Puerto de Rosario Fuerteventura (Part 1)

Leaving Isla de Lobos behind us   

We left Isla de Lobos at 0945 on Friday 20 October and headed south down the coast of Fuerteventura.

The Fuerteventura desert   

This part of the island is like an empty desert except for a couple of large hotels which managed to get their building permission in before the area was preserved and further construction prevented. Our guide book explained that the sand had all been blown across from north Africa, 60miles to our east.

Entering Puerto de Rosario   

It was an entirely different landscape from the brown rocky vistas we had become used to and the sandy desert look continued almost all the way south to our next stop, Puerto de Rosario. Here, our first impressions were not greatly favourable – it seemed to be a very industrial looking port and town…

… but as we worked our way past the breakwaters we found the anchorage for yachts was beside a lovely sandy beach [Ed: artificially constructed of course, but lovely nevertheless!]. There are a few permanent moorings in this area but there’s still lots of space for anchoring yachts. By the time we arrived there were already 4 others in residence.

Tucked into the corner of the port we were close to the beach and the slipway for the sailing club. The other yachts were taking their dinghies ashore there rather than to the beach and so that is where we went too. It all seemed to be very relaxed; there was no charge for anchoring in the port area where we were, and the sailing club seemed quite happy with their slipway being cluttered with our dinghies (though we did try to keep them out of their way as much as possible. It’s a busy club with plenty of dinghy sailing, windsurfing, paddle boarding and kayaking going on all day.

Ports can be rather drab places but here the warehouses have been painted with huge colourful artworks. We discovered that this was a bit of a theme for the town too.

The Caracolas sculptures   

Walking along the seafront we saw items in the first of town’s open-air sculpture park, which has about 100 exhibits decorating the streets. Despite being the administrative capital city of the island, Puerto de Rosario has not really been a focal point for visiting tourists. As part of a plan to boost the profile of the town for tourism, a big effort has been put into highlighting the arts and crafts as well as restoring some of the older buildings. We couldn't really miss the Caracolas sculptures: 4 huge sea molluscs highlighting the link between the town and the sea.

To our left we saw another huge wall art painting highlighting the same theme. [Ed: there’s fantastic wall art all around the town. Some might call it graffiti but it’s far, far more than that – some of it is deserving of a gallery].

Las Cabras (L), Equipajede ultramar (C) and Tribute to Suso Machín   

Not only are there wall paintings around the town, but there are also more sculptures including a series in bronze. We saw Las Cabras, a collection of sculptures of goats to mark the significance of that animal in the economy of the island. There are still more goats than humans on the island and it is famous for its fine goats’ cheese. At the edge of the port was the Equipajede ultramar, bronze pieces of overseas luggage reminding the viewer of the number of islanders who have emigrated in previous times. And, sitting on a bench in the main square is the Tribute to Suso Machín, a writer and painter who was exiled to the island in the 1930s. His memoires of the island in that era and paintings of the town are prized by the local populous.

Our Lady of the Rosary Church   

In the centre of the main square is the Our Lady of the Rosary church which dates from 1824. Inside it is quite plain with just one nave with vestries on either side. The altarpiece is a replica of the original. Whilst early photographs of the city show the church looking somewhat faded and worn, it’s easy to imagine that it now looks exactly as it did when it was first built.

Puerto de Rosario, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain