Winter Breaks In Lanzarote
Whilst the rest of Europe is packing away the loungers and the sun tan lotion the Canary Islands are preparing themselves for the busiest holiday season of the year. As these seven specks of Spain that lie just off the coast of Africa are Europe´s only genuine Winter sun destination.
Lanzarote is the eastern most link in the Canary Island chain and has long been a popular destination with British and Irish tourists. And despite failing airlines, the falling pound and the current bleak economic outlook the Island of Fire is still a hot ticket. As tourist numbers to the island have just kept on rising.
Over one million British and Irish tourists will have bought flights to Lanzarote over the last twelve months. And the Christmas and New Year period is traditionally the busiest time of year on the island. As sun starved Northern Europeans escape the cold back home for a week or two in the sun.
As a result demand for cheap flights to Lanzarote has remained relatively stable. Whilst prices have started to fall on the island there has been none of the sharp reductions and adjustments currently evident in the British market. As the island’s tourist industry has remained buoyant.
This can be attributed to the fact that Lanzarote has much more to offer tourists than just sunshine alone though. As the island boasts a unique volcanic scenery, beautiful beaches, a host of natural attractions and some of the most unusual tourist sites found anywhere in the world. All of which is largely thanks to an island born artist and architect called Cesar Manrique.
Manrique was studying his craft and hanging out with the likes of Andy Warhol in New York when package tourism first started to take off in Spain. Alert to the damage that this could cause to his birthplace Manrique returned home to ensure that his beloved Lanzarote was not buried beneath a sea of five star concrete.
As a result of his efforts Lanzarote has largely been spared the type of over development now commonly found in other Spanish sun spots. High rise buildings are banned, advertising hoardings are outlawed and all of the islands three main tourist resorts are well contained.
Manrique also sought to create a set of unique tourist attractions that would provide an alternative to the golf courses and water parks so prevalent elsewhere in Spain. In tandem with close collaborators such as Jesus Soto he lit an alternative path for island development with the creation of sites such as the Jameos del Agua, which embodied his desire to fuse art with nature.