The Maspalomas Summer University 2026 kicks off with more than 20 courses, workshops and activities for the whole family

 

The 34th edition of the Maspalomas Summer University, which will be held from June 29 to July 10, will offer a training program with more than 20 courses and workshops, in addition to a cultural trip to the island of El Hierro, the celebration of the 12th International Rotary Camp and the concerts of the Maspalomas International Trumpet Festival and Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival.

 

The oldest summer university in the Canary Islands is organized by the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Gran Canaria Island Council. 

 

Registration for courses and workshops can be done online: https://www.universidadveranomaspalomas.orgDiscounts will be applied to students, members of large families, job seekers, and people with disabilities.

 

The presentation included speeches by the rector of the ULPGC, Lluís Serra Majem; the mayor of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, Marco Aurelio Pérez Sánchez; the second vice president and councilor of the Presidency and Sustainable Mobility of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Teodoro Sosa Monzón, and the director of the Maspalomas Summer University, Guillermo Morales.

 

Lluís Serra explained that the University is a space for the transmission of knowledge and research, and to achieve this, one must be able to stay updated. This is precisely what the Summer University does each year. The University is a space of freedom, where freedom of thought takes on particular importance in this summer university, where current social and cultural issues are debated and discussed outside the classroom.

 

Marco Aurelio Pérez highlighted that the Summer University offers a program "where different possibilities are accommodated, from sports, gastronomy or learning to sing and that maintains other courses that were born in this university, such as the public speaking course or the singing course, to continue, in the last editions, with current debates on important issues that concern us as a society, such as the reflection on where our territory should go in 2040.

 

Teodoro Sosa stated that “this university is a highly anticipated event on Gran Canaria's summer calendar, and a well-established one because it adapts to changing times by offering courses that meet the demands of the public. Of particular note is the course on 'Holiday Rentals,' a topic that needs to be discussed and reflected upon in the Canary Islands, featuring a top-level team of experts, and the language courses, a necessity for tourist municipalities.”

 

The councilor said that the Maspalomas Summer University is not only a benchmark in the educational field, but also in cultural activities and tastings of Canarian products, "so that Maspalomas is recognized not only as a sun and beach destination, but as a place that generates critical thinking, cultural activity and academic training." 

 

Guillermo Morales highlighted that this edition will offer a cultural trip to El Hierro, which has already filled all its places and will take place from June 19 to 21; in addition to 22 activities, highlighting some courses and workshops that are repeated as the most relevant, “such as the third edition of the course on Youth and Suicide in the Canary Islands; Holiday Homes, a very sensitive issue for tourist municipalities such as San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and 'Nutrition, no time for diets', directed by Antonio Garzón. 

 

Among the new proposals, Guillermo Morales highlighted the course on 'Canary Island Flora', which will feature botany experts from outside the Islands, as well as the 'Introduction to Opera' course, directed by Judith Pesoa, which will be dedicated to the works of Rossini, Mozart and Bizet, and the 'Canary Islands 2040: Territorial Trends' conference, with several round tables in which the following will participate: Elena Zárate (Deputy Minister of Territorial Planning and Demographic Challenge of the Government of the Canary Islands), Miguel Angel Rodríguez (Director General of Planning, Training and Tourism Promotion of the Government of the Canary Islands), Marco Aurelio Pérez (Mayor of SBT) and Lluís Serra (Rector of the ULPGC), Fernando Stany, José María Mañaricúa, Elsa Guerra, Flora Pescador, Fernando Canellada, Julio Rodríguez, José Suay and Mercedes Contreras.

 

 

 

Progress of the program

 

Due to the success of previous editions, the third edition of the course 'Youth and Suicide in the Canary Islands' is being offered again, along with workshops on 'Holiday Housing and the New Law on Sustainable Planning of Tourist Use of Housing in the Canary Islands' and 'Nutrition Without Time for Diets'. Other courses include Public Speaking, Spanish Sign Language, Tourist Languages, Autism, Dance: Musical Jazz, a Singing course taught by soprano Judith Pessoa, workshops on Philosophical Freemasonry and the Law of Democratic Memory: a legal and historical perspective, a Canarian cheese tasting, and the workshops 'Stargazing', Writing and Expression, and an introduction to Skateboarding. New additions to the program are a course on 'Canarian Flora', a talk on 'Ham Tasting and Carving', and a workshop on 'Canary Islands 2040: Territorial Trends'.

 

The training activities of the Maspalomas Summer University, directed by Guillermo Morales, professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid, will take place at the Maspalomas Cultural Center, the Casa Condal, the Gloria Palace San Agustín Hotel and the Maspalomas Skate Park.

 

 

Program per week

 

The training program for the first week will begin with sessions on
'Youth and Suicide in the Canary Islands II' (July 1-3), 'Holiday Homes and the New Law on Sustainable Planning of Tourist Use of Housing in the Canary Islands' (June 29-30), 'The 3 Essential Tools: Achieving an Unbeatable Personality, Public Speaking with Stage Presence, and Mastering Dialogue' (June 29-July 2), 'Introduction to Opera: Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet' (July 6-8), Conference on Philosophical Freemasonry in the Face of the Law of Democratic Memory: A Legal and Historical Perspective (July 8-9), 'Autism' (July 3), 'Musical Jazz Dance' (July 1-3), Stargazing Workshop (July 1), and the program of the 13th Rotary Club Maspalomas International CAMP (June 29-July 3).

 

For the second week, the following practical courses have been organized: 'English and German for Tourism' (July 6-10), 'Nutrition without Diet Time' (July 6-8), 'Singing with Breath: Diaphragm and Voice' (July 6-10), 'Spanish Sign Language' (July 6-10), 'Talk on Ham Cutting and Tasting' (July 9), and 'Talk on Cheese Tasting' (July 10), 'Theoretical and Practical Workshop on Writing and Expression' (July 7-10), 'Introduction to Skateboarding' (July 10), 'Canary Island Flora' (July 8-9), and the conference on 'Canary Islands 2040: Territorial Trends' (July 10).

 

The Maspalomas International Trumpet Festival, considered one of the most important in Europe, will be held from July 9 to 15, and the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival, from July 17 to 19, on San Agustín beach.