Lanzarote For The True Island Holiday Experience
If your looking for holiday villas in Lanzarote then you will be pleased to know this island boasts also an incredible combination of both man made and natural attractions making it one of the most popular Canary Islands holidays destinations.
When when allied with temperatures which rarely fall below 70f, even in the depths of winter - and four hour flight times from the UK this goes some way to explaining the enduring appeal of holidays in Lanzarote.
Indeed, outside of the three, well contained main resorts the island is still very much as nature intended. Thanks largely to the efforts of the island born artist and architect Cesar Manrique. Who in conjunction with close family friend Pepin Ramirez influenced the evolution of the island back in the 1960´s and 70´s – just as package tourism really started to take off.
Together, this influential pair successfully outlawed advertising hoardings on the island and forced through building controls – that not only restricted the quantity of development but also imposed controls over it´s quality too. Effectively outlawing construction of any edifice higher than a Canarian palm tree. A regulation that is still in force today – with the notable exception of the Grand Hotel in Arrecife which was built before Cesar had a chance to shape his empire.
But Manrique was much more than just a conservationist alone. As he also created a series of unique and highly imaginative tourist attractions that embodied his main concept of fusing art with nature. Amongst which are some truly incredible creation such as the Jameos del Agua – an underground and gardens fashioned from a volcanic tube. And his own home - built into five volcanic bubbles inTahcihe. Which is today home to the Cesar Manrique Foundation.
As well as Manrique’s man made works Lanzarote boasts an abundance of breathtaking natural beauty spots. The most famous of which is the Timanfaya Volcano Park – which was the epicentre of the worlds longest ever volcanic eruption. Lasting six years from 1730, that covered around one quarter of the island in lava. Ironically, today the Volcano Park is the islands most popular tourist attraction – drawing in over 900,000 visitors every year.
The north of the island provides a real contrast – in the form of the verdant and palm packed valley of 1000 Palms, which is as green as the Volcano Park is arid. And which is one of the most atmospheric spots on the whole island.
As a result of this wealth of attractions Lanzarote clocked up over 1 million visitors from the UK and Ireland alone during 2007. With Irish visitors now numbering Lanzarote as their most popular holiday destination in the whole of Spain.
