Spain
Discover Lanzarote - The Island Of Fire
By Nick Ball
Jul 19, 2008, 03:44

Lanzarote may well be a Spanish Island.  But it is in fact located just 70 miles off the coast of the Sahara.  With a flavour and culture that owes as much to Latin America and Africa as the Iberian Peninsula.  Boasting a unique volcanic terrain that is the eerie legacy of one of the world’s longest ever eruptions, that decimated the island for six years in the 1730´s.

Lanzarote is just four hours flying time from the UK.  Which is the islands main market for overseas tourism – and which has in the past earnt it the underserved epithet of ‘Lanzagrotty’  – as so cruelly coined by Monty Python’s Michael Palin back in the days when package tourism was just taking off.

But try explaining that to visitors of any other nationality and they’ll shake their heads in disbelief.  As Lanzarote is a cool, cosmopolitan little island which boasts more than its fair share of natural beauty, over 90 beautiful beaches and some of the most unique tourist attractions in the world. 

Indeed for the Spanish the island is regarded as the height of sophistication.  Many visit from the mainland during the summer months in order to escape the searing heat – as Lanzarote is cooled by the Trade Winds. Or choose to over winter here as the temperatures rarely fall below 20c.

The King of Spain maintains a Palace here.  The Prime Minister holidays here regularly.  Famous film stars such as Omar Sharif once owned property on the island .  And soon Lanzarote itself will be showcased on the silver screen in the latest movie from famous Spanish director Pedro Almodovar – entitled Broken Embraces.  Which stars Penelope Cruz and is scheduled for release in early 2009.

But despite the VIP visitors and mass market tourism Lanzarote still remains surprisingly unspoiled.  Thanks largely to the efforts of an island born artist and architect called Cesar Manrique.  Who campaigned to control the evolution of development on Lanzarote in order to ensure against it being submerged beneath a sea of high rise hotels.  As was happening on the Costas and other Canary Islands back in the 1970´s and 80´s.

During the 1960´s Manrique had been studying and exhibiting his paintings in New York.  Whilst rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and his Factory crowd.  This creative Canarian was no hippy though – as he didn’t smoke or drink.  But he did return to Lanzarote in 1966 with some eco-friendly ideals that were way ahead of his time – especially during the dark days of the Franco era.

Manrique´s guiding principle – throughout all of his creations – whether painting, sculpture or architecture – was to fuse art with nature.  He joined forces on his return with an old family friend called Pepin Ramirez, who happened to be the head of the island council.  And together they began to plot an alternative path

for the development of tourism on the island.

This first manifested itself in the creation of a series of unique attractions that they hoped would provide a far more eco-friendly alternative to the golf courses and water parks springing up elsewhere in Spain.  Whilst also providing Lanzarote with a unique identity.

In the North of the island – in a long collapsed lava tube, Manrique created the breathtaking Jameos del Agua.  A hushed underground grotto surrounded by beautiful gardens and featuring a submerged lake, containing a rare species of blind albino crab that glistens in the water like jewels.  When Hollywood legend Rita Heyworth visited the site back in the 1970´s she immediately declared it “The Eighth Wonder of the World”.

In the centre of the island in Tahiche, Manrique stumbled across a palm tree protruding beneath the volcanic flow.  On closer investigation he discovered five underground volcanic chambers – which he transformed into this own house and studio.  An attraction that won many architectural awards and plaudits at the time and which still draws in hundreds of thousands of visitors s very year.

The film star Omar Sharif, flush from the success of Doctor Zhivago, was so impressed when he visited Manrique´s new home that he commissioned the artist to create something similar for him on the spot.  Resulting in the construction of Lag-O-mar (Omar´s Lake) just up the road from Tahiche in Nazaret.  The actor however promptly lost the house in a high stakes game of bridge and left the island never to return.  Whilst today his former residence is home to an upmarket restaurant and bar.

Manrique went on to create a further six unique cultural and tourist attraction across the island – including the Mirador del Rio.  An incredible lookout point located in a former naval gun battery that grants visitors a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the neighbouring island of La Gracioa.  As well as the Jardin de Cactus – a homage to the plant world’s spiniest species set in a former quarry in Guatiza.

Manrique´s influence on the island is in fact so pervasive that it also encompasses the invisible.  High rise buildings were banned, advertising hoardings outlawed.  And all of the three main tourist resorts have been carefully contained – with minimal impact on the island´s unique topography.

As a result of Manrique´s efforts Lanzarote was the first island in the world to be declared a UNESCO protected biosphere back in 1994.  So providing an alternative model for tourist development – whilst also functioning effectively as a hugely popular holiday destination.