Visiting southern Gran Canaria allows for easy shopping in Las Palmas, whether by rental car or public transport. With a very low local tax and real-time refund, at El Corte Inglés on Mesa y López in Las Palmas, tourists can find a complete experience that goes beyond shopping, including fashion and accessories from national and international brands, luxury perfumes and cosmetics, local and international cuisine with Canarian and gourmet products, gifts and household items, as well as technology and electronics. It also offers tourist services such as personalized attention, gift wrapping, returns, and multilingual staff. It also has cafes and restaurants where you can relax and sample local and international products, making it a one-stop shop for visitors to the city.
October 12th is a holiday, but the Canary Islands government does not consider this day a mandatory closure day for businesses across the island, so some businesses can voluntarily reopen. This particularly affects areas with a high tourist influx, such as Las Canteras, the historic center, and the urban centers in the east and west of the city. Among supermarkets, Mercadona and Lidl will remain closed. Carrefour will open only select stores, such as the one in the Las Arenas Shopping Center and the Express stores at gas stations. Alcampo will not open, while El Corte Inglés on Mesa y López will open its regular opening hours, from 09:30 a.m. to 21:30 p.m.
Shopping centers have different opening hours: Las Arenas Shopping Center keeps its stores open until 21:00 p.m., the hypermarket until 22:00 p.m., and restaurants and entertainment venues until 01:00 a.m. The promenade along Las Canteras beach, where terraces mercilessly invade public space, is not always a safe destination for strolling, playing sports, or enjoying local cuisine, given the many foreign restaurants, mostly Italian. Residents and visitors can plan their day by combining leisure, sightseeing, and shopping, prioritizing restaurants, cultural activities, and city walks. Although some shops remain closed, Las Palmas continues to offer a full day of enjoyment at Mesa y López for those who want to take advantage of this holiday.
