Facts: Size =: 795 m² , Population: ca. 53.100 Capital:
Arrecife
Lanzarote is strange and bizarre, comparable to a
moon landscape. No green areas, just a few trees,
plenty of black magma. A brittle beauty, black. Shaped
by elemental powers. Serpentines for sport addicts.
The fire of the earth created an island of nature
miracles. Lanzarote, only 125 km from the African
mainland and therefore the most northeastern island
of the archipelago, is, with its 795 sqkm the fourth
biggest of the Canary Islands. This island leaves
nobody unimpressed. Some of the visitors come year
after year, addicted to its magnificent charm. Others
are shocked by all the rock, heat, solidified magma
and the meagre landscape under a burning sun.
It is noticeable that under
this islands, there boils the volcano - at the moment
luckily at a very small flame. It is especially this
dryness and brittle landscape that attracts the tourists
apart from the beaches and the sea. The senses are
provoked by the elemental powers. Fire and water are
next to each other. Because Lanzarote is apart from
being volcanic, of course, also a beach holiday destination.
Unlike in Fuerteventura there are, apart from the
foreigners who have their permanent residence here,
plenty of people who don't live of the tourism. The
natives near the coast are still fishermen and further
inland near the white villages one will still find
a strange, traditional kind of agriculture. Nowhere
else in the world is vine cultivated the way it is
in Lanzarote.
The vines are grown
in funnels of clinker each surrounded by a little
wall. The clinker collects the dew and the funnel
directs it towards the vines. The hotels are still
not high here, the landscape is mostly preserved.
The charm of the island is created by a combination
of the primeval, volcanic nature, the tranquil life
of the natives, the sea and the reasonable way of
dealing with tourism. Costa Teguise and Puerto del
Carmen are the touristic hotspots of this individual
island which is biosphere reservation protected by
the UNESCO. Despite the fact that the island is only
approx. 60 km long from Northeast to Southwest and
only 20 km wide from east to west there are still
very contrasting landscapes: Endless clinker- and
ash fields are covering especially the western parts
like the Montaña del Fuego - the fire mountains. These
are also Lanzarotes national parks.
The south is dry and sparsely populated and very popular
with the tourists because of its beautiful golden
beaches around EL Papagayo. 
The centre of the island is famous for
its strange vine cultivation around La Geria and disperses
in the east into the tourist centres Puerto del Carmen
and Costa de Teguise which frame in the capital of
Lanzarote, Arrecife.
The north around
the village Haría is unexpectedly green and sumptuous
and forms the agricultural part of the island. And
one mustn't forget the three little islands La Graciosa,
Montaña Clara and Alegranza, which seemed to be spots
of colour detached from the pallet of Lanzarote.
(original: www.immo7.com)
> Leisure
