Castillo de San Cristobal

The tower stands in the sea, a strip of water between it and the promenade, and the Atlantic works at the rock beneath it. It went up in the late 16th century to watch the southern approach to Las Palmas, and from the walkway the line of sight it was built for still runs straight out to the horizon.

The castle itself holds little: no museum, nothing inside to see. What brings people here is the walk along the seafront to reach it and the neighbourhood behind it. San Cristóbal is an old fishing barrio, its low houses facing the water, with restaurants and bars along the front. A new playground sits nearby, which makes it an easy stop with children.

• There are no public toilets and no drinking water near the tower. Bring water and plan a stop at a bar in San Cristóbal.
• No lifeguards work this stretch of coast.
• Newer signs name the tower Torreón de San Pedro Mártir, so look for that name as well as Castillo de San Cristóbal.
• The castle is a tower to look at from the shore. Pair it with the seafront walk or a meal in the neighbourhood.
• Bicycle parking stands at the new playground nearby.

The tower sits just off the main seafront road, the Avenida Marítima, on the southern side of Las Palmas. Buses stop about 180 m away at Hospital Insular (cercanía) and Av. Marítima del Sur (Hospital Materno Insular), and two car parks lie about 180 m and 200 m away in a straight line. From any of them the last stretch is on foot along the coastal walkway, to the point where the tower faces you across the water. Cyclists can leave bikes at the racks by the new playground.

Best: late afternoon, when the sun is behind the city and falls on the tower from the land side.

Avoid: midday in summer, and days of heavy swell.

The shore faces east over the Atlantic, so morning light comes from behind the tower and turns it into a silhouette, the seafront walkway is open to the sun at midday, and big seas throw spray over the breakwater.