La Casa de los Enigmas

We’re not used to attractions opening in Arenales. Sure, we’ve got Casa África but that’s as much government organization as art gallery. So when we saw some neighbours of ours dolled up like gangsters and their molls, we were intrigued.

We asked them where they were going and they told us they were off to celebrate a birthday party at La Casa de los Enigmas. We’d never heard of it. But the very next day we saw the Casa’s Scooby-Doo-style van parked in our street.

After some emails between Mr Gran Canaria Local and the enigmatic house, we found ourselves standing outside La Casa de los Enigmas. That’s we as in Mr GCL, Alex, Dani, and cousin Carlos. Mrs Gran Canaria Local was away and Tom was staying at his grandmother’s.

Dani, in particular, had been bemoaning the lack of escape games in Gran Canaria. He did this as we travelled to ParaPark Gran Canaria. Little did we know at the time that we already had, in La Casa de los Enigmas, one on our doorstep.

Because the average age of our group’s 20, we’re advised to try and unlock the mystery (and door) of the library. Wimar and Dani, looking like Al Capone associates, greet us. Here are three random observations from our time in La Casa de los Enigmas.

1. A locked room smells
2. La Casa de los Enigmas is perfectly named
3. We want to go back

1. A locked room smells

The library had that authentic whiff of musty books, seeing as it was occupied by, ahem, musty books. But a stronger odour hit Mr Gran Canaria Local’s nostrils. That of teenage flatulence.

Perhaps it was the gallo pinto (South American rice and beans) he’d served for lunch? Or the complimentary fizzy drinks supped before entry? Whatever it was, it made Mr GCL embark on a new mission. Let alone trying to unlock the door, he was intent on prising open the windows.

 

 

2. La Casa de los Enigmas is perfectly named

In his London days, Mr Gran Canaria Local used to enjoy an altogether different kind of lock-in. Over in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, he found himself  on the wrong side of a secured door for the second time in a matter of weeks. And once again he found himself playing second fiddle to his eldest son, Dani.

For La Casa de los Enigmas had him stumped. As a wordsmith, his favourite time of a puzzle’s a crossword. Anything else makes him feel as useless as his unhappy days in the lab at his secondary school.

3. We want to go back

La Casa de los Enigmas is located in an old residence which used to house Erasmus students. And they’re in the process of expanding it; to include further rooms to escape from. Us? We just want to crack the library.

For despite an hour of collective head-scratching, we failed to get out in time. Well, there’s always next time we suppose. Annoyingly, though, Dani and Wilmar reveal they’ll change the clues so we’ll have to work them out all over again.

Disclaimer: Ordinarily, entry to La Casa de los Enigmas costs 50€ per group per hour. The Gran Canaria Local family, though, were grateful guests of La Casa de Los Enigmas who offered us free entry in return for this review. Our opinions, nevertheless, remain very much our own.