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Lanzarote
A single eruption ran for six years, from 1730 to 1736, and buried about a quarter of the island.
The Timanfaya eruptions began in September 1730 and did not stop until 1736, burying roughly a quarter of Lanzarote, including its most productive farmland, under lava and ash. The ground has not finished cooling: at the Timanfaya visitor site, a few metres down the rock is hot enough that staff grill food over an open pit.
Farmers adapted rather than left. In La Geria, vines are planted in hollows dug into the ash, each one shielded by a low semicircular wall of lava stone against the wind. The rest of the island's look was set by the artist César Manrique, whose rules — no high-rise, no roadside advertising, white walls with green or blue woodwork — still hold, and the whole island has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1993.
Quick facts
Currency
EUR
Euro
Language
Spanish
+ English
Power
—
Driving
Right
US-style
Airport
ACE
Cesar Manrique-Lanzarote
Emergency
—
Police · Fire
When to go
Monthly breakdown
Storm risk: NoneJan
Best
Feb
Best
Mar
Best
Apr
Best
May
Best
Jun
Best
Jul
Best
Aug
Best
Sep
Best
Oct
Best
Nov
Best
Dec
Best
Major events
Carnaval de Arrecife
Weeks of parades and murga competitions ending with the Burial of the Sardine on the seafront. Puerto del Carmen runs its own version alongside it.
Ironman Lanzarote
Held since 1992 and widely rated the hardest Ironman course in the world, because of the wind and the climbs across the island's volcanic interior.
Fiesta de Los Dolores
A pilgrimage to Mancha Blanca honouring the Virgin credited with stopping the 1824 lava flow. Walkers come from across the island on foot.
Hidden gems
El Golfo
A half-drowned crater on the west coast holding a green lagoon coloured by algae, cut off from the sea by a black shingle bar.
Caleta de Famara
A three-kilometre beach under a 600-metre cliff, with a swell that makes it the islands surf coast and a poor place to swim.
Mirador del Rio
A viewpoint Manrique cut into the cliff 475 metres above the strait, invisible from outside, looking across to La Graciosa.
Local food
Malvasia volcanica
dietary_tags.veganWine from vines grown in ash pits behind lava-stone walls in La Geria; dry, mineral and made nowhere else in that method.
Sancocho lanzaroteno
Salt fish rehydrated and boiled with potatoes, served with mojo and a gofio pella.
Queso de cabra ahumado
dietary_tags.vegetarianGoat cheese smoked over local wood; the island has more goats than the arid ground suggests it should.
Safety tips
Water-Safety
Famara has strong rips and is a surf beach rather than a swimming one, despite how it looks at low tide. The lifeguarded stretch is short and the rest of the bay is unpatrolled.
Nature
Timanfaya can only be seen from the official coach route or on a guided walk, and leaving the marked areas is prohibited. The ground temperature a few metres down is still several hundred degrees.
Transport
Crosswinds on the exposed roads across the centre of the island catch high-sided vehicles and open car doors. Hold the door when getting out at the miradors.
Sustainability
Eco rating
Reef: reef_status.not_applicableIsland-wide UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1993
Building code bars high-rise and roadside advertising
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