Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is a high-performance, segmented 10.4-meter telescope to be installed at one of the best sites of the northern hemisphere: the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands. When it opens in 2006, it will be the largest single optical/infrared telescope in the world. The GTC project is a Spanish initiative, led by the IAC (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias) with the aim of becoming an international project.