The Hotel Meliá Salinas was the first large hotel to be built in Costa Teguise, and the first five-star establishment on the island.
Fernando Higueras met César Manrique in an art shop in Madrid in the late 50s, and the Lanzarote artist offered the young architect one of his first major projects – a house in Camorritas, Madrid.
Their friendship continued after Manrique returned to Lanzarote in 1966, and the pair drew up plans for some incredible projects that never came to light.
However, it was the decision of the Río Tinto explosives company to develop the coast of Teguise for tourism that led to their greatest collaboration, and in the late 70s Higueras arrived to design the Meliá Salinas.
It’s only really from above that you get an idea of the hotels unique chevron shape, pointing directly out at the ocean and allowing hundreds of terraced hotel rooms to receive a sea view and sunshine.
The photo shows a complete absence of any other buildings in the area, although the car park in front of the Las Cucharas Shopping Centre is already there, and it appears that plenty of land is being prepared for development.
The enclosed lagoon in front of the hotel remains, but has been opened to the sea and turned into a beach.
The salinas (saltworks) that provided this area’s only previous economic activity, and which gave the hotel its name can be seen behind the hotel, but now no longer exist. In fact, almost all the land you can see in the photo has since been built on.
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