But Lanzarote has much more to offer than just beaches and bucket and spade holidays alone.  And for such a small island it really is attraction packed. Thanks to the influence of the locally born artist and architect Cesar Manrique.  Who not only campaigned to ensure that Lanzarote wasn’t buried beneath a swathe of hotels and apartment developments during the tourist boom years of the 1970´s, but who also created a series of unique tourist attractions  that provide a stunning contrast to the golf courses and water parks that tend to reign in the rest of Spain.

 Jameos Del Agua
Lanzarote has many star attractions.  But this collapsed, 6km long lava tube, located in the North of the island close to Punta Mujeres, usually tops the bill for most tourists – attracting close on 700,000 visitors in 2006. Making the Jameos del Agua the second most visited sight on Lanzarote, behind the eerie landscapes of the Timanfaya Volcano Park in the south.

The Jameos Del Agua´s popularity is attributable to the fact that this incredible natural space has been further enhanced by Cesar Manrique.  Who - with the help of fellow architects Luis Morales and Jesus Soto - transformed it into a stunning subterrenean audotorium.

Tropical gardens, bars and a restaurant surround an underground lagoon. The atmosphere is hushed and cathedral like. Blind albino crabs – unique to Lanzarote - glisten in the water like jewels.

Visitors emerge from this underground area and encounter a dream like swimming pool.  Which is so opulent that it is reserved for the sole and exclusive use of the King of Spain. 

Behind the pool lies a concert hall - formed from  volcanic rock – with incredible accoustics.  Which has provided a stunning backdrop for many classical and avant garde concerts since it was first built in 1987.

The Jameos Del Agua is so high impact that it was declared the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Hollywood legend Rita Heyworth when she visited as a guest of Manrique.  And it continues to wow visitors today.

 Timanfaya Volcano Park
Nearly 1 million tourists visited the Volcano Park at Timanfaya during 2006 making it the number one attraction on the island.  And it´s little wonder – as this National Park is literally out of this world.

The Timanfaya Volcano Park was created by the world longest ever volcanic eruption, which lasted six years from 1730 to 1736.  And which covered what was then the most fertile farming land on the island in a sea of lava.

Today, little has changed – creating a world which appears to have only just been formed and which is almost primeval in appearance.  Populated by exhausted volcanic cones, weird, twisted lava shapes and a surprisingly wide range of earthy and organic colours and tones.  Resulting from the minerals dispersed from beneath the earth.

Visitors to the Volcano Psrk are treated to a coach tour through this surreal landscape – accompanied by a commentary recording the diaries of the local priest of Yaiza, who witnessed these terrifying eruptions.

The tour culminates at an incredible restauarant – The Devils Diner – where food is cooked over the heat of a volcano and where guests can enjoy panaormaic views of the Volcano Park. 

Cesar Manrique Foundation
This incredible house, built by Cesar Manrique into five volcanic bubbles, never fails to blow visitors away.

This ingenious feat of arhictecture was one of Manrique´s first creations on Lanzarote and was designed to illustrate just what could be acheieved to other scpetical islanders.  Many though Manrique was crazy for beliving that Lanzarote could be transformed into a tourist paradise.

But by the end of 1968, when this creation was complete, they were forced to think again.  As the building picked up numerous international architectural  awards.  And started to attract the rich and famous in droves – curious to find out more about this suddenly fashionable new destination.

One celebrity visitor – the actor Omar Sharif – was so impressed that he immedaitely commissioned Cesar to build him a similar style of holiday home.
Manrique found the perfect site just up the road in Nazaret, and transformed an old quarry into the most incredible private residence.

But Sharif soon after lost the property in a high stakes game of bridge and left the island in a fit of pique.  Never to return.

 Mirador Del Rio
Whilst Manrique was very much a child of the 60´s he was no hippy.  Prefering a natural high instead.  A philosophy best eptimoised by his transformation of a former naval gun battery in the North of the island into the most breathtaking look out point – or Mirador – on Lanzarote.

The Mirador Del Rio sits at one of the highest points on the island – some 479 metres.  And affords the most incredible views down and across to the neighbouring island of La Graciosa – just one thousand metres away across the El Rio Strait.  As well as the uninhabited islets of Montana Clara and Alegranza.

Originally, Manrique planned to create a restaurant here.  And the curvaceous windows of the Mirador are very similar to those he later utilized when transforming the basement of the Castillo de San Jose in Arrecife into one of the most impressive dining rooms on the island.

But today, whilst it’s still possible to buy snacks and drinks at the Mirador, it doesn’t house the grand restaurant that Manrique initially envisaged. As the space is instead dedicated to framing the fantastic view.

The Cactus Garden
The Cactus Garden in Guatiza is a celebration of the plant worlds spiniest species.  Orchestrated to perfection once again by the ubiquitous Cesar Manrique. 

The site here was formerly a quarry – but today it is home to over 1,000 different species of cacti.  All artfully arranged in terraces around this bowl shaped ampitheatre-like space.

Visitors are initially greeted by a giant, eight metre high, green, metallic sculpture of a cacti, spikes and all.  Which stands sentinel-like over the car park and main entrance.

This cacti motif is cleverly repeated everywhere: on door handles, in the big wrought iron front gates and in slightly more abstract forms throughout; such as in the beautiful glass ball sculpture that adorns a sinuous spiral staircase in the stylish bar, situated beneath the restored Gofio mill, at the rear of the garden.

The Cactus Garden is a plant lovers paradise.  And sensibly it is located right in the heart of what was once Lanzarote´s cactus country.  As this plant was originally grown by islanders in order to attract the cochineal beetle, which was in turn dried and crushed and used as a natural dye. 

Lanzarote Guidebook is published by The Guidebook Network, a travel marketing, publishing and services business, based in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, serving clients around the world. The site was set up to provide quality, original information about the Island of Lanzarote for Tourist visitors and residents alike. It is written from the perspective of people who live, work and bring up children here.