Fuerteventura is the second largest island in the Canary Islands and the longest, with a characteristic elongated shape that Miguel de Unamuno, who spent several seasons in Fuerteventura, identified as “almost a skeleton of an island.” With this, the Bilbao writer did not intend to discredit the island, quite the contrary. Rather, his intention was to highlight her essential conditions.
Tropical Fuerteventura
Culture and gastronomy
Despite the fact that the entire Canary archipelago shares cultural references and gastronomic proposals, each of its islands houses variants and differential formulas that make them unique.
In Fuerteventura one can taste both some wrinkled potatoes with mojo and a Canarian stew, some pejines or some jareas (small fish dried in the sun and baked or served on the grill), but also tasty mussels and limpets caught on its beaches.
Beef and pork are widely consumed, cooked in various ways and also grilled, but unlike other areas, Fuerteventura is also a producer of baifo (kid) and goat meat. Beyond its meat, the island’s goats are also used for their milk with which it is made, mixed with sheep’s milk, the Majorero cheese, cured with oil, paprika or corn flour. It is a highly valued cheese that has won countless awards. Along with the palmero, the majorero is one of the two Canarian cheeses that has a designation of origin.
Natural areas of Fuerteventura
Despite what one might suppose at first when the dryness and plains of Fuerteventura come to light, that does not mean that it does not have fascinating places that captivate the visitor. Rather the complete opposite. In fact, it is considered the island with the most paradisiacal beaches in the whole of the Canary Islands.
Have we already said that it is also the oldest? Well we say it now. The cliffs and caves of Ajuy, to the west of Fuerteventura, were the first terrain to emerge from the waters as a result of a series of volcanic eruptions that took place around 100 million years ago.
With all this baggage, the island has a lot to offer. Splendid corners to show.
Dunes of Corralejo
The most charming point in the north of Fuerteventura thanks to the beauty of its fine sandy beaches with dunes that can reach 50 meters in height.
Popcorn beach
Although this is not his real name, it was with the one that went viral on social networks. All because of the rhodoliths, calcareous structures of coralline algae that are washed ashore and that really look like popcorn. Although somewhat harsher.
Sacred mountain of Tindaya
Considered a symbol of Fuerteventura, Tindaya has been declared, among other things, of cultural interest due to the large number of aboriginal signs that have been found in it and that indicate that it was an important place of worship for the ancient inhabitants of these lands. .
Ajuy
In addition to the geological interest that the area arouses (it has a deposit of oceanic sediments and fossils of extinct marine creatures), its black sand beach stands out and, above all, its ancient caves, which can be reached and even accessed.
Lobos Island
Just 15 minutes by ferry from the port of Corralejo, it used to be the home of an important reserve of sea lions that is trying to recover. It seems incredible that just 6 km² of islet provide such a number of tourist options, not to mention the spectacular nature of the place itself.
Betancuria
One of the best kept secrets of Fuerteventura is located a very short distance from Betancuria, which was the first capital of the Canary Islands. About 6 kilometers of coastline formed by natural pools of placid emerald waters.
Activities
We would finish before creating a list that includes the things that cannot be done in Fuerteventura than collecting those that can, so here is only a minimum list of suggestions:
- Visit the House Museum of Unamuno
- Visit the Museum of the Salinas del Carmen
- Also the one with the Majorero cheese
- Get started in surfing in Corralejo
- Practice yoga on the island of Lobos
- Get to know the Cathedral of Santa María de Betancuria
- Tour the entire island on foot in several days
- Hikes Fuerteventura
Doing it even with goats, a new modality that is becoming more and more fashionable - Hire a wedding photo session or for any other reason
- Play a game of tennis at any of the sports centers in Fuerteventura
- See dolphins and whales unfolding in their natural habitat
- Go on a catamaran or sailboat ride
- Take a canoe or kayak tour
- See sea turtles at the Morro Jable conservation and recovery center
- Take a bike and pedal to the less accessible areas of the island
- Etcetera etcetera
Hikes Fuerteventura
… and do not miss the hiking tours from La Pared, the impressive mountain range in the south
Our INDEPENDENT HIKING programmes:
self-guided ► hotel + breakfast included
Tenerife ESSENTIAL
825 €
self-guided ► hotel + breakfast included
Fuerteventura GR131
860 €Our escorted WALKING PROGRAMMES in a group:
…And if you prefer a tailor-made plan for your group that
combine different islands or visit special places
we will adapt it to your prerogatives.
Your own group? Ask us !
If you wish a tailor-made plan
for your group that combine different
islands or visit special places,
we will adapt it to your prerogatives.
Your own group? Ask us !
Not only in its width (little more than 25 kilometers) is Fuerteventura concise, but also in its relief. In fact, the Romans referred to it as Planasia. This particularity, which does not allow it to retain masses of humid air, its proximity to Africa (not even 100 kilometers separate it from the African coast) and its proximity to the high pressure area of the Azores, make it the driest island in the entire archipelago.
Although there is considerable unanimity that the origin of its current name is very likely to derive from the term with which the Romans knew the Canaries, Fortunatae Insulae or Fortunate Islands, its first inhabitants arrived hundreds of years before the Latins. It is believed that they were able to do so as far back as 1000 BC, and it is known that they came from the Berber tribes of North Africa.
During the following centuries and baptized as Erbania or Herbania by the Guanche people, it was divided into two territories separated by a wall. On the one hand, the canton of Jandía. On the other, that of Maxorata. This continued until the conquest of the Europeans in the 15th century.
