First time in Gran Canaria? Don’t worry, more than 4 million people visit Gran Canaria every year, and most of them want to repeat the experience.
The Gran Canaria Island has excellent flight connections. Direct flights are available from London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Zurich, Rome, Vienna and from many other cities. From US and Canada, one can normally use airports of Madrid or Barcelona as a hub. You can travel also to and from another Canary Island easily by plane or ship (local companies are Binter Canarias, Canaryfly, Fred Olsen and Naviera Armas). It is just 2-3 hours away from the Spanish mainland and roughly 4 hours away from the main European airports. The Gran Canaria international airport (LPA) is located just 20 minutes away from Maspalomas and 25 minutes away from the holiday resorts which are very close to the Conference Centre. For visiting other parts of the Island outside Maspalomas, renting a car is the recommended option.
Getting to the island by plane
Book your flight to Gran Canaria Airport (LPA). There are more than 30 direct domestic flights from Spain, and more than 80 direct international flights from other European airports. You can check direct flights from any airport to LPA on the FlightsFrom.com website.
From any other continent the most common option to get to Gran Canaria (LPA) is flying via Madrid (MAD) or Barcelona (BCN). From New York (JFK) it is possible to fly via Azores (PDL), which is the fastest option from the USA. During some periods of the year (usually from September to May) more direct flights are available from outside Europe depending on the demand. You can check connecting and direct flights from any airport to LPA on the FlightRoutes.com website.
Getting from the airport to the Conference Venue
Gran Canaria Airport is not a big airport, so it is easy to find everything. There are only two levels: level 0 – Arrivals and level 1 – Departures.
There are several options to reach the Conference Venue, the ExpoMeloneras Conference Center, which is located in the southernmost part of the island, between El Faro (The Lighthouse) of Maspalomas and the Meloneras area.
Faro De Maspalomas bus stop (purple) and private parking (blue) around the ExpoMeloneras Conference Center (red) on Google Maps.
Car Rental
greatest autonomy
Are you going to rent a car? All the car rental desks are close to the airport exit (after collecting your checked luggage) at Level 0 (Arrivals).
Canary Islands Car (CICAR) company offers a 5% discount of its base rates for RADECS 2024 participants. Make direct reservation on CICAR website, after a reservation reference is obtained, send an email to info@cicar.com with reservation reference stating that you are a RADECS attendee in order to get the 5% discount.
There are many private car parking at the Meloneras area (Parking Maspalomas Faro), and also a lots of free parking spaces near the roads in the ExpoMeloneras area. Some of the hotels also offers private parking.
Taxi
fastest option
Are you going by taxi? At Level 0 (Arrivals), there is the taxi rank. The cost of a taxi from the airport to Maspalomas El Faro (The Lighthouse) is approximately 50€.
Please note that in Gran Canaria, the taxi service is public, there are no other private taxi companies (e.g. Uber).
Public Bus
eco-friendly option
Are you going by bus? After picking up your luggage, you have to go up to level 1 (Departures) and exit the terminal, then walk around 100 meters from the airport terminal, and you will find the bus stop (green stands that indicate the bus number). Bus lines 66 and 90 will stop at Faro De Maspalomas bus stop, close to ExpoMeloneras. Bus ticket costs 4.05€.
