Natural Park Tamadaba

The Tamadaba and Altavista massifs form one of the two Natural Parks of Gran Canaria. It is located in the northwest of the island and is made up of the oldest materials from the formation of Gran Canaria, which were emitted during the First Volcanic Cycle, some 14 million years ago. Towards the sea, the massif descends along steep slopes, narrow ravines and steep cliffs, creating a landscape of great beauty, where the impressive Roque Faneque stands out, whose 1,008 metres of height fall vertically into the sea, being considered one of the highest active cliffs in the world.

At the top of the massif, at over 1,000 metres above sea level, there is a flat surface occupied by a dense forest of Canary Island pines (Pinus Canariensis), rising to its maximum altitude of 1,444 metres at Pico de la Bandera. This pine forest is one of the largest in Gran Canaria and, unlike the lower and more populated area of ​​Agaete, this area is influenced by the trade winds, which provide it with a large amount of humidity, produced by the horizontal rain that produces the condensation of clouds at these heights, discharging all its humidity in this area, and favouring the development of an undergrowth with heather, ferns and beech; as well as abundant lichens, mosses and fungi. The local endemic species called Tomillo de Tamadaba (Micromeria Pineolen, Mobenthamii and M. Lanata) also appears here, a sub-shrub exclusive to this pine forest.