The development of Tauro beach by local firm Santana Cazorla took a step forward this week after Spain's Costas department gave it permission to create a 180 metres artificial beach.

Tauro beach is Gran Canaria's lazy Sunday chill-out beach for people old enough to remember the resorts going up. They gather at weekends to listen to proper music and  drink the island dry. With a long pebble beach, several ramshackle bars and a motely colection of decaying houses, Tauro is the anti-Amadores. For now!