Spring equinox sunrise at the necropolis of Arteara

Somebody switched on an enormous spotlight behind Amurga massif.

On one of our very first visits to Gran Canaria we booked a stay in a village called Fataga. The reasoning was that the holiday house looked really nice and that it was “only” 45 km from the airport. We were thinking in terms of Fuerteventura or possible even East Anglia, where 45 km on the flat is no distance at all. What can I say. We were wrong. Between the airport and Fataga there is an enormous Amurga massif. You can either go through a steep and narrow pass called Degollada de las Yeguas or go a longer and somewhat less steep route through San Bartolome de Tirajana. The second option is easier, but you need to know that beforehand. We didn’t. The most difficult bit is going up to the pass from Fataga to airport (opposite direction being downwards and therefore easier). When I tried to do it the first time, I got stuck on the steepest curve. I kept stalling the motor and try though I did, couldn’t advance even an inch. If anything, I was going backwards with each stalling. A small queue of cars started to form behind me immediately, and eventually a giant tourist bus joined them. A guide from the bus, very nice and polite German guy, run up to us and asked what was going on. When he found out that nothing was wrong with the car itself, he suggested to drive us to the pass, and did. I was enormously grateful to him, still am.

That all happened in daytime (hence the queue and the help). We, however, were supposed to drive to the airport in the small hours, in the darkness, on the empty road. So. I chickened and we changed the booking for the last night to a guesthouse in Ingenio. I did have to drive the same road one more time of course, but not at night and I was mentally prepared to what was coming and managed ok this time.

Why am I telling you all that, all these years later?

Light just starting to appear on the clouds

I was studiously avoiding driving in the mountains of Gran Canaria ever since, but I keep being impressed by the skills of drivers, especially the local bus drivers, who handle these curves as if it was nothing at all. This time I was given an opportunity to admire their driving style on precisely the same road.

Just like the Winter Solstice trip, the excursion to see the Spring Equinox sunrise at Necrópolis de Arteara was organised by the Cabildo of Gran Canaria. This time, we had to start from Las Palmas at 6 am. However, it took the driver much less time than (probably) expected. We arrived at Arteara almost two hours before the event we came to observe. It was cold. Or guide, the very same guy who took us to see the solstice, had a cold and was claiming to be a dying man. The walk to the necropolis from the carpark was short. There was nothing much to see and do around tiny visitors center, which, btw, was opened specially for our group, it being so early. So we tried to warm ourselves by moving around the necropolis, which is not easy, because the whole area is malpais, covered with not-so-big sharpish stones. The stones came down off the walls of the valley and were used to construct the tombs. Most of the tombs are difficult to identify as such for an untrained eye, such as mine. That is to say, they look like piles of rocks.

Same outline as in the second pic, now with the some sunlight inside the Barranco de Fataga ravine

The explanations our guide was offering were excellent as usual, despite him being ill. Some of the stuff we have already heard before, but that is normal when somebody is giving so many talks on different, but related topics. One of the things that were said more than once already is the supposed aboriginal Canarian tradition to mummify the bodies of their dead. Basically, it didn’t exist, i.e. there were no tradition. They buried the bodies somewhere safe, where wildlife couldn’t get. In some of these places, in dry caves, for example, the conditions were just right for natural mummification, i.e. the bodies getting dry and preserved with all their bits on. But there was no intention to it.

Spotlight effect becoming more apparent

As to the necropolis itself I’ll refer you to the official website. I am not that interested in cemeteries. We came there to observe a celestial event.

The Equinox itself is that time of the year when the sun takes the right path to observe the cone of light coming through a narrow pass in the Amurga massif. That is to say, it doesn’t have to be Equinox precisely. Sun is a must though.

Sun appearing over the pass

In a funny way, the Equinox in Arteara looks like a negative of Solstice in Acusa, or vice versa. Here we have a cone of light, shining upwards. There, we have a cone of shadow, falling downwards. Have a look, am I right or am I right?

Falling onto the “King’s tomb”

As to the claims that the light falls onto a tomb of the King (eh?) on Equinox — weeeelll. There are 800+ tombs in that necropolis, according to their own website. The equinox sun has to shine somewhere. So, make your own conclusions. It’s nice to believe in great significance of everything, but excluding simple randomness would be wrong.

Last snap before we go. As you can see, the sun is behind Amurga once more

If you go there on your own, the entrance will cost you something, check the info on their website. We got in free and Cabildo provided a bus from Las Palmas. That’s what I call a good deal. Generally, “Es todo tuyo” (It’s all yours) program of Cabildo is excellent, the only problem is that the most popular excursions fill in in a matter of minutes after the inscriptions open — it feels like the whole island is hovering over their keyboards waiting for the “go!” moment.

That’s all folks :)

Equinox pics on shutterstock — here