Nick of the Lanzarote Guide Book, which offers in depth information about the island, describes how the efforts of one man, Cesar Manrique, helped temper the over development of Lanzarote as a holiday destination.

“The small Canary Island of Lanzarote is best known as a beach holiday destination. Thanks to the fact that this small speck of Spain is located just
79 miles off the coast of Africa and enjoys a year round clement climate, which is often likened to an eternal Spring with temperatures averaging 21 Celsius, even in the winter months.

Lanzarote by BK59

Mix in manageable journey times, with flights to Lanzarote taking just four hours from all major UK airports, over 90 great beaches and a high quality of accommodation in all of the main resorts and it´s easy to see why over 800,000 British tourists spent their holidays in Lanzarote during the course of 2008.

But despite the islands undoubted popularity as a tourist destination and the legacy of the Monty Python Lanzagrotty tag, Lanzarote remains largely unspoiled. It is in fact an island of enormous natural beauty. The three main tourist resorts are all well contained, advertising hoardings are outlawed and high rise buildings are banned, offering visitors much more than just bucket and spade beach holiday alone.

Salt Water Lake, Lanzarote by BK59

Much of the credit for this can be attributed to an island born artist and architect called Cesar Manrique who fought against untrammelled development as package tourism started to take off back in the 1970´s.

Manrique had been studying in New York and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol in the early 1960´s. But feared that his birthplace could soon become submerged beneath a sea of high rise hotels – a fate already befalling swathes of the southern Spanish coastline and larger Canary Islands such as Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

As a result Manrique returned to Lanzarote and lobbied the island government to implement a policy of controlled development. So leaving much of the island as nature intended today.

Manrique also sought to create a series of tourist attractions that united the unique volcanic beauty of Lanzarote with his own artistic aesthetic. As an alternative to the water parks and golf courses springing up in other Spanish sunspots.

Resulting in the creation of attractions such as the Jameos del Agua – where Manrique converted a collapsed lava tube into an underground auditorium and night club. The Mirador del Rio – a former naval gun battery dating back to the 1890´s which was transformed by the artist into a unique lookout point across to the neighbouring island of La Garcuiosa. And his own incredible underground home and studio – fashioned out of five volcanic bubbles.

Thanks to the work of Manrique Lanzarote was declared a UNESCO protected biosphere in 1994 – the first island in the world to enjoy such status.”