The peculiar thing about this "natural observatory", situated some 412 metres above sea level, is that it lies within what used to be the natural crater of the volcano at Montaña de Arucas. It is a pyroclastic cone approximately 300,000 years old, which used to have a shallow round crater at the top.This was filled in during the 1950s to make a beautiful viewpoint and restaurant. It was Manuel Fraga Iribarne, the Minister for Tourism during the Franco dictatorship, who proposed to the Marquesses of Arucas, the owers of the land, that they turn La Montaña into a tourist site, thereby avoiding its expropriation.
Since pre-historic times there has always been human presence at Montaña de Arucas. The pre-hispanic townsfolk called it “Arehucas” (according to the Chronicles of the Canary Conquest), which is loosely translated as “the place of the crest or the plait”, in allusion to the mountain itself. The first settlements date from as far back as 4th century AD, and were spread around the southern, southwestern and southeastern slopes of the mountain. The homes of these ancient Arucas dwellers were natural caves, artificial caves and houses made out of dry stone.
The Town Hall at Arucas approved the installation of the present day cross. This is made out of blue Arucas stone, and was donated by several local quarry firms, replacing the previous wooden cross which had originally been installed on 31st December 1899 over the stone base which still survives today. The wooden cross was sadly destroyed by the Delta Tropical Storm which hit the island in November 2005.
The mountain has four stone viewpoints, facing out over each of the four points of the compass. Feel free to move around the rest of the viewpoints and enjoy.