For a small island Lanzarote is big on attractions. Thanks to a great selection of natural beauty spots and a whole raft of unique cultural attractions, developed by the well known island born artist Cesar Manrique.
Manrique was born in the island capital of Arrecife in 1919. And fell in love with the island during summer sojourns to the breathtaking beach at Caleta de Famara, where his father kept a holiday house. Here Manrique would spend hours gazing at the reflection of the Famara massif cliffs in rock pools and the ebbing tide. An eperience that sparked both a love for Lanzarote and his own artistic aesthetic.
Despite family opposition Manrique left school to study art in Madrid, before finding himself in the vanguard of the Spanish surrealist movement in the 1950´s. By the 1960´s this creative Canarian was in New York, exhibiting his work and rubbing shoulders with contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and the Factory crowd.
But as General Franco began to encourage the growth of tourism along the Spanish Costas and on other Canary Island such as Tenefire Manriquebecame concerned that his beloved island could soon become submerged beneath a sea of tourist complexes and hotels.
As a result Manrique returned to Lanzarote and began to campaign for the controlled evolution of tourism. Urging restraint on his influential freinds in the local governemt such as Pepin Ramirez.
Fortunately, Manrique´s views were heard – and today Lanzarote remains largely as nature intended. The three main tourist resorts are well contained, advertising hoardings are nowhere to be seen and high rise buildings – with the sole exception of the Gran Hotel in Arrecife – are banned.
As well as working to conserve the island Manrique also sought to create an alternative to the run of the mill tourist attractions being built elsewhere in Spain. By uniting his artisitc bent with the volcanic beauty of Lanzarote. Other islanders thought he was crazy. Who was going to visit this rock out in the Atlantic anyway?
But Manrique proved them wrong – creating attractions such as the Jameos del Agua and his own home and studio. Which began to attract architectural plaudits and VIP visitors, such as Peter Sellers and Omar Sharif, to this new island holiday destination.
Today, Manrique´s seven cultural centres and former home remain the island’s most popualr tourist attractions. And thanks to Manrique Lanzarote was declared a UNESCO protected bisophere in 1994, the first island in the world to enjoy such status.
View our Lanzarote tourist guide to find out more about Manrique and his many incredible creations on Lanzarote.
