The full name of the islands capital is La Villa de Santa de Valverde. Unlike the other islands capitals, Valverde has no harbour. The small town is poised on the slope of an evergreen valley and is extremely quiet and often foggy.
El Pozo de las Calcosas
On the coast below Mocanal there are two natural swimmimg-pools next to which there is an ancient hamlet, preserved just as it was: El Pozo de las Calcosas. The houses, with their dry-stone walls and thatched roofs, have been carefully restored by their present owners.
This place is only lived in at weekends and in the summer. and to reach it requires a ten-minute walk along a narrow track downthe cliff.
La Pena
From the restaurant at the La Peña viewpoint you can enjoy a magnificent view and a meal at the same time. The design is the work of Cesar Manrique and mainly local materials were employed in its construction. Through its large windows you can admire the fantastic panorama of El Golfo, the Rocks of Salmor and La Cumbre. The view-point is an intelligent combination of traditional construction and modern architecture.
Santa Andres
San Andrés lies on a plateau at 1100 metres above sea-level and enjoys a continental climate: searing heat in summer cold, damp and mist in winter. The mist can last all day, or more often, all night. As you can see by the goats, sheep and cows grazing in the nearby fields, the people here live mainly from herding.