The Sand Dunes of Maspalomas, Gran Canaria

As I was staying in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, I had heard before visiting that there were Sand Dunes on the shorefront of the town. And in typical fashion, I didn't go to see them until my last evening of my visit!

First of all, a warning, you are not meant to be walking the sand dunes if I am understanding this sign correctly!
But it will become very clear soon that this sign is very much ignored!

I had timed my visit to catch sunset over the dunes, and it appears people were wanting to watch the sunset from the dunes.

And pose for photos with the sun behind them...

And pose for photos with the sun behind them...

It's very clear the trails that have formed in the dunes with everyone walking on them, although by this area that I started from, there was no signage, so its quite easy to not be aware that this was a banned activity to be doing.

And just to show how close to civilisation the dunes are, that is Maspalomas right there, just meters away!

While I am sure it would have been a lovely view from the top of the dune, I honestly just didn't fancy any sand in my shoes, so staying where I was suited me!

From the same viewpoint at wide angle, you can get a sense of the size of the dunes.

And people seem to feel that watching the sun set while on the dune is the thing to do, although for me its about seeing the setting sun colours hitting the sand.

Although I am wondering how people managed to walk that central part, as its incredibly steep and not even a Lada Niva is getting up that!

And the people sit, missing out on the wonderful colouring as the sun sets against the dunes, missing that golden hour of shade.

I did manage to find an official walking route so decided to explore and came across this

Which I honestly cannot decide if this is some form of dead tree or purely roots from something long gone.

Still as I walk back to where I started from, you can really see how the setting sun is hitting the sand and bringing our that golden colour.

Which is an utter shame since the people sitting on top of the dunes looking at the direction of the sun will just be, well blinded and missing out.

Still, for me I got to see the best parts of it in my mind, since the setting sun was then covered by the clouds and nobody got to see that last moment where it dropped below the water line.