Lanzarote on the Canary Islands, Spain
The Canary Islands, located around eighty miles off the coast of West Africa close to the Tropic of Capricorn, are a Spanish owned volcanic archipelago of seven islands that was once thought to be the remnants of the mythical lost city of Atlantis. The Canaries are essentially the European Caribbean, boasting year round sunshine and daytime temperatures that range from 70 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 26 degrees Celsius), making them a hugely popular holiday destination, especially with British, Irish and German tourists.
Holidays on the Island of Fire
Beach at Papagayo
Lanzarote, the most easterly of the seven islands, attracts around 1.5 million visitors every year. Despite this popularity the island remains largely unspoiled, thanks to the influence of an island born artist called César Manrique.
Once a New York resident and contemporary of Andy Warhol, Manrique returned to his birthplace in 1996 just as package tourism was starting to take off in Spain under the aegis of General Franco. Hotel chains and property developers were already swallowing up huge swathes of the southern Spanish coastline and Manrique was determined to fight against this sort of fate for Lanzarote. He united with influential local politicians to successfully secure an outright ban on all high rise construction. As a result Lanzarote's three main tourist resorts are all very well contained, leaving the rest of the island much as nature intended.
Playa Blanca on the Sunny Southern Tip
Kings Pool at Jameos del Agua
The best vacation rentals on the island can be found right at the southern tip of Lanzarote in a resort called Playa Blanca, named after the small white beach that lies at its heart. Playa Blanca is a relatively new holiday destination and was developed a decade or so after the other two main resorts of Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise.
The planners of Playa Blanca learned from previous mistakes and in Playa Blanca luxury villa accommodation sits right on the core of the blueprint, ensuring that many of these vacation properties enjoy some of the best aspects and locations in the resort.
Playa Blanca also enjoys a couple of other advantages over its resort rivals to the north.
- Even on a small island such as Lanzarote – which measures just 58km by 38km – there is a pronounced microclimate. Playa Blanca enjoys the best of the weather that the island has to offer, a point that becomes especially salient during the winter months when the north of the island can be covered in cloud while the south basks in the sun.
- Lanzarote's best beaches are located in and around the resort with the set of six coves and bays at nearby Papagayo (widely regarded as one of the most breathtaking natural beauty spots in the whole of the Canarian archipelago) just ten minutes walk from the town.
Playa Blanca is the gateway to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura which lies just 8km away across the Bocaina Straits, creating island hopping opportunities and providing an atmospheric backdrop, especially at night when the lights from the town of Corralejo twinkle across the water.
There are Many Vacation Rentals
There's no shortage of good quality villa accommodation in the resort. Many overseas investors have snapped up properties to rent out to their fellow holiday makers so prices for standard two bedroom villas with private pools are surprisingly affordable, starting from as little as €400 per week.
However there's also a sizeable luxury market offering high quality accommodation at prices to match. The beautiful Heredad Kamezi Villas, designed in the style of César Manrique, start from over €1000 per week.
The Natural Beauty of Lanzarote
Timanfaya Volcano Park
Lanzarote's appeal for many visitors is the wealth of unique natural beauty spots, such as the Timanfaya Volcano Park which is situated at the epicentre of the site where eruptions lasting six years rocked the island back in the 1730s, creating 300 new volcanoes and a raw and eerie lava-scape that is often likened to the surface of the moon.
This natural beauty has been further complemented by the works of Manrique. He sought to fuse art with nature and create alternative tourist attractions to the golf courses and water parks springing up elsewhere in Spain.
The greatest expression of this philosophy is the Jameos del Agua in the north of the island where he transformed a collapsed lava tube into a stunning subterranean auditorium and nightclub, replete with a lagoon, beautiful tropical gardens and a swimming pool that is reserved for the sole use of the King of Spain. So stunning is this creation that Hollywood legend Rita Heyworth declared it the "Eighth Wonder of the World" when she visited Lanzarote in the early 1970s.
Lanzarote is Best in the Fall
While Lanzarote is a year round holiday destination, the best time to visit the island is in the Fall (Autumn) months when the summer crowds have subsided and the Atlantic is at its warmest for sea swimming.
Getting to Lanzarote
Today, the Canaries are starting to become more accessible to travellers from the US, with direct flights from Miami to the largest island in the archipelago, Tenerife. Connecting flights run regularly from here to all of the other islands, with Lanzarote an hours flying time away.
The Lanzarote Guidebook
The Lanzarote Guidebook is packed with useful information and some great photos of the island. The new Winter 09/10 edition can now be downloaded – fast and for free - from the Lanzarote Guidebook website.
Researched and written by long term island residents, the Lanzarote Guidebook contains all of the information that holidaymakers and independent travellers need to know, as well as lots of handy inside tips. It is published quarterly so the information is always accurate and up to date.
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