Gran Canaria is circular in shape with an appendage to the north-east, know as the peninsula of La Isleta, which serves as a panoramic background to the capital of the island, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The island's 1,532 km², combined with its circular shape and the location of its highest peak in its geographical centre, gives it the shape of a huge, deeply eroded, conical mountain whose many extinct volcanic craters and deep ravines radiate down to the sea.

The central mountain range, which runs from the northwest to the southeast, separates two vast areas differentiated by their climate and landscape. These two regions are referred to, by the inhabitants of the island, as north and south. Each respective area offers a great number of different microclimates and a wide variety of landscape, this being one of Gran Canaria's most attractive features and hence the reason why it's know as a miniature continent.

With mild temperatures all year round, it is possible to go, in just one day, from warm coastal areas to temperate midlands, or through valleys and subtropical forests to reach the peaks, where the snow falls sometimes without interfering with the sun which shines in the coastal areas. It is the Trade Winds, the sea currents and the combination of mountains which make this islands so unique, especially if we consider that it is situated only a few miles from the Sahara desert.

The average temperature of Gran Canaria is 22ºC. The temperature of the sea water ranges from 18ºC in winterand 22ºC in summer.