[2][3] Its installation was hampered by weather conditions and the logistical difficulties of transporting equipment to such a remote location.

[3] The division of telescope time reflects the structure of its financing: 90% Spain, 5% Mexico and 5% the University of Florida.

The GTC began its preliminary observations on 13 July 2007, using 12 segments of its primary mirror, made of Zerodur glass-ceramic by the German company Schott AG.

[7] The Gran Telescopio Canarias formally opened its shutters on July 24, 2009, inaugurated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

The MEGARA IFU (also called the Large Compact Bundle, or LCB) offers a contiguous field of view of 12.5 arcsec x 11.3 arcsec, while the multi-object spectroscopy mode allows 92 objects to be observed simultaneously in a field of view of 3.5 arcmin x 3.5 arcmin by means of an equal number of robotic positioners.

Following an upgrade project, started in mid-2018, it was installed and recommissioned (December 2019) on a different folded-Cassegrain focus providing superior performance with the instrument.