From our first conversation, it was clear that Gran Canaria Plan and Your Canary Friend shared a similar way of looking at the island. Your Canary Friend is a local provider whose approach fits closely with the principles behind Gran Canaria Plan.
Your Canary Friend is a Gran Canaria travel and personalised-experience company led by Jorge Coello. In this interview, we talk about his view of tourism, the importance of local products and sustainability, and how that philosophy connects with Gran Canaria Plan.
“Gran Canaria Plan’s partners are key to the project”
We asked Carlos Díaz, founder of Gran Canaria Plan, why partners matter to a project that received support through European Next Generation funds under Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, channelled through SEGITTUR and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
No business project can be sustained without strong alliances with its suppliers. It is a chain of value and values that helps companies succeed for the benefit of their customers.
Carlos Díaz
Q: Carlos, how important are suppliers to Gran Canaria Plan?
A: For Gran Canaria Plan, suppliers are not simply suppliers. In a project built around a close, sustainable business idea, we like to call them partners. For us, that nuance means more: a reciprocal relationship in which both sides share ideas and values and help turn a business concept into a way of working. Gran Canaria Plan’s partners are essential to the project; without them, none of this would make sense. We want to work as one team and help our customers — whether local, from elsewhere in Spain or from abroad — enjoy the plan that best fits their leisure time on the island.
Jorge Coello on Your Canary Friend
“Your Canary Friend is committed to local products, originality, design and a diverse range of experiences.”
Jorge Coello, CEO of Your Canary Friend, explains the thinking behind a project whose aim is to show visitors some of the best of Gran Canaria while respecting the island, its culture and the people who live here.
Interview with Jorge Coello
Q: Who is Jorge, and when did you decide to create Your Canary Friend?
A: I was born in Madrid and adopted the Canary Islands as home. I enjoy showing people the places and experiences that have moved me or made me enjoy the island in a special way. Professional changes gave me the opportunity to combine my work in finance with the idea of presenting Gran Canaria in a more authentic way. I started with a blank canvas and a SWOT analysis to get a broader view of what I wanted. I lacked experience in tourism, but I knew the island very well.
Q: Beyond selling a service, what problem did you want to solve or what kind of experience did you want to create on the island?
A: When we travel, we all like getting advice from local people. We want to understand their customs and way of life, and we love having a friend in the destination who can act as a host. That was the idea: for travellers to see Your Canary Friend as that host, designing experiences that respect Canarian identity while still including the island’s genuine must-see places, even when they are popular with tourists.
Q: How can Gran Canaria Plan customers recognise a Your Canary Friend experience?
A: In the commitment to local products, originality, design and diversity of experiences.
Q: How do you manage a tourism business when demand changes so quickly?
A: We try to adapt to what the market asks for, although there is a core group of experiences that we believe work particularly well around contact with nature, culture, history and food. Those elements are always present.
Q: Gran Canaria Plan was created with sustainability, local plans and kilometre-zero products in mind. How does Your Canary Friend apply that to its experiences?
A: From the beginning, we wanted to create experiences aligned with sustainability principles, whether by reducing the carbon footprint, strengthening the circular economy or following other values that are very close to Gran Canaria Plan’s philosophy.
Q: What would you like guests to say after an experience with you?
A: That it felt authentic and personal.
Q: What is the nicest thing a customer has said after an experience?
A: The best thing we have been told is: “Don’t change the philosophy or let ambition carry you away, because the service you provide is pure gold.”
Q: If you could choose only one experience, which would it be? And which experience best represents you?
A: I would choose visiting one of the island’s most spectacular ravines and eating in an Aboriginal cave. If I were an experience myself, I would be a sunset walk in the centre of the island.
Q: What are your five Gran Canaria essentials?
A: That is difficult. I would say Agaete, Tejeda and Roque Nublo, Vegueta, the Maspalomas Dunes, and Mogán.
Q: How does 2026 look? Are you planning new ideas in Gran Canaria?
A: Yes. We are designing new experiences that combine activities in nature with moments of connection with the environment, as well as an exclusive recommendation service for visitors who prefer exploring independently but still want advice from “a friend” during their stay.
Q: Where do you see Your Canary Friend in three to five years?
A: As a reference point for designing sustainable, memorable experiences that can communicate everything Gran Canaria has to offer.
Thanks to Your Canary Friend
We would like to thank Jorge Coello for taking part in this interview and sharing the background, present and future of Your Canary Friend with Gran Canaria Plan.
Partnerships with island-based businesses are important to how Gran Canaria Plan develops, and this interview is part of a wider series introducing the people and projects we work with.
