Travel Guides And Tips: Rural tourism in the Canary Islands

If you like to practice rural tourism you should book a holiday in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands consist of seven main islands and six islets and Rural tourism on the islands is a unique experience. Here you will find a unique rural setting where you will encounter volcanoes with magical landscapes created by lava, untamed woodlands, pinewoods, immense expanses of dunes, coastlines and mountainous areas, in spaces that are protected because of their rich bio-diversity and their numerous indigenous species which include dragon trees, junipers and viper’s bugloss.

The gentle temperatures of the islands enable you to enjoy all the open-air leisure options 365 days a year: you can follow the footpaths on foot, on horseback or riding a camel, make a bicycle tour or go canyoning down the ravines that are brimming with vegetation; or explore the mysteries of the volcanic tubes, climb incredible walls of rock or dive in the crystal-clear waters and find yourself surrounded by rays and amberjacks. The clarity of the sky and limited light contamination have led to the installation of two international astronomical observatories from which, among others, significant solar studies are carried out.

The Canary Islands are part of the region of Macaronesia, one of the most important in the world for their rich bio-diversity. Exclusive to this region is laurisilva, a virgin laurel woodland which once covered the entire Mediterranean basin and which has its last redoubt here.

With a range of habitats, the Canary Islands exhibit diverse plant species. The bird life includes European and African species, such as the Black-bellied Sandgrouse; and a rich variety of endemic (local) species including the: Canary, Graja (endemic to La Palma), Blue Chaffinch, Canary Islands, Chiffchaff, Fuerteventura Chat, Tenerife Goldcrest, Madeira Firecrest, Bolle’s Pigeon, Laurel Pigeon, Trocaz Pigeon, Plain Swift, Terrestrial fauna includes gekkos (such as the striped Canary Islands Gecko) and wall lizards, and three endemic species of recently rediscovered and critically endangered giant lizard: the El Hierro Giant Lizard (or Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard), La Gomera Giant Lizard, and La Palma Giant Lizard. Some endemic mammals, the Lava Mouse and Canary Islands Giant Rat, are extinct, as are the Canary Islands Quail and Eastern Canary Islands Chiffchaff.

The Canaries have 141 protected areas, four of which are are National Parks. There are four Biosphere Reserves and a total of 1,386 native plants, 546 of which are peculiar to these Islands.

The Archipelago has hundreds of volcanoes and a rich variety of ecosystems and microclimates, which enable certain protected animals to survive such as the white-tailed and Bolle’s laurel pigeons, the Canarian lizard known as the tizón, the blue chaffinch and the osprey.

The Marine life found in the Canary Islands is also varied, being a combination of North Atlantic, Mediterranean and endemic species. In recent years, the increasing popularities of both scuba diving and underwater photography have provided biologists with much new information on the marine life of the islands.

Fish species found in the islands include many species of shark, ray, moray eel, bream, jack, grunt, scorpionfish, triggerfish, grouper, goby, and blenny. In addition, there are many invertebrate species including sponge, jellyfish, anenome, crab, mollusc, sea urchin, starfish, sea cucumber and coral.

There are a total of 5 different species of marine turtle that are sighted periodically in the islands, the most common of these being the endangered Loggerhead Turtle; however, local fisherman continue to take this endangered species. The other four are the Green, Hawksbill, Leatherback and Kemp’s Ridley Turtle. Currently, there are no signs that any of these species breed in the islands, and so those seen in the water are usually migrating. However, it is believed that some of these species may have bred in the islands in the past, and there are records of several sightings of leatherback turtle on beaches in Fuerteventura, adding credibility to the theory.