All in this together

In normal times, at least one third of the people on Lanzarote will be tourists, and plenty of them will have come here to spend money on food, drink, excursions, souvenirs, suncream and T-shirts saying “Sex Instructor: First Lesson Free”.

But you don’t need me to tell you that these aren’t normal times, and Lanzarote has been deprived of that crucial market since March. As a result, local businesses are suffering, income is falling and there are worrying reports of individuals and families falling through whatever safety nets exist.

Yet others are lucky enough to have an income and with Christmas coming, many of them will be planning on doing some serious shopping. I’d like to ask you to do it here.

Instead of clicking and waiting for Amazon packages to arrive from China or getting parcels sent from home, discover what’s available here on Lanzarote. You can do it online, or you can get out and about, visiting shops and chatting to their owners, having a coffee or a meal and enjoying the way Spanish towns do their thing in the bright mornings and cool evenings.

Every Euro you spend could make a difference, and I can guarantee that you’ll find little gems that you never knew about. The money you spend locally helps to keep local people away from the dole queue in Arrecife and helps to keep the doors of local businesses open.

The Cabildo’s Consume Lanzarote promotion is already well underway and will be coming to Haría, Yaiza, Teguise and Arrecife in the four weeks of November. There have been similar campaigns in the past, but there has never been a time when the shopping locally has been more important.

In this issue we take a look at some local businesses, including a dairy in Teguise and a churro shop just down the road from us, but take a look at the advertisements from our clients and you’ll discover many more.

Now is the time to discover what the island has to offer and find out that we really are all in this together. Have a great November!

Enjoy the magazine, Shaun.