Land of 100 volcanoes
Lanzarote, is the most easterly of the Canary Islands and sits just 70 miles from the African coast. Many beaches in Lanzarote have fine white or golden sand blown across from the Sahara. As with all the Canary Islands Lanzarote’s volcanic origins are very much reflected in many parts of the island’s landscape.

So unique are the vast areas of twisted lava formations that people have referred to arriving in Lanzarote “like landing on the moon.” Indeed NASA. Prepares their astronauts for trips to the moon by showing them parts of the island parts of the film Planet of the Apes was also shot on Lanzarote. The dry climate and lack of erosion has meat that the landscape has changed very little since the original volcanic eruptions. Lanzarote has two distinctive areas of commercial tourism, Puerto del Carmen and in the south, Playa Blanca .However although both of these towns have typical tourist resorts complete with discos, bars and restaurants they still have the most glorious sights to be seen. Papagaya is one of the most beautiful beaches, a stretch of fantastic white sand. In Puerto del Carmen is the beach Playa Grande this another long beach that faces the resort, there are many beaches running from this area down to the old town of Puerto del Carmen Adjacent to this is the picturesque beach of Playa Chica popular for all the sporting activities that take place here from diving to snorkelling, jet skiing and parasailing. Surfer’s favourite beaches are Famara and La Santa in the west of the island. However be warned Famara is not for beginners. Arrecife is the capital city of Lanzarote and its beach is El Reducto with golden sands overlooking canarian coffee bars. There is a law in Lanzarote that prevents property developers building high rise buildings for this reason all the properties on the island with only one exception are all low rise. The other law is that all property has to be painted white or made of naturally available resources. An influential figure in this arena was Cesar Manrique, artist, architect sculptor and environmentalist who turned the volcanic landscape into an art form and was a leading influence in utilising the environment architecturally and promoted a vision of using the resources available for development, working with nature and using all natural resources. This can clearly be seen in the artist’s former home in Tahiche which is now an art gallery. The Foundation Cesar Manrique. The house, half submerged in lava flow has rooms built into volcanic bubbles with linking tunnels. Another example also in Tahiche is the Jameos del Agua  an underground lava tunnel that Manrique had the vision to turn into a concert hall and subterranean restaurant complete with lagoon around which scampers blind white crabs with mood music piped into the tunnels to create and haunting ambience. Through a crevice is the astonishing 800 seat auditorium of a concert hall. The cochineal beetle when crushed produces a bright red dye used in food and for clothes. Lanzarote’s wealth came from producing this until artificial dyes were introduced and the market crashed. However part of this heritage can be seen in Guatiza where the Nopal Cacti, upon which the beetle used to feed is grown in stone walled enclosures. Lanzarote is an island that is a fascinating combination of unique landscapes, interesting and diverse architecture and all the usual rustic charm and tradition associated with all the Canary Islands.

Print this page