Valle Gran Rey harbour terminal open

The doors are open as is the Valle Gran Rey office of the Armas ferry  company

The interior of the terminal building in the port of Vueltas, where there are the first public toilet facilities in Valle Gran Rey. Work on the exterior landscaping and car parking has also just begun.  

Passenger terminal nearing completion

Image taken a couple of weeks ago by H.P.

The new passenger terminal in the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey is nearing completion and the facility should be officially opened just in time for the busy winter season. 
All that's missing now is some solid news regarding the reopening of the sorely missed ferry connection...

Construction of terminal progressing

The construction of the new passenger terminal building in the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera is making good progress. The terminal will cost nearly 400.000 Euros and should be finished by summer. I have been asked several times if the construction of this building would point to the reopening of the ferry line between Valle Gran Rey and San Sebastian de La Gomera (etc.), but sadly this is not the case. The terminal building is a separate entity even if it should facilitate passengers in case of a re-establishment of the ferry connection. There is still no news concerning the ferry line and personally I am a bit pessimistic about the prospects at this stage. 

The terminal is a step in the right direction, however, and it is also intended to make the now mostly empty exterior harbour more attractive to the increasingly popular cruise ship and yacht traffic. Visiting yachts have to pay the same harbour dues here as in other ports in the Canaries, but do not find the same facilities included.

In any case Vueltas and Valle Gran Rey will finally receive the first (and badly needed) public toilets. Below you can see what the finished project should look like:

Fishermen's bar reopened. Fish shop planned

The popular bar and restaurant right on the pier in the harbour of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey had been closed for several months, but has now been refurbished and reopened a couple of days ago. The premises are owned by the local fishermen's coop and one of the conditions of the lease is that it must be open in the early hours of the morning to facilitate the fishermen.
The coop also has plans to open a proper fish shop in the old auction hall behind the bar as Valle Gran Rey hasn't got a fish shop despite the huge demand for fresh fish from both locals and visitors. To date to get fresh fish you have to be on the pier when boats come in and buy directly from the fishermen in the blazing sun. A fish shop on the pier would really make sense.

Tall ship in Valle Gran Rey

A regular visitor to La Gomera was in the harbour of Valle Gran Rey again a couple of days ago. The tall ship Alexander von Humboldt II is a German sailing ship built as a replacement for the original 1906 sail training ship Alexander von Humboldt. She was launched in 2011 and just like her predecessor, the Alexander von Humboldt II is operated by Deutsche Stiftung Sail Training out of Bremerhaven and offers sail training for persons between 14 and 75 years of age. She can accommodate 79 crew and trainees, is about 200 ft in length and has a 750 hp engine in case there is no wind. If you're aboard and in luck your food might be cooked by part-time Gomera resident Otto, who used to run a well-known establishment in Ireland. When she is in port visitors can come aboard at certain times to view the bark - visiting times are displayed at the gangway.
CORRECTION (Dec. 26th): 
Otto was never cooking on the A.v.Humboldt. He does however sometimes cook the delicious food on the Norwegian tall ship Roald Amundsen. My apologies to Otto.