A quick note before we get into it: we're switching this feature from a daily post to a weekly roundup, published each weekend covering the key stories from the past seven days. It's a better fit for how most of you actually read us, and it means each edition can go a bit deeper. Here's what mattered on Gran Canaria this past week:

Weather: calima lingers into the weekend before autumn's first real shift
After a brief return of rain early in the week, calima settled back in over the Canary Islands for the first weekend of October, particularly over the mid-altitude and higher areas of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. AEMET says this is the lull before a genuine change — forecasters are watching a system that could develop into the first serious DANA (an autumn low-pressure storm system) of the season in the coming days. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been sitting in the comfortable mid-20s (24–27°C) through the week. Worth keeping an eye on official updates if you've got travel plans in the next week or two, particularly anything involving driving through higher inland areas.

Also weather-adjacent: a car left dangling over the Las Américas roundabout on the GC-2 caused nearly three hours of traffic chaos on Thursday before the road was cleared — a useful reminder that this stretch of coastal motorway can back up fast and without much warning.

Lopesan to invest €41.6 million in a new five-star hotel in Meloneras
In one of the week's bigger tourism-industry stories, Lopesan — the group behind Costa Meloneras, which we reviewed recently — has announced a €41.6 million investment in a brand-new five-star hotel in Meloneras. Details on opening dates and the exact concept are still emerging, but it's a strong signal that the south's luxury hotel market continues to expand rather than plateau. We'll follow up with more as plans firm up.

Supreme Court clears the way for roughly 200 new Uber and Cabify vehicles
Following on from a story we flagged last week, Spain's Supreme Court has now formally removed the cap that was blocking VTC (ride-hailing) expansion on Gran Canaria, opening the door for an estimated 200 additional Uber and Cabify vehicles on the island. If you rely on ride-hailing apps when you visit, this should mean better availability over time, though how quickly that plays out in practice remains to be seen.

GC-1 motorway widening begins this month
Public works authorities are starting construction in October on an expansion of the GC-1 between La Estrella and Las Terrazas. Road projects on this scale generally mean temporary lane closures and slower traffic through the work zone — worth building extra time into any journeys along this stretch of motorway over the coming months.

A sobering safety reminder: drowning deaths at a ten-year high
Eight children have drowned in the Canary Islands so far in 2026 — the highest figure in a decade. It's a genuinely difficult statistic, and we're including it here not to alarm but because it's a serious, practical reminder for any family visiting the islands: currents around Gran Canaria's coastline can be far stronger than they look, red-flag warnings exist for a reason, and close supervision near any open water — pools included — matters more here than it might feel like it should on a calm, sunny day.

Housing protests continue in Las Palmas
A demonstration over housing costs and availability drew a large crowd in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Saturday, with organisers describing it as building toward a general strike. Housing affordability has become one of the most persistent local political issues on the island this year, and it's one we'll likely keep returning to, since it shapes a lot of the broader conversation around tourism's impact on local communities.

Something to look forward to: National Geographic's 69 best places to eat in Las Palmas
On a considerably lighter note, National Geographic Spain has published a list of 69 recommended spots to eat in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria — a genuinely useful resource if you're planning any time in the capital and want to eat somewhere other than a hotel buffet. We'll be digging through it ourselves for a future roundup of standout picks.

And for the Halloween planners: a haunted circus comes to Firgas
If you're going to be on the island at the very end of October, the Lomo Quintanilla cultural association in Firgas is bringing back its "Circus of Horrors" haunted house for three nights — October 30th, 31st and November 1st, in the Cambalud neighbourhood. It's a local, community-run event rather than a big commercial production, which is part of its charm if Halloween-season scares are your thing.

Here's what happened on Gran Canaria yesterday — the stories most likely to matter if you're living here, visiting soon, or just like keeping up with the island.

Rain returns with an orange warning — possibly autumn's first real storm system
After weeks of heat and calima, rain finally arrived across the Canary Islands on Thursday, and AEMET has since issued an orange warning for rain heading into Friday, with experts warning this could develop into the first serious DANA (an isolated high-altitude depression, the system behind the region's heaviest autumn downpours) of the season. Gran Canaria itself saw a milder version of the instability than the western islands — expect cloudy intervals in the north, the odd light shower through the middle of the day, and daytime temperatures holding in the mid-to-high 20s (around 24–28°C in the capital). A moderate northeasterly wind, with stronger gusts possible in low-lying southeastern and western areas by afternoon, rounds out the forecast.

If you're on the island right now: nothing to seriously disrupt travel plans yet, but keep an eye on official AEMET updates over the next couple of days, particularly if you're driving through higher or more exposed areas, and pack a light rain layer you probably haven't needed since you arrived.

Tiger mosquito detected in Mogán
Health authorities have confirmed specimens of the tiger mosquito in the Motor Grande area of Mogán, in the island's south. The species is a known vector for several tropical diseases, and while isolated detections don't amount to an outbreak, it's a sensible moment to take basic precautions if you're staying in or near the area — use repellent in the early morning and evening, and avoid leaving standing water around terraces or gardens, since that's exactly where the mosquito breeds.

Agricultural burns resume on Gran Canaria
As of Thursday, Gran Canaria has officially moved out of its high forest-fire-risk period and into the medium-risk season that runs through autumn and winter, which means farmers are once again permitted to carry out controlled agricultural burns on the island. If you're driving through rural or inland areas over the coming weeks, don't be alarmed by smoke on the horizon — it's a normal, licensed part of the agricultural calendar here, not a wildfire.

More ride-hailing licences could be coming to Gran Canaria
Spain's Supreme Court has opened the door to additional VTC (private ride-hailing, the category covering services like Uber and Cabify) licences being issued on Gran Canaria, in a ruling that could reshape the balance between traditional taxis and app-based ride services on the island. It's a story worth watching rather than acting on immediately — any real change in availability or pricing for visitors relying on ride-hailing apps will likely take some time to filter through.

Also worth knowing
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has set up 110 temporary waste collection points across the city's five districts for the month of October, part of an ongoing push to modernise how the capital handles household rubbish and recycling.

Here's what happened on Gran Canaria yesterday — the stories most likely to matter if you're living here, visiting soon, or just like keeping up with the island.

Goodbye calima: AEMET confirms October starts with rain
After weeks of heat and dusty, hazy skies, Spain's meteorological agency AEMET has confirmed the calima is finally clearing out, with October opening across the Canary Islands with a proper change in the weather — rain on the way rather than more Saharan dust. For residents who've spent the last couple of weeks dealing with muggy heat and haze, this is the shift a lot of people have been waiting for, and it also means noticeably clearer skies and views over the coming days, which is good news if you've got any scenic drives or photography planned.

Arucas gears up for the Gran Canaria Sum Festival
The Gran Canaria Sum Festival 2026 returns this weekend, bringing music and entertainment to the northern town of Arucas — known the rest of the year for its striking neo-Gothic church and its rum distillery. If you're in the north of the island this weekend and want a taste of local festival culture outside the usual resort-town entertainment, this is worth building a day around.

Free cheese tastings and workshops mark World Tourism Day
La Casa del Queso is holding a free day of activities this Saturday to mark World Tourism Day, with tasting pairings and artisan cheese-making workshops open to the public. Canarian cheese — particularly the flower-rennet varieties from the north of the island — doesn't get nearly as much attention from visitors as it deserves, and a free, hands-on introduction like this is a genuinely good way to actually understand what you're eating rather than just buying a wedge at a supermarket.

TEMUDAS wraps its 30th year with over 61,000 visitors
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's Theatre, Music and Dance Festival has just closed out its 30th anniversary edition, drawing more than 61,000 people across the run — a solid reminder that the capital's cultural calendar runs considerably deeper than most visitors who stick to the southern beaches ever see. Worth keeping on your radar for next year if culture and performance are part of what you look for on a trip.

Also worth knowing
Las Palmas city council says it has cut energy consumption from street lighting along Avenida de Escaleritas by 75% following an upgrade — a small infrastructure story, but a useful sign of the kind of efficiency work going on behind the scenes across the capital this year.

Introducing Gran Canaria News: Your Daily Roundup
Starting soon, BlueCanaria is adding something new: a daily roundup of what's actually happening on Gran Canaria.
Every day, we go through the Spanish-language news from the island — local papers, official announcements, weather and road updates, events, and everything else that shapes daily life here — and the next day, we publish a summary of the stories that matter, translated and explained in English.

Why we're doing this
If you live on Gran Canaria, own a home here, are planning a move, or simply visit often enough that the island feels like a second home, you've probably run into the same problem we have: almost all of the island's real news is published in Spanish, in outlets most visitors and international residents never see. Weather warnings, road closures, changes to bus routes, local festivals, new restaurant openings, planning decisions that affect a neighbourhood you know — it's all out there, but it's scattered, and it's not in a language most of our readers read comfortably.

We wanted a single, reliable place to catch up on it in English, without having to piece it together yourself from half a dozen Spanish-language sources every morning.

What to expect
Each roundup will cover the stories that actually matter to people living on or regularly visiting Gran Canaria — think weather and calima warnings, transport and infrastructure news, local events and festivals, tourism and property developments, and the occasional odd or interesting story that's worth knowing about even if it doesn't change your day. We'll keep it concise and readable, not a wall of headlines, and we'll always aim to give you the context a translated headline alone doesn't.

This won't replace the destination guides, hotel reviews and practical articles you already come to BlueCanaria for — it sits alongside them, as a new, regularly updated layer for anyone who wants to stay genuinely connected to what's happening on the island, not just plan a trip to it.

Follow along
New roundups will be published daily, summarising the previous day's news. Bookmark this section, check back each morning, and you'll have a genuine sense of what's going on across Gran Canaria — without needing to read a word of Spanish yourself.