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Playa
Blanca - Punta de Papagayo Cove
In 1987 Lanzarote was declared one of the six
universal models of sustainable development by
the World Tourism Organization and in 1994 it
was declared a Reserve of the Biosphere by UNESCO.
Lanzarote is the most
easterly of the seven major Canary Islands and
lies in the Atlantic Ocean only some 100 km (60
miles) from the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from
the Iberian Peninsula. |
Lanzarote, including the small islands
of La Graciosa, Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roque
del Este y del Oeste, covers 900 km² running 60
km north to south and only 20 km at its widest point.
Lanzarote is made up of seven municipalities:
Arrecife (the capital), Teguise, Haría, San Bartolomé,
Tías, Tinajo and Yaiza, with an official population
of nearly 100,000 inhabitants, mostly residing in the
south-central part of the island.
The island was named after a Genoese
navigator called Lancelotto Malocello who arrived on
the island during the second half of the XIV century
opening the way to successive expeditions of French,
British and Spanish sailors and merchants. Previously
the isles were known as the Fortunate Islands.
Fishing
and agriculture once formed the basis of the island’s
economy but have since been overtaken by the excellent
quality of its tourism industry.
Amongst the most outstanding attractions are the
Art, Culture and Tourist Centres run under the
auspices of the Insular Council.
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Punta
de Papagayo Beach :
At the southernmost tip
of Lanzarote, with its surrounding landscape of
volcanic ash, are the crystal clear waters and
fine white sands of Papagayo, a wild stretch of
beach composed of several small bays and coves.
It is a bumpy ride to the beach on a dirt road
but it is well worth it.
Many of the visitors practice nudism.
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| Playa
Blanca:
The southernmost
tip of Lanzarote, in the municipality of Yaiza,
was once a small fishing village. It is now a
flourishing but tranquil resort with beautiful
beaches bordered by a picturesque restaurant-lined
promenade.
Playa Blanca -
40 m. of fine golden sand with placid waters and
a beautiful promenade to the small harbour.
Daily ferries to Fuerteventura Island.
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Playa de
Las Coloradas - A quiet gravel beach 410 m long,
far from developed areas, no public services.
Playa Dorada - A sheltered beach of fine white
sand 30m long, on the basaltic border of the coast line,
next to Playa Blanca.
Services:
rental of sports equipment, hammocks, wheelchair access,
promenade, parking, bus stop.
Lanzarote
National Park:
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The National
Park of Timanfaya is the clearest exponent of
the volcanic origins of the island. Its reds,
ocres and blacks form a lunar landscape.
The volcanic eruptions produced
in 1730 (which lasted six years) and those in
1824 created new craters, they entombed whole
villages and buried the most fertile terrain on
the island. |
Following the road towards the park, one
arrives at the Islote de Hilario, where
one can see the tourist attraction of the
artificial geysers, provoked by pouring
cold water into a magma chamber that is
located at a depth of three kilometres.
In El Islote, one finds the restaurant,
El Diablo, famously created by the international
artist, Cesar Manrique, where one can taste
typical Canarian food cooked on a natural
oven.
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Amongst the options for the tourist, one can choose
between visiting the park on camel-back; covering
a 14 kilometre bus tour, during which one reaches
some of the most famous places in the park and can
listen to the narration by the priest of Yaiza about
the volcanic eruptions; or taking on foot one of
the two guided routes - the Tremesana route or the
Litoral route.
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