The Islote de la Fermina finally opened to the public on January 30th. We took a look at Arrecife’s beautiful new tourist attraction and filmed a walkthrough for visitors.
For this month’s article in the March magazine, our editor Shaun Addison and photographer Rens Konigs, crossed the bridge near the Gran Hotel in Arrecife to the Islote de Fermina, to take a closer look at the latest example of César Manrique’s genius to be opened to the public.
With perfect pools that will open later in he year, incredible views and those big picture windows that Manrique loved, it’s a stunning and tranquil place to spend an hour.
The new Islote
The first thing you notice is the brilliant white of the floor and the aquamarine of the abstractly-shaped pools, studded with jet black rocks and leaning palms. The design echoes Manrique’s pool at Jameos del Agua, or his stunning Lago Martiánez in Tenerife.
Canarian plants have been carefully planted everywhere – tabaibas, veroles, drago trees and palms – and one end of the island has several black basalt windbreaks – meant for sunbathers, but a perfect place for children to play hide and seek. A lighthouse made of lava overlooks the bay.
The tempting pool contains unheated sea water, and will open later in the year. There’s also a pleasant café, whose staff wear the tunics Manrique designed for the tourist centres, and buildings where award-giving functions will be held. Indoors, those huge Manrique windows frame views of Arrecife’s seafront.
Views like this are the big surprise awaiting the visitor to the Islote. Not only does it offer fine outlooks over Arrecife’s bay; it also gives stunning views south to Fuerteventura and the Ajaches mountains.
As the setting sun’s rays burst through dramatic cloud, burnishing the horizon, you realise that those lovers who led their partners here were looking for more than intimacy – they also found romance, inspiration and beauty.
Video: Rens Konigs
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