Arucas

This article covers the municipality in Spain. For the ship, see Arucas (ship) .

Arucas municipality
View of Arucas from Montaña de Arucas
coat of arms	Map of the Canary Islands
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Canary Islands
Province :	Las Palmas
Island:	Gran Canaria
Coordinates	28 ° 7 ′  N , 15 ° 31 ′  W Coordinates: 28 ° 7 ′  N , 15 ° 31 ′  W
Height :	240  msnm
Area :	33.01 km²
Residents :	38,138 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	1,155.35 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	E-35401 to E-35405 E-35407 E-35409 to E-35419
Municipality number  ( INE ):	35006
administration
Mayor :	Ángel Victor Torres ( PSOE ) (as of 2011)
Address of the municipal administration:	C / Alcalde Suarez Franchy, 11 35400 - Arucas
Website :	www.arucas.org
Location of the municipality

Arucas is the fourth largest municipality on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria . It has 38,138 inhabitants (January 1, 2019) on an area of ​​33.01 km².

history

The name Arucas is probably derived from the pre-Hispanic name Arehucas or Arehuc. Even before the Spanish conquered the Canary Islands, the Arucas was a center of old Canarian life. During the conquest, the place was largely destroyed in 1478. In 1481 AD the old Canarian King Doramas was killed in a duel against the Spanish military leader Pedro de Vera at the Battle of Arucas . Soon after, the settlement was re-established with mainly Spanish settlers.

The decisive impetus for the development was initially the income from the production and marketing of the red pigment of the cochineal scale insect . Sugar cane was cultivated on a large scale until around 1920. With the rise of the Caribbean sugar cane plantations, the focus was increasingly on growing bananas, which was one of the most important local sources of income until the 1970s. In the meantime, the area under bananas has shrunk by more than half. Today more and more vegetables, fruits and flowers are grown.

geography

Arucas is located west of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . Neighboring communities are Firgas and Moya in the west and Teror in the southwest.

Attractions

San Juan Bautista Church

Parque Municipal de Arucas

• Church of San Juan Bautista: The landmark and one of the main attractions of the city is the church of San Juan Bautista (John the Baptist) built from dark basalt stone. It was built from 1909 to 1917 by the Catalan architect Manuel Vega y March, in neo-Gothic style and is often incorrectly referred to as a cathedral, although it is not an episcopal church. The building material, the dark aruca basalt (lava that has cooled down very slowly), is very weather-resistant and is still used by some of the town's stonemasons and broken in local quarries (canterías).
• Rum factory (Destilería Arehucas): The rum factory ( Destilería Arehucas ) on the road to Firgas is widely known . Visitors can find out about production and storage in the affiliated rum museum as part of a guided tour ( Museo de Ron ). Some of the oak barrels on display bear the autographs of famous visitors such as the Spanish King, Plácido Domingos, Julio Iglesias, Anatoli Karpows, Willy Brandts and Walter Scheels. The factory also produces rum blends such as banana or honey rum . However, sugar cane is only grown here in small quantities; it comes from Spain or overseas.
• City park (Parque Municipal): the city park is another attraction of the place, with many Canarian-endemic and exotic plants and trees.
• City Museum: the small city museum at the entrance to the city park provides information about the history of Arucas.
• Montaña de Arucas cone mountain : the volcanic cone mountain with restaurant offers a view as far as Las Palmas.

Population development

year	Residents	Population density
1991	26,974	-
1996	29,179	-
2001	32,466	983.8 inhabitants / km²
2003	33,419	1013.3 inhabitants / km²
2005	34,245	1037.4 inhabitants / km²
2007	35,280	1068.8 inhabitants / km²
2008	35,542	1076.7 inhabitants / km²
2009	36,259	1098.42 inhabitants / km²
2010	36,745	1113.15 inhabitants / km²

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Municipality of Arucas; in Gran Canaria Olé; Issue 37; January 2013

swell

• ISTAC (Statistical Department of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands)

Web links

Commons : Arucas  - collection of images, videos and audio files