The Canary Islands

Today, we explore the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands are an Atlantic Ocean archipelago and Spain's southernmost Autonomous Community. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the continent being 100 kilometers (62 miles) away. The islands have a population of 2.25 million people and are the most populous overseas special territory of the European Union. The seven main islands are from largest to smallest in area, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. The only other populated island is La Graciosa, which administratively depends on Lanzarote. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets. The island chain used to be referred to as "the Fortunate Isles".  Because of their location, the Canary Islands have historically been considered a link between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The Canary Islands, especially Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote, are major tourist destinations, with over 14.1 million visitors in 2023. This is due to their beaches, subtropical climate, and important natural attractions, especially Maspalomas in Gran Canaria and Mount Teide, a World Heritage Site in Tenerife. Mount Teide is the highest peak in Spain and the 3rd tallest volcano in the world, measured from its base on the ocean floor. The islands have warm summers and winters warm enough for the climate to be technically tropical at sea level. The amount of precipitation and the level of maritime moderation vary depending on location and elevation. The archipelago includes green areas as well as semi-desert. The islands' high mountains are ideal for astronomical observation because they lie above the temperature inversion layer. As a result, the archipelago has two professional astronomical observatories: the Teide Observatory on Tenerife and the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

We depart from Lanzarote (GCRR). From 1730 to 1736, the island was hit by a series of volcanic eruptions, producing 32 new volcanoes in a stretch of 18 kilometers (11 miles). The priest of Yaiza, Don Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo, documented the eruption in detail until 1731. Lava covered a quarter of the island's surface, including the most fertile soil and 11 villages. 100 smaller volcanoes were located in the area called Montañas del Fuego, the "Mountains of Fire". In 1768, drought affected the deforested island, and winter rains did not fall. Much of the population was forced to emigrate to Cuba and the Americas, including a group that formed a significant addition to the Spanish settlers in Texas at San Antonio de Bexar in 1731.

We overfly the island of Fuerteventura and land at its airport (GVFV) with the same name. It is the second biggest of the islands, after Tenerife, and has the longest white sand beaches in the archipelago. The island is a destination for sun, beach, and watersports enthusiasts. It lies at the same latitude as Florida and Mexico, and temperatures rarely fall below 18 °C (64 °F) or rise above 32 °C (90 °F). It counts 152 separate beaches along its seaboard — 50 km (31 mi) of white sand and 25 km (16 mi) of black volcanic shingle. We head over to Gran Canaria. On 27 March 1977, a bomb went off at Gran Canaria Airport, the main airport on the island. Flights were diverted to the nearby Tenerife Airport: this led to the Tenerife airport disaster when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport). The incident occurred at 5:06 pm WET (UTC+0) in dense fog, when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run, colliding with the right side of Pan Am Flight 1736 still on the runway. The impact and the resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the latter aircraft. With a total of 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.

We land at Gran Canaria (GLCP), explore the island, and land at El Berriel (GCLB) before heading to Tenerife, the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. More than seven million tourists visit Tenerife each year, making it by far the most visited island in the archipelago. It is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and the world, hosting one of the world's largest carnivals, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Teide National Park, located in the center of the island, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It includes Mount Teide, which has the highest elevation in Spain and the highest elevation among all the islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Another geographical feature of the island, the Macizo de Anaga (massif), has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2015. Tenerife also has the largest number of endemic species in Europe. We land at Tenerife South (GCTS) and head north to land at Los Rodeos (GCXO).

We fly around Mount Teide and head for La Gomera. The island is of volcanic origin and has left deep ravines or barrancos. The uppermost slopes of these barrancos, in turn, are covered by the laurisilva – or laurel rain forest, where up to 50 inches of precipitation fall each year. The upper reaches of this densely wooded region are almost permanently shrouded in clouds and mist, and as a result, are covered in lush and diverse vegetation. This area forms the protected environment of Spain's Garajonay National Park, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The slopes are crisscrossed by trails of varying difficulty, offering views of the surrounding area. The central mountains trap the moisture from the trade wind clouds and yield a temperate cloud forest climate, which contrasts with the warmer, sun-baked cliffs near sea level. Between these extremes is a variety of microclimates. For centuries, La Gomera's inhabitants have farmed the lower levels by channeling runoff water to irrigate their vineyards, orchards, and banana groves. We land at La Gomera (GCGM) and continue to Hierro (GCHI). Like all of the Canary Islands, El Hierro is a tourist destination. It is served by a small airport at Valverde and a ferry terminal at Puerto de la Estaca, both of which connect to Tenerife. Though El Hierro has a Parador, hotel accommodations are generally in small family enterprises; as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, El Hierro has limited construction to less than half of its total surface and buildings to two floors, maintaining its traditional look and social structure more than the other six major Canary Islands.

We head north and finish the flight at La Palma (GCLA), after overflying parts of the island, also known as La Isla Bonita (English: The Beautiful Island).

Documentation: The flight plans are here.

Aircraft: The flight has a length of 400 miles with 7 landings. We want to cruise at or about 220 KTAS, so many fast GA planes are suitable. I will probably (not) be in the C404 Titan. Please fly what you like.

Recommended scenery:

Lanzarote GCRR

Maspalomas GCLB

Tenerife South GCTS

Tenerife North GCXO

La Gomera GCGM

El Hierro (GCHI)

La Palme GCLA

Except for Lanzarote, Maspalomas, and El Hierro, all airports are available as payware from or via ORBX. In addition, Canary Vessels are offered from Seafront simulation via OBX.

Time and Weather: Please set your simulator for a 3:30 pm local departure. We will try real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, June 18, 2025. 1900 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!