Gran Canaria, a roundish mountainous, shaped island, wins over visitors with its strong contrasts: fertile land to the north and large expanses of desert to the south, sheer cliffs on the northwest coasts and long beaches on the south coast. In the middle of the island, where Pico de las Nieves (1 949m) is the highest point, there is an imposing massif, the slopes of which are striated with ravines. As if light years away from its hectic capital, Las Palmas, the beaches of the south keep time with the immutable waves and sun.