Chilly air doesn’t diminish warm welcome of La Gomera

The Valle Gran in La Gomera in the Canary Islands is much the same as ever, writes Damien Enright

For me, it has always been at its most enchanting in the evening light, and yesterday evening, although I have seen it a thousand times before, I had to stop and stare up at La Calera village, its terraces of many coloured houses climbing the hill in the yellowing light.

Calera is short for ‘escalera’, meaning ‘stairs’, and stairs, indeed, are the terraces of houses, reminiscent of the tiers of an over-the-top iced wedding cake dressed with greenery of giant palm trees, avocado and mango trees, and breaks of wild bougainvillea which, despite the crush of buildings, are left to occupy so much space.