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What is particular about this "natural observatory" is that it was installed inside what was the crater of the Arucas Mountain volcano. This cone, approximately 300,000 years old, was crowned by a circular crater, not very deep, which was filled in in the 50’s to build this beautiful vantage point and a restaurant. It was Manuel Fraga Iribarne, the Minister of Tourism during Franco’s dictatorship, who ordered the Marquess and Marchioness of Arucas, who owned the Mountain land, to adapt it for tourist purposes, or otherwise it would be expropriated. The wooden cross on a stone platform in the parking area was installed on December 31, 1899 to celebrate the start of the 20th century. The wood was taken from St. Sebastian’s Chapel which had been practically destroyed by fire, and the wooden beams were used to make one of the symbols of the Arucas Mountain.
It affords an excellent view – one of the best on the Island – including magnificent panoramic perspectives of the entire town and the north of Gran Canaria, from La Isleta to the Gáldar Mountain, and inland to La Cumbre (the Peak district). Several vantage points in the direction of the four cardinal points (“Mirador del Ron”, “Mirador del Teide”, “Mirador de Las Canteras”, the Rum and Teide vantage points, respectively) afford us a view of the banana tree fields in all their magnitude, together with the town itself and its most important districts.
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