Elizabeth and Barry Hitchins contacted us to ask if we would be interested in some old photos of Lanzarote that they had taken in the 1970s – and the photographs that they sent to us were fascinating.

The Hitchins came to the island to visit Elizabeth’s parents, who owned one of the Los Caletones apartments. Elizabeth tells us that “The island only had three hotels when we first came and only one road from the very small airport, water was delivered by lorry once a week and there were many electricity failures!”

Barry and Elizabeth’s young sons can be seen in several of the photos, clearly enjoying the golden sands and blue seas at Playa Blanca and Papagayo. Elizabeth says, “The boys are in their 50s now, and we’re in our 80s.”

Skytrain

In 1979, the Hitchins went to the airport to catch a flight home to find one of budget-flight pioneer Freddie Laker’s DC-10 Skytrains waiting on the tarmac. The plane flew to Fuerteventura to pick up more passengers before returning to Britain.

Elizabeth also mentions that the family saw a disused Lockheed Constellation aircraft at that time.

This early four-engine passenger plane was abandoned on Lanzarote after suffering engine problems on a flight from GuineaBissau to Lisbon in 1969. It remained there for several years, and at one point there were plans to move it to Puerto del Carmen and convert it into a bar.

The plane became a relic, where children played in and on it before it was eventually destroyed by a fire. One of the plane’s engines remains on display outside the Airport Museum.

Photos

1.) Arrecife. Calle Real

The main difference between then and now is that Arrecife’s main shopping street has been entirely pedestrianised. Other things have not changed – the San Francisco Cafeteria/Churreria remains open today, always busy.

2.) Arrecife Gran Hotel

The Gran Hotel before it was burnt out in 1994, photographed from Arrecife’s pier.

3.) Papagayo

The Hitchins boys at Papagayo.

4.) Papagayo road

The road to Papagayo may not have improved much, but the means of transport certainly have.

5.) Fariones

The Fariones Hotel dominated Puerto del Carmen’s Old Town area.

6.) Playa Blanca

Playa Blanca has also changed utterly in 50 years.

Do you have any old photographs from your first visits to Lanzarote? We’d love to have a look at them, and with your permission, talk you about them and publish your photos in future magazine editions.

If interested, please get in touch via email: editorial@gazettelife.com

The post Take a look at what Lanzarote was like in the 1970s first appeared on Gazette Life.

There is another Lanzarote; a green, timeless place in the clouds where the babble of running water and the lowing of cattle are often the only sounds to break the silence.

The village of Lanzarote is the highest-lying village in the Valleseco region of Gran Canaria and is home to around 900 residents. Some of those residents may descend from the original inhabitants of the village, who came to Gran Canaria following the volcanic eruptions on the island of Lanzarote in the 1730s.

Before the eruptions, Lanzarote was known as the “granary of the Canaries”, providing wheat, corn and barley to all the islands. The eruptions ended that, and although nobody died, several villages and thousands of acres of farmland were buried beneath a thick mantle of solid lava and volcanic ash.

Famine followed, with many islanders leaving to seek a better life, and when Lanzarote islanders were called to help build a church on the heights of Gran Canaria, the village that carries the island’s name was born.

The old tradition of bread and baking seems to have survived in the village of Lanzarote, where traditional baker’s ovens can be seen in the narrow streets, and wood-fired bakeries still exist.

Unlike the island it is named after, Lanzarote is located in the wettest part of Gran Canaria, where the rain, mist and sunshine combine to make it an incredibly green and fertile place, with an almost Celtic atmosphere. The village is surrounded by apple orchards that supply a local cider brewery and grassy meadows that feed the prized beef herds of the village.

The other notable features of the village are the stone ditches and lavaderas (washing places), which gather water from the rainfall and mist and channel it through the village. This provides free water for washing laundry and other purposes and even now, older women can sometimes be seen carrying a basket of laundry on their head to rinse it in the stone basins.

To get to the other Lanzarote involves a long and winding drive or bus journey from the town of Arucas, but the chance to discover the rural charm of Gran Canaria’s green and mountainous heart shouldn’t be missed.

The post The Other Lanzarote: A Hidden Village in the Mountains of Gran Canaria first appeared on Gazette Life.

For centuries, Lanzarote islanders lived in terror of pirate raids. An isolated, lightly protected island on the main trade routes to the Americas, it was highly vulnerable to attack from the sea.

Lanzarote was never a wealthy island, and the raiders did not come in search of gold or great riches. Instead, they would raid the island for supplies, pillaging anything of value, and would often engage in the lucrative business of people trafficking – in other words, slavery.

Islanders were often captured during raids, and locals would often be given the chance to buy them back for a ransom. If they could not afford this, the slaves would be transported to the north African coast to be sold at slave markets.

Pirate raids are the reason why towns like Teguise and San Bartolomé are located in the middle of the island, far from the coast. This gave locals the maximum amount of time to flee and hide in the event of a raid.

One of the places they would hide was the underground volcanic tunnel of the Cueva de los Verde. One such siege in 1618 lasted for several days until a scribe gave away the secret entrance that islanders were using to fetch food and water. Over 900 slaves were taken in that raid, many of whom drowned in a subsequent sea battle with the Spanish Navy. The island was left virtually unpopulated.

The daughter of María Ruíz and Blas Perdomo was six when she was taken in the 1618 raid, and it was not until 1632 when the couple were able to reach Andalusia, to try and negotiate her return from Algeria. Now a young woman, their daughter chose to remain in captivity, but the couple managed to return with two of María’s nieces who had also been abducted.

The Castillo de Santa Bárbara, perched on top of the volcano of Guanapay overlooking Teguise, was another refuge – built specifically to protect islanders from pirate raids. Weapons were hard to come by in those days, but the sides of the volcano, littered with stones and rocks, show how natives may have defended themselves.

Pirates came from many places. The Barbary coast of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisa; the Caribbean, and also from England. While British history books may refer to sailors such as Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins as explorers and adventurers, Spanish history recalls them as common pirates, privateers who plundered Spanish ships.

Raleigh landed in Arrecife in 1617 after unsuccessful attempt to find the mythical city of El Dorado, although accounts of what happened vary. Some claim his men burnt buildings in the port and stole wine from a moored ship, but whatever took place, it was enough to attract strong criticism from Spain, which was then at peace with Britain. Raleigh was executed shortly afterwards.

The two castles in Arrecife, San José and San Gabriel, were both built as fortresses to defend the coast from pirate attacks, and the Torre de Águila in Playa Blanca, built in 1741, also saw bloody skirmishes.

The fortifications on the coast and the decline of piracy on the high seas by the 19th century finally allowed Lanzarote’s ports and coastal villages to live in peace, and the island’s main port, Arrecife, took over from the ancient settlement of Teguise in the late 19th century.

The real Treasure Island?

The most famous pirate story is, without a doubt, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, but could the real island be lying off the coast of Lanzarote?

Stevenson published his novel in 1886, but set the action over a century earlier, and it is believed that two 18th century incidents, both involving Lanzarote, inspired the story.

In the novel, the Hispaniola sets sail after the young narrator, Jim Hawkins, discovers a mysterious map, on which “X marks the spot” where buried treasure lies. This tale is believed to have arisen from an incident in which pirates chased a British galleon laden with spoils down to the island of La Grasciosa. There, the sailors are said to have buried the treasure. Stevenson used the name of this real-life boat – The Walrus – for his fictional treasure ship. However, to this date no treasure has ever been discovered on La Graciosa.

In the novel, the ship’s cook, Long John Silver, and other sailors plan to murder Captain Smollett and steal the treasure. This crime is believed to be inspired by the murder of George Glas in 1765. Glas is a key figure in Lanzarote’s history as one of the first foreign writers to publish detailed descriptions of the island.

In 1764 Glas was arrested by the Spanish, who intended to frustrate his plans for a settlement on the African coast in what they considered to be their territory. He was held for a year before being released, when he boarded a ship called The Earl of Sandwich and headed back to London with his wife and daughter. The boat was laden with large amounts of gold coins and Glas himself also carried a considerable amount of wealth. This attracted the attention of four sailors: George Gidley, Peter McKinley, Andrew Zekerman and Richard St Quintin.

In the English Channel, the sailors mutinied and murdered the boat’s skipper, Captain Cochrane, and two other sailors who were not involved in the plot. Then they came for Glas. The Scot was a big man and a skilled swordsman, but was eventually overpowered and stabbed to death. His wife and young daughter were thrown overboard to drown.

The four mutineers changed course for Dublin, scuttled the ship off the coast of Waterford and headed for shore in a rowing boat loaded with coins. Once ashore, they spent wildly, unaware that the Earl of Sandwich had not sunk, and evidence of their crimes had been discovered.

All four were rapidly arrested, hanged in Dublin and their bodies displayed on gibbets. The pretty cove of Dollar Bay in County Wexford is named because of rumours that the murderers of Glas concealed some of their treasure there.

The post Pirates of Lanzarote: When the Island Lived in Fear of the Sea first appeared on Gazette Life.

Some of Lanzarote’s wildlife is as strange and wonderful as anything you might see in the world. Here’s a selection of some of the strangest and most spectacular sights that you may be lucky enough to see.

VULTURE

The Egyptian vulture is gradually gaining a foothold on Lanzarote after being almost wiped out. It’s an unmistakeable bird – the largest bird of prey on the island – and can sometimes be seen soaring high above the ground.

When it’s closer to earth, its presence may be given away by smaller birds, who often mob the large predator noisily, in an attempt to drive it away.

FLYING FISH

No one tells you that there are flying fish in the seas here, so the first time you see one – usually leaping from the wake of the ferry to Fuerteventura, or a smaller boat – is a real thrill.

The sight is astonishing, a glittering, silver fish whirring its wing-like fins and sailing twenty metres or more over the seas. The fish do this to escape predators, but what takes them out of sight of the larger fish hunting them gives passengers an unforgettable glimpse of wildlife.

HOOPOE

This handsome bird, with its peach pink plumage, bold black-and-white wing and tail bars and unmistakeable crest, can often be seen making its characteristic dipping flight in areas of scrubby wasteland. Like the grey shrike, it’s one of those birds that´s rare in northern Europe but fairly easy to spot on Lanzarote.

STINGRAY

Often huge, these amazing creatures are usually seen by divers and snorkellers. They can be big, sometimes up to two metres in length, and they glide over the seabed like stealth bombers. You’ll usually need to get wet to spot one, but there are places on the island where stingrays patrol piers, jetties and sea walls and can be seen by passers-by.

STICK INSECT

This is a weird one. The stick insect looks like a dried twig or piece of straw and would go unnoticed if it didn’t have the signs of symmetry that are shared by most insects. It also moves, scuttling along the floor like a tiny giraffe. It a relative of the mantis, which you may also be lucky enough to see in inland areas.

DEATH’S HEAD HAWK MOTH

This is the moth that is featured in the film The Silence of the Lambs, named for the skull-shaped pattern on it’s back. It’s large caterpillars munch the euphorbia plants that bloom in spring, and the moth emerges in the summer. Despite its fearsome name and reputation, it’s completely harmless, but if you do try to touch it you may get another surprise – it squeaks!

GECKO

The commonest reptile on the island after the Atlantic lizard, the gecko is a drab fellow that usually lives under rocks, wood and dry leaves. At night, though, it comes out to hunt and can often be seen climbing vertical walls. If there’s a nightlight, you may spot it in a dramatic pose nearby, as it hunts insects attracted to the brightness.

The post Lanzarote’s Weird & Wonderful Wildlife first appeared on Gazette Life.

David Riebold visits the oldest examples of design on the island, the mysterious Queseras carved by ancient native islanders. Photos by Clare Carter Osborne.

“If you like Southend-on-sea, you will love Puerto del Carmen” is a truism for some but not me. I’m Southend born and bred but I never much cared for the place and so, although the beer here is cheaper, and the beaches hugely better, the type of mass tourism that this island attracts has limited appeal for me. I’m very happy to reside far from Puerto in sleepy Haria; lovely friendly people, stunning landscape and the fascinating flora that has become a major interest.

I increasingly hear passionate indignation from some fellow Brits resident here about the supposed effects of immigration ‘back home’, and am a little puzzled that these folk are apparently unaware that they are themselves immigrants, too often ignorant of the local culture that their arrival here is rapidly eradicating. I might find myself even more provoked by this obvious hypocrisy were it not for some ambiguity of sentiment among the local population.

By the time of the final Spanish conquest, five centuries ago, the native Majo population (a Berber-descended tribe of the Guanches who arrived here around 1000 BCE) had already been severely reduced by European-introduced diseases and slave raids. As a result the few hundred survivors made peace with the Spanish colonists and intermarriage became common.

The population that encountered the first wave of tourism in the ’60’s were descendants of Spanish settlers and the Majos. Talking to local people, a fierce pride in their unique history soon becomes apparent alongside an awareness of distinctions between them and people on the Spanish mainland. At the same time this pride seems tinged with the fact that for centuries, the island was a neglected backwater of Spain and a hardship posting for civil servants, where living conditions for many were effectively stone age. Perhaps this knowledge explains the neglect of this island’s ancient constructions.

Many of the island’s prehistoric remains were buried or destroyed by the Timanfaya eruption and others may be lost under our main rubbish dump in Zonzamas. That name comes from the Majo town that existed there, an important hub of island civilization between the 5th and 8th centuries. The siting of the dump was a deliberate policy of the Franco regime, who tried to eliminate all traces of the native Canarians.

I would like to mention just one of the ancient constructions in that region which can be found by driving to the Zonzamas rubbish dump – half-way along the road that takes you from the Manrique foundation to San Bartolome. Park beside the entrance to the dump and walk along the track (on your left, facing the entrance) for about 20 mins. Look out for a faded signpost, slightly uphill, to the left of the path. Here lies the Quesera of Zonzamas; five channels. up to half a metre deep, carved into the basalt rock. Even with modern power tools this would be a major undertaking, quite how this was managed so long ago is an enigma.

The name quesera refers to a cheeseboard and I have been told, variably, that the name is linked to the carvings’ resemblance to a giant cheese mould or to cheese having been placed inside as an ‘offering’ to ancient gods. I don’t find either account convincing and believe that the carvings have nothing to do with cheese but are instead a solar/lunar calendar since they are aligned with solstices and equinoxes. One remarkable observation is that one of the carved strips appears to indicate the addition of an extra day to maintain calendar accuracy, similar to leap years in modern calendars.

We are nowadays constantly dazzled by the marvels of modern technology, sometimes forgetting the input of past generations. As Newton famously said; ‘If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants’ – I would suggest that these stone-age scientists who first started to make sense of their environment are true giants and deserve far more honour than they get here. David Shilham, the local photographer (do check out his work on Facebook!), took me to a couple of smaller ‘queseras’, one in Yaiza, the other near the Jameos del Agua, both lacking even the rusting signpost that you will find at Zonzamas. He suggested that perhaps such obscurity is best as it avoids graffiti and vandalism. Do you agree, or do you perhaps share my view that these primitive technologists who started with so little, deserve more respect than contemporary equivalents like Elon Musk, who started with so much?

The post The Mystery of the Queseras first appeared on Gazette Life.

The timple is the most famous of Canarian traditional instruments – a tiny five-stringed guitar whose piercing, high-pitched melodies give an unmistakeably Canarian touch to folk groups.

If you want to discover more about the timple, simply find the two bronze lions in Teguise’s central square, both of whom are facing the Palacio de Spínola, a singlestorey white building with six large brown shuttered windows and three steps leading to a doorway.

The Timple Museum guides you through the history of the instrument, from its earliest ancestors in baroque Italy to global members of the stringed instrument family such as the Russian balalaika or the west African kora.

One room recreates the workshop of a luther, showing how the timple is carefully constructed from pine, rosewood and orange wood, and another room displays several varieties of timples, including modern ones made from carbon fibre or 3D printed plastic.

But every bit as interesting as the museum is the building itself. The Palacio de Spínola is the best example of a stately home in Teguise and was renovated in the 70s with décor by César Manrique. As you enter, you’ll see the private chapel that was used by the owners and as you pass through the museum you can’t help but be impressed by the austere, simple Spanish colonial style of the mansion, with plain white walls and uncarved wooden fittings.

Beyond the museum you’ll see an interior patio with a well in the centre, and the original kitchen and dining room of the home. Upper storeys, usually closed to the public, can be seen at the rear of the building and were where bedchambers were located.

An open air passageway is lined with destiladeras, the stone water filters festooned with maidenhair ferns, that were widely used on the Canaries. It leads to an outdoor patio with an aljibe (water tank), a fig tree, two shaggy palm trees and an ornamental staircase. You’ll also find two more lions here – these are the original concrete ones that stood in the square from 1922 until 2005.

The Timple Museum is open from 9 am – 3 pm Mon to Sat, 9 am to 2 pm on Sundays. Entry is €3 (€1.80 Lanzarote residents, free for Teguise residents.)

The post Lanzarote’s traditional instrument first appeared on Gazette Life.

Did you know that the historic streets of San Antonio, Texas, were once walked by a mayor from Teguise? A little-known chapter of Lanzarote’s history, stretching back almost three centuries, reveals a deep and living connection between the island and the United States, particularly in Texas and Louisiana.

It’s a story of families who crossed the Atlantic in search of opportunity, taking their culture with them and leaving a legacy that can still be explored on the island today.

The story begins in the era of Christopher Columbus. The Canary Islands were the final known landfall for his ships before the journey into the Atlantic unknown. These stopovers were crucial for stocking up on seeds, animals, and recruiting Canarians who would become some of the first settlers in the New World.

To understand the scale of this history, one need only visit Teguise, the old capital of Lanzarote. In the 15th century, it was the island’s economic heart, its prosperity reflected in the palatial and stately architecture that still defines the town. A stroll through its cobbled streets and squares, which preserve the original layout from the period, is a step back in time. Key sites include the 15th-century Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a colonial-style gem.

For a more dramatic glimpse into the past, the Castillo de Santa Bárbara – a fortress that witnessed pirate raids between the 15th and 18th centuries – now houses a museum. For the truly adventurous, the pages of María José Tabar’s 2015 book, Piratas de Leyenda, bring to life the chilling history of the Callejón de la Sangre (Alley of Blood), named for the 1586 massacre by Morato Arráez.

This transatlantic exchange wasn’t just about people; it was about survival. The ships that stopped here loaded their holds with Lanzarote’s resources: wheat, barley, chickpeas, figs, and the island’s resilient goats, prized for their adaptability and milk production. These products, part of the “Columbian Exchange,” were unknown in the Americas before their introduction.

The good news is that this agricultural heritage is not just history. The island has preserved its traditional crops, as seen in the stunning wine-growing landscape of La Geria and the unique terrain of El Jable. Today, we can still taste this legacy in the island’s wonderful variety of artisan goat’s cheeses and other local delicacies. Visitors can explore this further at the Bodegas El Grifo, the oldest winery in the Canaries.

The most direct human link to the US was forged by a royal decree. The 1678 “blood tribute” stipulated that for every hundred tons of goods exported from the Canaries, five families had to embark for America. This policy led to the settlement of Louisiana and Puerto Rico and the founding of cities like Montevideo and San Antonio de Béjar -modern-day San Antonio, Texas.

In a remarkable piece of local history, the first mayor of that fledgling Texan settlement in 1731 was Juan Leal Goraz, a native of Teguise.

This incredible story is meticulously documented in the book Estadounidenses con Pasado Lanzaroteño by José Juan Romero Cruz, which reconstructs Lanzarote’s role in over 40 historical milestones in the Americas.

Today, the legacy is kept alive by associations like the Canary Islands Descendants Association and has been formally renewed with a recent twinning agreement between Lanzarote and San Antonio, strengthening cultural, economic, and tourist ties for the future.

The post Lanzarote’s Deep Historical Ties to Texas and the United States first appeared on Gazette Life.

Scientists have established that the aepyornis, or elephant bird – one of the largest birds ever to exist – lived on Lanzarote four million years ago.

In 2012, paleontologists investigating the Valle Grande, Valle Chico and Fuente de Gusa, ancient valleys and springs located in the north of Lanzarote near Órzola, discovered the fossilized remains of around ten large eggs.

Years later, in 2020 they announced that the eggs had belonged to long-extinct varieties of ratites, large flightless birds from the ostrich family. It was the first such discovery on the Canaries and posed a mystery of its own to experts.

The mystery was: how did large flightless birds get to Lanzarote? The Canary Islands were created by volcanic eruptions in the ocean, and have never been connected to the African mainland, where ratites were usually found.

Theories for how other species have reached the island generally rely on them being brought by birds or floating over on clumps of vegetation. This “raft theory” was thought to be the most likely explanation for the Lanzarote mystery.

Now, scientist Antonio Sánchez and his team have announced that the eggs found 13 years ago were not ostriches, but aepyornis eggs. The aepyornis, or elephant bird, is one of the largest birds that ever existed measuring up to 3 metres in height and weighing up to 500 kilos.

These vast birds have excited imaginations for generations. In Aepyornis Island, a short story by sciencefiction pioneer H.G. Wells, a scientist raises an Aepyornis after hatching it from an egg, but is eventually attacked and persecuted by the gigantic, bad-tempered bird.

Sánchez also believes he has a simple answer to the mystery of how the large flightless birds reached Lanzarote: “They swam,” he says. “There’s no other possibility, and ostriches, emus and other ratites are good swimmers.”

The post Lanzarote – The Island of Elephant Birds first appeared on Gazette Life.

Lanzarote’s otherworldly landscape has long made it a favourite for filmmakers seeking a dramatic, alien backdrop. But for fans of the iconic British series Doctor Who, the island holds a special place in television history as the real-world location for a pivotal chapter in the Time Lord’s adventures.

The universe’s most famous Time Lord last turned up on Lanzarote in 2014, when Peter Capaldi’s Doctor was filmed at the Volcán del Cuervo, among other locations.

But the first Doctor to park the Tardis here was Peter Davison in the 1984 series Planet of Fire. Unusually, an island that so often stands in for alien planets or prehistoric landscapes plays the holiday island of Lanzarote in this sci-fi series, in which the Doctor and his assistant Turlough encounter a holidaying American, Peri Brown, who would go on to become one of the Doctor’s favourite assistants.

The serial captured more than just a sci-fi story; it captured a moment of 1980s Lanzarote. In this clip we see Peri nearly drown off Papagayo, while the Doctor offers to pay for his drink with space creds in Orzola (we think – let us know if you’ve got a better idea).

So, the next time you’re hiking the volcanic trails of Cuervo or gazing out from the northern port of Orzola, remember you might be standing on a classic piece of Doctor Who history.

The post When the world’s most famous doctor landed on Lanzarote first appeared on Gazette Life.

Before they conquered the world, The Stone Roses took a trip to Lanzarote. The resulting videos, filmed for “Fool’s Gold” and “I Wanna Be Adored,” were a surreal fusion of cool swagger and otherworldly beauty that would help define an era.

In 1989 the Stone Roses had already had a moderate UK hit with I Wanna Be Adored, but it was the follow up single Fool’s Gold whose influence would echo through the decade to come and put Manchester at the centre of Britain’s musical map.

Stone Roses guitarist John Squire had holidayed on Lanzarote as a teenager, and his artistic eye had been caught by the island’s strange, volcanic landscapes. So it was at his suggestion that a film crew headed for the island to film videos to promote the new single and the US released of Adored.

Both videos are similar, the band play, walk and throw stones while Ian Brown does a bit of monkey dancing in front of scenes of Timanfaya, all beneath a sky that has been artificially transformed into a purple haze. It’s probably the introduction to Adored that captures Lanzarote’s peaceful beauty.

The post When The Stone Roses came to Lanzarote first appeared on Gazette Life.