El Charco San Ginés really is a lovely spot in Arrecife! El Charco translates to ‘the puddle’ and is situated on the front in Arrecife, between Calle Real and Puerto Naos. There is a car park on open ground to the side of El Charco with a children’s playground, and there are dozens of restaurants around it that serve tapas, platters, bocadillos de pescado and calamares here.
Around the corner and overlooking El Charco there is the Bar La Ribera and next door Restaurante Leito de Proa, the first offers a chance to sit and enjoy a drink and the second local tapas.
We walked in an anti clockwise direction around El Charco – you can see the main shopping centre of Arrecife just behind the water.
Half way along the side of El Charco is the main area for any fiestas, the bar Casa del Miedo is set back and on our walk we saw a Regata de Jolateros taking place as part of the San Ginés fiesta.
The far end of El Charco connects with the top end of Calle Real (León y Castillo), the main pedestrian shopping street in Arrecife.
There is a bridge over the water to continue around and the big building is the local cinema. They show English language movies there on one day, most weeks.
There are a mixture of modern apartments and traditional buildings surrounding El Charco, some are still in ruins.
Here’s some video we shot there one day while we were deciding where to eat:
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There is a delightful place known as Las Casas de los Aguaresíos tucked away just off El Charco San Ginés, the passage way Callejón cuts through to the (church) Iglesia San Ginés, which is only a stones throw from the La Recova market.
Heading back to El Charco and we’re almost back to the beginning, you can see the water inlet – the small boats have to time their entrance so they can fit under this bridge, and there’s quite a current flowing.
