Arucas occupies an approximately 13 square mile area on the northern face of Gran Canaria. It goes from the coast to what are called the "medianías", the land between the coast and the peak district, over 1,800 feet above sea level. It is an area which has been transformed by man, where urban settlements (more or less disperse), crops and associated infrastructures (ponds, irrigation channels, terraced crops, etc.) largely define the landscape now before us.

The town of Arucas is some 7 and a half miles from the capital of the island, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, along the main north road. It is on the southern side of the mountain of the same name, a volcanic peak visible from miles around, the lava from which reached the coast to form the north, a platform gently sloping to the sea. The appearance of the volcano led to the closure of the old ravines and an endorheic basin formed on the southern side which later filled with sediments to finally form the rich lowland area that is now known as the Arucas Plain, or by the local name of the “vegas”. Inland, the lay of the land is uneven and fragmented, and marked by the Riquiánez hills, on the eastern border of the town, the Jurgón hill in the centre, and the Tomás de León hill on the western border.