What does Lanzarote mean to me?

Lanzarote means different things to different people. Different memories, different experiences, different events. It's an island that offers so much to many different people – people who live there and people who visit on holiday.

The big draw to Lanzarote is the weather. Northern Europeans often jump on a flight down to Lanzarote during the colder winter months to get some sun and absorb some ‘feel good factor'. The island doesn't really have a summer season as such as the resorts remain active pretty much all year long to accommodate the annual footfall of visitors.

People visit Lanzarote for more than just the weather though.


For me, Lanzarote is compelling. It has a mystique that surrounds it that creates an irresistible draw. I find it very difficult to put my finger on the exact reasons for this, but the contrast of simplicity and magnificence truly captures my ideals.

For many people that visit Lanzarote its about the main three resorts, which in themselves are all very different in terms of their appearance and offerings. For me a holiday is about a nice beach, nice food, a beer and a resort that has enough to create an atmosphere but not somewhere that is going to keep me awake at night. That resort is Playa Blanca.

Outside of the main holiday resorts Lanzarote is a gold mine of natural wonder and artistry. The Timanfaya National Park on the west coast reminds us back to the 17th and 18th Centuries when Volcanos shaped Lanzarote as we know it today. Add on top of that the brilliance and imagination of the famous Canarian Artist, Cesar Manrique, and you have the perfect blend of man and nature.

For me, Lanzarote can be described as a timeless retreat. Yes, it thrives on Tourism which it bases its economy on, but it has managed to combine an importance balance of combining tourism whilst retaining its identity. Again, thanks to Manrique, you won't find many high rise buildings or billboards whilst driving around Lanzarote. Instead you will see quaint looking towns and villages of white washed buildings sporting green or blue doors and window frames.

So in summary, Lanzarote to me feels like home. It has a hold on me that I cannot truly explain. Yes, the weather certainly helps, but the way of life and the raw beauty of the island is quite amazing. It's a mixture of back to basics with current times. It's a blend of tourism with traditional canarian way of life. It has a magnificent, yet humbling, history that remains prominent in attractions throughout the island. It's a place where you can step back, and remind yourself of what life is really all about.

About the Author

Ian is the founder and author of Lanzarote Tourist Site, Destination Lanzarote. The site is aimed at holiday makers and is a one stop shop for everything you need to know about the island, from Car Hire to local markets.

Lanzarote or Lanza-grotty?

For people who like to travel around Europe, the term Lanza-grotty might be familiar.  If you speak to people who use it freely they have basically come away from Lanzarote having had a bad experience, usually with a particular resort or accommodation.  Of course, in principle, its easy to have a bad holiday experience wherever you go, but poor old Lanzarote was unfortunately labeled - 'Lanza-grotty' - by a few bad experiences and the name stuck.

Personally, I have never had a really bad experience in Lanzarote.  On one occasion the apartment we stayed in wasn't particularly great, but I certainly wouldn't label the island because of it.

It's perhaps easy to see, when you get off the plane and hop into your hire car or shuttle transport, why people think that Lanzarote doesn't offer much.  The first thing you see as you travel down the LZ-2 is dry, baron land.  Having said that, if you are lucky enough to arrive to a perfect blue sky, the orange landscape does sit quite nicely against the blue backdrop!

I can't help feeling that people who have their bad experiences generally pay a little less for their holidays.  I am not saying that is a bad thing by any means, as I often look around for the best deals to save a few pounds.  But as the saying goes, you generally get what you pay for, and again I find it a little unfair that the island gets a bad reputation for the sake of us keeping a few notes in our pockets.

I would also like to point out that my bad experience was in Puerto del Carmen, about 10 years ago.  Now, Puerto del Carmen, or PDC as the locals like to call it, is sometimes known as Blackpool in the sun, and its easy to see why.  The sea front is lined up with English Cafes and Bars and it does little for the image of the island.  Again, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this as the resort obviously does very, very well in attracting visitors year on year but I wonder if people who have had these experiences might have had them in PDC rather than Playa Blanca or Costa Teguise?

Having said all that, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and the fact that we are all so different is what helps to make the world go around.  Just because I find something satisfactory doesn't mean someone else will and so its very easy for a place to get a bad reputation.

The unfortunate title of Lanzagrotty, in my view, is totally unjustified.  I love the island, the year round climate, the great food and compelling culture and am happy to put my bad experience down to, well a single bad experience!  Lanzarote has so much more to offer than the odd complex in need of repair and I urge anyone who has once had a bad experience to go back, hop in a hire car and explore the, quite frankly, stunning island.

About the Author

Ian is the author of Destination Lanzarote, an online guide and resource to the fourth largest, volcanic island of Lanzarote.