The Maspalomas is a spectacular 4 square kilometers field of sand located in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, on the south side of the island of Gran Canaria. The sand originated from coral reefs crushed into fine golden grains of limestone by the grinding action of glaciers over thousands of years ago. The ocean currents dragged them to the shore and from there the wind accumulated them into dunes. The sand is blown inland from the beach and accumulates around the shrubs, known as balancon that dots the landscape. Once the accumulated sand grows larger than its protective shrub, it begins to move across the dune field and so creating the stunning, undulating landscape. Even today, the dunes are moving at the rate of 2 to 5 meters from east to west.