worldwide-known destination for LGBT tourism. The development of luxury hotels along the coast between Maspalomas and neighbouring Meloneras has resulted in some notable architectural developments. The Lopesan Villa del Conde and the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Hotels have both been designed in a Canarian Spanish Colonial Revival style, partly derived from de la Torre's Hotel Santa Catalina (1890) in Las Palmas. For the Costa Meloneras Hotel, opened in 2005, the architect created a replica of the nearby town of Agüimes (the home town of , founder of the Lopesan Hotel Group), including a distinctive replica of the large, domed , which serves as the hotel reception. Maspalomas serves as the base for Gran Canaria's only English language newspaper, which serves a print readership in excess of 20,000 every month and reaches up to another 30,000 readers on-line. In September 2012, the World Tourism Organization organized its World Tourism Day in Maspalomas, as a form of commemoration of its 50 years of existence. Maspalomas is a gay-friendly destination with many establishments catering for the LGBT community and a popular gay beach by the sand dunes. Particularly centred around Playa del Inglés. Landmarks and geography The seafront at Punta de Maspalomas, the southernmost point of the resort, is dominated by a lighthouse, El Faro de Maspalomas. Completed in 1890, it was built to guide ships travelling between Europe and the Americas. The lighthouse overlooks the popular -long Maspalomas beach. To the east of the lighthouse, the Maspalomas Dunes stretch inland all the way to Playa del Inglés. During the 1960s and 70s, the construction of hotels and the tourist resort began to encroach on the dunes, damaging the natural habitat, and in 1994 a area of dunes was declared a nature reserve to protect native wildlife. El Charco is a natural lagoon at the edge of the dunes which attracts many species of birds, eels and guppies. In the north of Maspalomas San Fernando and El Tablero were built for people working in the tourist industry. In between Sonnenland was constructed, on a crest, to accommodate expats. An array of large satellite dishes visible on a hill from Meloneras is Maspalomas Station, an ESA ground station that supported several NASA space missions, including the Mercury Program, the Gemini Program, the Apollo 11 Moon landings, and Skylab. Transport Maspalomas is served by the Faro de Maspalomas bus station run by the , which is