The Ancient irrigation lines of Gran Canaria

Follow water's way through an amazing landscape...

Story & Photography by: Bjorn Ulfsson / The Canarian Times
These open air irrigation lines are an old fashioned way of transporting water from the island's colder interior down to lower, and drier, elevations. The irrigation lines have been used for drinking water and for watering crops.

Nowadays, these beautiful "artificial creeks" are rapidly being replaced by more evaporation-efficient pipe lines. But once in a while, a hiker can sometimes find active lines, like this one which can be found on the scenic trail between Arucas and Teror.





The open air irrigation channels are an amazing sight during the winter months.

The channels run along the ridges of the green hills, and the water reaches such speed and momentum that it can even flow uphills through the landscape!

When it rains on Gran Canaria, it may not be great for tourism, but the vegetation is definitely thriving from the increased humidity and by January or February, even the desert will bloom during a rainy Canarian winter.

This form of irrigation is a technique found also among the pre-Hispanic "guanches", who were the pre-hispanic aboriginal peoples of Gran Canaria.

Often we find traces of stonework in the landscape reminiscing of how this entire island once was covered by this type of primitive irrigation channels.

This is the relatively cold and humid interior of Gran Canaria, with mountain peaks reaching around 2000 meters.

When it rains up here, it fills the reservoirs deep inside the mountains, which allow farmers to tap into free irrigation for their fields.

Although large parts if the island consist of deserts, there are actually some natural waterfalls on Gran Canaria. They are not common, and they are often dried up during large parts of the year.

This one, in Barancho de Sernichalos near Telde on the southeastern part of the island, is the most spectacular.

It is quite difficult to reach, unless you are a somewhat of an experienced hiker.

The Remains of a Journey", by UK photographer Francesca Phillips

"I want to reflect what gets left behind ... because sometimes images of objects say more than images of people."

Story by Bjorn Ulfsson
Photographs by Francesca Phillips

Many photographers have taken an interest in the African immigrants and have documented their journey across from Africa to the Canary Islands.
Gran Canaria based, UK photographer Francesca Phillips has chosen a different approach in a new artistic series of images which she has chosen to call " The Remains of a Journey". In her series, she has chosen to focus on what happens to the "cayukos" and the belongings which immigrants leave behind after their journey is completed.

To see more of Francesca Phillips photographs, click here!

Francesca Phillips' images speak to us of hope, tragedy, success and loss - all without showing a single face, or a single body.



For several months, Francesca Phillips photographed immigrant boats as they arrived on Gran Canaria.

"I could get a call anytime of the day or night with a tip that a cayuco had arrived - and if I wanted to catch it, I had to leave whatever I was doing and dash for it. My poor family must have thought I was crazy", says Francesca Phillips.

More often than not, carrying out the photo sessions were a fight against time, since the cayucos usually are incinerated or sunk in the water immediately upon arrival on Spanish land.

The reasons for destroying these often fully functional boats are sanitary. After such a long journey at sea, carrying sick and suffering people, these vessels are as a rule far from clean. The boats are therefore considered by the authorities as a serious health hazard.

However, hazardous or not, it was particularly these objects which were left behind that interested Francesca Philips, rather than the immigrants themselves.

"Sometimes an object left behind can say more about a situation, than many hards shots of a dead body or a suffering person", says Francesca Phillips.



One can imagine the destiny of the poor souls who risked their lives - and quite often also died - in the process of searching for a new life in Europe. Without showing a single person, her interest and concern can be clearly seen in the details of what she has chosen to show.

Her series is a portrait of human belongings... the Remains of a Journey of an inhumane tragedy.

She continues:

"During 2006 alone, more than 27,000 illegal immigrants from Western Africa arrived at the shores of The Canary Islands, more than quadruple that of he previous year alone.


They are found adrift, not far from the beaches, by the Guardia Civil and are escorted to the nearest harbour of entry.

From here they are put into buses and taken to a retention centre, where by law they can be held for a maximum of 40 days, until a decision is made to either send them back to where they came from or to release them into Europe.

These pictures are of what they leave behind in the large "cayucos" or smaller "pateras" that brought them."

To see more of Francesca Phillips photographs, click here!