Teror

Teror grew around an apparition of the Virgin reported in a pine tree in the late fifteenth century, and the basilica of Nuestra Senora del Pino, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, holds her image; she is the patron of Gran Canaria and the pilgrimage on 8 September is the largest religious event on the island, drawing tens of thousands who walk through the night from Las Palmas. The street leading to the basilica is lined with houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries whose carved wooden balconies, in Canarian pine, are the town's other distinction. A Sunday market fills the streets with local produce, chorizo de Teror, a soft spreadable sausage, and the town's own bread and water.

What you actually see

• The carved balconies - eighteenth-century Canarian pine on the main street.
• The basilica - the shrine of the island's patron Virgin of the Pine.
• The Sunday market - produce stalls filling the streets weekly.
• The chorizo de Teror - a soft spreadable sausage sold locally.

When to go

Year-round; Sunday is market day and by far the busiest. The 8 September pilgrimage fills the town entirely and the roads in are closed. Teror is at six hundred metres and cooler than the coast.

Honest expectations

Sundays and the September pilgrimage are extremely crowded and parking is impossible. The town is small and seen in a couple of hours. Many balconied houses are private and seen only from the street.

Nearby

Arucas and its stone church lie north; the central mountains and Roque Nublo are southwest.