Maspalomas is the oldest touristic town in the south coast of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Maspalomas is part of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Its name may derive from that of Rodrigo Mas de Palomar, a settler and soldier from Mallorca, or from Francisco Palomar, a Genovese friend of Alonso Fernandez de Lugo who purchased 87 Guanche slaves from Guimar and settled in the area. The place is famous for tourism, its hotels, beaches, dunes, apartments and other facilities including restaurants, bars, taverns, shopping centres, souvenirs and businesses. There is a 68 m tall lighthouse El Faro de Maspalomas at the southern point from where the 12-km long beach and dunes, a nature reserve since 1897, lead to Playa del Inglés.