Green Holidays in Lanzarote
The recent trend for glamping and eco-tourism are not exactly new ideas on the island of Lanzarote. This Canarian volcanic outcrop has long pursued a more environmentally friendly course in its tourist development.
The main reason why this alternative strategy was pursued during the 1970’s and 80’s was due to the interventions of a locally born artist named César Manrique. As an internationally renowned painter, sculptor and architect, Manrique commanded the attention of his peers on the island.
He was also close friends with the then President of the island government and the two worked in close collaboration together. As a result, Lanzarote’s development was spared the worst aspects of concrete tower blocks and incongruous tourist attractions.
Building controls have been in place ever since those days and this accounts for the reason why the island still has a relatively pristine appearance and beautiful scenery. The absence of advertising hoardings also helps enormously.
Manrique’s influence can also be found in the private villas that populate the three main tourist resorts. Many holiday villas in Puerto del Carmen have clearly borrowed design ideas to be found at one of the attractions Manrique created, such as the lagoon style pool at Jameos del Agua.
Whilst a good number of Lanzarote hotels have also incorporated elements of his thinking in their gardens, where the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces are blurred.
The efforts of Manrique and his supporters in government were rewarded by UNESCO, which awarded the island unique status in 1992 as the only island biosphere in the world, a reflection of the work that had been done to protect the integrity of the local environment.
Since then, the new resort of Playa Blanca has been developed, but even here the laws governing development have stopped high rise buildings being thrown up. On the whole, the town looks very much like the rest of the island, populated with low level villas, painted white and softened by plenty of tropical planting.
More recently still, there has been an increase in eco accommodation, with one finca running its holiday properties, including several yurts, using solar and wind power. The high number of sunshine hours make solar panels particularly viable for energy generation.
Plans are also afoot to make Lanzarote airport the first green airport in Spain. Something that will make up for the carbon footprint of flights to Lanzarote in years to come.