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Garajonay National park

Garajonay National park

The largest laurel forest in the Canary islands

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Garajonay national park

Garajonay was declared a national park in Spain in 1981 and it became a Unesco world heritage site in 1986. Garajonay boasts the largest laurel forest in the Canary islands archipelago and occupies up to one-tenth of the total surface of La Gomera. Garajonay is La Gomera´s top tourist attraction and the reason why many tourists enjoy a day excursion from Tenerife to La Gomera.

This is a park that, unlike others in which access to views and scenery demand long walks and stamina, offers many lookout points and picnic areas.

History of the name Garajonay

The name of the national park of Garajonay is worth a story from Shakespeare. Princess Gara from la Gomera spoke with the son of one of the kings (mencey) from Tenerife. His name was Jonay… Both youngsters fall in love and wanted to spend their lives together. But the families did not agree. Gara was princess of a place of water and Jonay was from Tenerife, the island of fire. Only disaster could happen if the union went ahead, and their marriage was ban.

Jonay would not agree with this decision and he swam the 47 kilometers from Tenerife to La Gomera to meet her love. But things were not easy for the couple and they understood they could not live together. They then decided to climb to La Gomera´s highest peak and flung from it together. A sad story indeed. The peak holds their joint names: Alto de Garajonay.