Several adult veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) have been found close to Arucas, raising fears that the potentially invasive species has gone wild in Gran Canaria. 

Published in News

Gran Canaria is currently full of Painted Lady butterflies that are currently swarming all over the island and gathering in parks and gardens to feed on flower nectar.

Published in News

Gran Canaria's recent wildfires have highlighted the importance of the island's forests. Here's why they are so important and what is being done to replant and maintain them.

Published in Alternative Tourism

Gardeners say that almost anything grows in Gran Canaria as long as you keep it watered. Here are five of the beautiful flowers you'll see as you walk around in the Gran Canaria sunshine.

Published in Alternative Tourism

The Atlantic is a vast open ocean full of life and there are only a few places where it's creatures can come to breed, give birth and rest. The Canary Islands, rising out of the deep ocean, are one of them. 

Published in Other Canary Islands

Gran Canaria, already battling an invasion of (non-poisonous) snakes, now faces escaped squirrels as well.

Published in News
Thursday, 28 April 2016 11:38

Gran Canaria's Endangered Ravens

You see and hear Canarian ravens all over the Gran Canaria highlands, but the population has crashed and the species is in serious danger of disappearing completely.

Published in Alternative Tourism

You know spring has arrived in Gran Canaria when the pretty but misnamed Mayflower blooms all over the north of the island.

Published in Alternative Tourism

Gran Canaria's biggest butterfly, the Monarch, is from the USA but colonised the Canary Islands by flying across the Atlantic Ocean and is now a resident.

Published in Alternative Tourism

The beautiful Canarian bellflower survives in Gran Canaria despite the disappearance of it's original laurel forest habitat.

Published in Alternative Tourism

The nastiest thing on Gran Canaria isn't the introduced snakes, or the giant centipede, but an attractive grass from Ethiopia that is taking over.

Published in Guide

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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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