Which sights in Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés are worth a visit?
The Faro de Maspalomas (lighthouse), a Bien de Interés Cultural (listed heritage site) per the 2017 grancanaria.com blog, first shone in 1890. Engineer Juan León y Castillo drew the plans, building took almost three decades, and sources conflict on its height: over 50 metres, or 55 or almost 60.
Per grancanaria.com, the Cabildo spent 1.4 million euros renovating the lighthouse keepers' houses into a crafts shop, info point and ethnographic museum under FEDAC. The Centro Etnográfico del Faro de Maspalomas has a roof terrace over dunes and beach, but opening hours and admission are not published; details date from 2017.
The Charca de Maspalomas (lagoon) is a resting place for migrating birds, and birdingplaces.eu lists herons, spoonbills, black-winged stilts, Kentish plovers, coots and moorhens. A travel blog says the palm grove has an interpretation centre, and birdwatchers keep to the paths so the birds' resting places stay undisturbed.
Palmitos Park (Barranco de los Palmitos ravine, 35109 Maspalomas) opens daily 10:00 to 18:00 per palmitospark.es, with last entry an hour before closing per the ticket portal. By its own account it shows the Canary Islands' largest orchid collection and a large palm collection, plus daily shows with dolphins, birds and caimans.
The third-party site taquilla.com lists 2026 admission at €39.00 for adults aged 11 and over and €15.00 for children aged 3 to 4. Children aged 0 to 2 go free.
How do you get to Maspalomas, and what do sunloungers cost?
Global's line 30 runs Maspalomas to Las Palmas via Playa del Inglés, calling at San Telmo and Santa Catalina; reach it on +34 928 252 630 or guaguasglobal.com. Line 50 links San Telmo and Maspalomas but skips Playa del Inglés, writes gran-canaria-info.com, and 2026 timetables and prices are unconfirmed.
The airport bus costs 4.05 euros according to gran-canaria-info.com, though the year of that figure is unclear. Check the price with the operator beforehand; a guagua (scheduled bus) runs to a timetable on Gran Canaria, so confirm departure times before the return trip.
In 2025 the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana wanted new lounger rates, RTVC reports: 4.50 euros per lounger and per parasol, 15 euros for a Balinese bed, 3 euros for the safe. The old rates were 25 years old, and it is unconfirmed whether the municipal council approved the new ones or from when they apply.
A notice says an evening crafts market runs by the miniature train in Parque Europa, Playa del Inglés, except on Sundays; year and times are unconfirmed. A reseller quotes undated camel rides near the Charca and the lighthouse from about 18 euros for roughly 30 minutes; no official tariff is available.
How did the resort come about, and what happens next with the dunes?
Tourism began in 1962 with the Maspalomas Costa Canaria project; its Plan Parcial (zoning plan) of 1962–69 covered San Agustín, Oasis, Playa del Inglés and the Campo de Golf. The land was earlier farmland, first barley and wheat, later export tomatoes, say papers in the ULPGC university repository.
Investors chose the south for climate, scenery and land cheaper than in Las Palmas; Wikipedia gives 7,515 residents for 2013. Wikipedia only guesses at the disputed name Inglés: a bohemian, maybe French, taken for an Englishman, and says the May festival Maspalomas Pride drew over 100,000 in 2011.
The area was first a Paraje Natural de Interés Nacional (national natural site) under Ley 12/87, and Decreto 152/1988 created its governing body. Since 1994 it has been a Reserva Natural Especial (special nature reserve) and a Natura 2000 site (Zona de Especial Conservación), per summaries; the laws were not checked.
It is open whether the Cabildo will cap dune visitors and when the loudspeaker warning system starts, as the reports gave no dates. For current readings and warnings see CITA weather (cita.news/de/wetter.html) and AEMET, the state weather service, as weather mainly decides how hot the dune sand gets at midday.