Travel-selections.com

by Nick Ball

The holiday island of Lanzarote has been a hot favourite with tourists for over forty years. Boasting a great year round climate, excellent standards of accommodation, some bizarre volcanic scenery and close to 100 pristine beaches.

Lanzarote is one of the seven islands that make up the Canarian archipelago. Which was first conquered by the Spanish crown in the early 1400´s. And is located just off the coast of what used to be the Spanish Sahara in West Africa – now southern Morocco.

The Canaries assumed great strategic importance to the growing Spanish empire during the 16th and 17th centuries as it provided a vital staging post for the galleons that crises-crossed the Atlantic laden with Inca silver. A lucrative trade that attracted the attentions of many pirates and privateers, such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. The profits of which are still visible in the former island capital of Teguise, which is home to a treasure trove of impressive colonial architecture.

During the 18th century major eruptions rocked the island. Creating over 300 new volcanic peaks and covering around one third of the island in solidified lava. Leaving this region – now one of Spain´s most popular National Parks - resembling the surface of the moon.

Modern tourism first started taking off in the 1970´s and has grown steadily to the point where Lanzarote welcomes around 2 million visitors every year. The bulk of them from the Spanish mainland, the UK, Eire and Germany. With accommodation concentrated in the three main resorts of Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen.

Lanzarote is a very small island. It can be navigated end to end in just an hour and measures 58km by 38km. Which makes sightseeing easy. And there’s plenty of sights to see too, thanks to the influence of a local artist called César Manrique. Who worked with the volcanic terrain to create some imaginative and innovative visitor attractions.

The best known of his creations is the Jameos del Agua – formerly a collapsed lava tube and now a unique undergound grotto, concert venue and tropical gardens. Which boasts many trademark touches which are also evident in the artist’s former home and studio at Tahiche. Which he built over five bubbles in the surrounding lava flow.

Thanks to the growth of the internet many visitors to the island now book their own Lanzarote villas and apartments direct online. But the island is still serviced by tradtional tour operators such as Thomson and First Choice, who offer a wide selection of holidays in Lanzarote .