Firgas: Gran Canaria's Water Town Has A Street Waterfall

Firgas: Gran Canaria's water town is a popular day trip stop in north Gran Canaria Firgas: Gran Canaria's water town is a popular day trip stop in north Gran Canaria

The Villa de Firgas is one of the most popular towns in north Gran Canaria for people who really want to get away fro it all and visit authentic local spots. Gran Canaria Info fans love its peaceful atmosphere and famous street waterfall and mosaics. 

firgas gran canaria 039Firgas is Gran Canaria's water town

You'll notice that lots of the water bottles sold in Gran Canaria are made by the Firgas company. This is because the area, actually Gran Canaria's smallest municipality, has rich water springs and a long history of chanelling water to its banana and watercress farms. 

Water fall street and mosaics at Firgas

firgas gran canaria 037The town celebrates its heritage at the Paseo de Canarias: A long set of steps with a waterfall right down the middle. The sides of this pretty street are decorated with a mosaic made from colourful Sevilla tiles. Each section of the mosaic celebrates one of the twenty Gran Canaria municipalities.

Firgas' pretty church and Plaza

firgas gran canaria 045El Paseo de Canarias is in the old centre of Firgas town right by the Plaza and the San Roque church. It has an attractive interior that is worth seeing if the doors are open when you visit. 

The church dates back to 1845 and replaced an older one built on the site of an ancient Canarii temple back in the 16th Century. 

Don't miss the restored water channels in the plaza with spots for laundry washing. This ancient water channel actually runs all the way to Arucas and was an important source of water in the area for hundreds of years. 

On weekdays you can also visit the old water mill downhill from the plaza. 

Arucas is at its livliest in August during the San Roque fiestas. 

How to get to Firgas town

Landlocked Firgas municipality is located in north Gran Canaria and is 465 metres above sea level. 

firgas gran canaria 051The easiest way to drive to Firgas is to start in Las Palmas and head west on the GC2 motorway and turn inland along the GC20 road. Go past Arucas and go straight through all the roundabouts on the GC20 until it turns into the GC30 and you reach the turnoff for Firgas.

Lex Says: As with all driving in Gran Canaria, use Google maps on your phone for exact directions. 

firgas gran canaria 054There is almost always plenty of parking in Firgas close to the church and you can't really get lost in the town itself. 

If you don't want to drive, catch one of the regular blue buses (line 204) that head to Firgas from the San Telmo bus station in Las Palmas. 

Walkers will want to visit the nature reserves at the Barranco de Azuaje and the Doramas Forest as they are amongst the greenest spots in Gran Canaria and have the largest remaining areas of the island's endangered laurel forests.

 

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Lex from Gran Canaria Info shows us the highlights of Firgas town Photos Gran Canaria
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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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