Mirador de La Asomadita (de La Hila)
A lookout over the bay of San Sebastián de La Gomera, in the island capital, with parking, public transport and places to eat in the surroundings. The calm of the bay spread out below is deceptive: in the past, and far too often, the people of the town had to learn to watch the sea with fear, because that was the direction the raids of pirates and corsairs came from. The same bay is where the ships of Christopher Columbus put in.
From this balcony the bay of San Sebastián de La Gomera can be taken in at a glance, and its apparent calm should not fool anyone. In the past, and far too often, the people of the town had to learn to look at the sea with fear: the raids of pirates and corsairs came in exactly where the afternoon light now enters. The lookout has parking, a public transport stop and places to eat in the immediate surroundings.
The same bay carries another story, the one that earned La Gomera the nickname of the Columbus Island. This was a decisive place for Christopher Columbus as he prepared his voyages to the New World: besides the voyage of Discovery, his ships put in here again in 1493 and in 1498. Looking down on the bay with the town at your feet is the quickest way to understand why this harbour weighed so heavily in world history.
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