Lanzarote Culture

The musical instrument known as the Timple is a main part of Lanzarote’s folklore music. Folklore music is the traditional music of the Canary Islands and still practiced today amongst the local people especially at Festivals. The Timple is believed to be a Berber instrument brought to the islands by slaves during the early 15th century. The slaves were working for the Norman invaders on farmland. It is similar to the Ukelele and accompanies the dances of Isa and Folia and on occasion the more traditional Guanches dance of Tajaraste. You can now find the timple as far away as the Central and South Americas.

Development of Tourism in Lanzarote

Over the last 30 years tourism has become the islands main economy. Up till then fishing and some agriculture were the main source of industry for the islanders. Due to the volcanic landscape only certain cereals and vegetables were cultivated and been surrounded by warm coastal waters had always provided a decent fishing ground to work.

Tourism developed on a large scale very quickly. The consistent temperatures of around 23 degrees centigrade and the constant sunshine which seems to shine all year round with very little rainfall, attracts Europeans and Scandinavians from cooler climates or those seeking winter sunshine to escape their cold winters. The wonderful beaches and the volcanic landscape attracted many developers who snapped up vast stretches of prime land along the coastal areas. The main areas developed were the municipals of Tias (Puerto Del Carmen), Teguise (Costa Teguise) and Yaiza (Playa Blanca). These three areas were the first to be developed are still the main resorts of the island today.

The Local Government realizing the potential of tourism and also the possible effect it may have on the island, decided to put a few plans and restrictions in place. One of these was known as the “Plan Insular de Lanzarote” and was created in the early 1970’s by El Cabildo (the local Government). This plan limited the building of commercial accommodation such as hotels and self-catering establishments and also restrained the construction of tourist related buildings. Also El Cabildo developed and expanded the airport into an international airport and had a desalination plant built to accommodate the ever-increasing demands of the islands new visitors.

The initial tourists were mainly from Scandinavia and the Benelux and brought with them a demand for quality services however, they paid handsomely and spent lots of money on their visits, thus increasing the wealth of many islanders willing to provide the tourists with all their requirements for good holidays. From the early 1970’s as many as 10,000 holiday makers, were visiting the island. This increased steadily throughout the 1970’s to a staggering 1 million, by the end of the 1970’s. The three main resorts continued to flourish and grow as did the numbers of holiday makers and with the introduction of package holidays and all inclusive holidays, the tourist industry in Lanzarote has never looked back.

Lanzarote Beaches

The island is made up of volcanic rock and therefore the natural beaches consist of black volcanic sand and although this sand is the same as white sand except for the colour, its appearance sometimes is not what the European tourists are accustomed to. However, both tastes are accommodated, as there are many white sand beaches too.

From Arrecife Airport, Guacimeta, a string of beaches stretch along the island, the majority of which are white sand beaches. The most popular is the main beach of Puerto Del Carmen and is know locally as Playa Grande. This beach is ideal for families with its clear shallow water and warm temperatures. The old town of Puerto Del Carmen has the beach running right through it’s centre and the resort is a long busy stretch of bars restaurants and shops, proving very popular with holiday makers the whole year through. Nearby is the more picturesque beach of Playa Chica. Sporting activities are in abundance here such as snorkeling, diving, jet skiing and parasailing to name but a few. The beach of El Reducto is Arrecife’s main beach and popular with the locals.

The west of the island is known on occasion to have strong winds and here lies the beaches of Famara and La Santa. The surf on these beaches is world famous and surfing and body boarding are extremely popular with the more seasoned surfers. La Santa has a sports complex, which is frequented by international sports persons and has a beach and lake area for surfing. The resort of Costa Teguise is situated in the northeast of the island, with its famous surfing beach of Las Cucharas. The beaches at the north end of the island, near Orsola, are mostly made from sand blown in from the Sahara desert, creating fantastic white sandy beaches, some of which are only accessible by foot.

Most of the beaches have swimming safety guidelines and some have the international safety flag system:

Red Flag - Dangerous conditions, do not enter water.
Yellow Flag - Dangerous conditions, swim with caution.
Green Flag - Safe swimming.

Shopping in Lanzarote

The Duty Free Status of Lanzarote enables shoppers to enjoy many goods such as perfumes, cigarettes, alcohol and petrol, at much cheaper prices than else where in Europe. It is much cheaper than the airport and airline duty free goods and lots of the islands supermarkets as well as specialist shops stock these goods at very reasonable prices.

There is good shopping to be had in all the resorts, however there are a number of large shopping centres which are situated in the larger resorts and these are very popular with locals and tourists alike. Puerto del Carmen has the popular Biosfera shopping centre and Playa Honda has the Deiland centre Also in the town of Arrecife, there is the shopping district called Calle Real.

There are many shops on the island especially in the popular tourist resorts, which sell a wide variety of small electric goods such as cameras, CD/radio players and video cameras. Only a few of these shops are reputable shops selling quality goods and an element of caution should be used when purchasing any electric goods from these. Taking the advice of the holiday representative should be encouraged, when tourists require particular electric goods.

The capital of Lanzarote, Teguise has a market every Sunday morning. The market, which runs from 08.30am to 02.00pm, is popular with tourists and visitors. The market is busy and vibrant with traders and customers haggling for the best price and bargains being struck. The items for sale are locally made table clothes and a variety of embroidered linen, jewellery, African woodcarvings and local wines. There are also many fake designer handbags, T-shirts and watches for sale at this market. However, if shopping or just people watching is your thing, then the main square may be the place to be as there is local Canarian dancers to entertain and opportunities to sample local specialties such as paella and sweet pastries.