partner accompanies me, Jorge, which you will also see a lot on this blog.
Spectacular!
Excellent work promoting Gran Canaria and its people.
Thank you so much!! Greetings 🙂