Maspalomas

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Maspalomas


Country:	Spain
Autonomous Community:	Canary Islands
Province:	Las Palmas
Island:	Gran Canaria
Municipality:	San Bartolomé de Tirajana
Population:	33,000 (2004)
Coordinates:	27°45′N 15°34′W / 27.75°N 15.567°W / 27.75; -15.567Coordinates: 27°45′N 15°34′W / 27.75°N 15.567°W / 27.75; -15.567
Time zone:	CET, UTC+1
Elevation:	5 amsl
Postal code:	35290
Map

The beach of Playa del Inglés

Hotels in San Agustín

Maspalomas is the oldest tourist town in the south coast of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Maspalomas is part of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

[edit] Overview

Its name may derive from that of Rodrigo Mas de Palomar, a settler and soldier from Majorca, or from Francisco Palomar, a Genoese friend of Alonso Fernandez de Lugo who purchased 87 Guanche slaves from Güímar and settled in the area.^[1]

The place is famous for tourism, its hotels, beaches, dunes, apartments, and other facilities including restaurants, bars, taverns, shopping centres, souvenirs, and businesses.

There is a 68 m tall lighthouse, named El Faro de Maspalomas, at the southern point from where the 12 km long beach and dunes, a nature reserve since 1897, lead to Playa del Inglés.