Living César’s dream?

In April, Isobel Haldane from Gleneagles in Scotland contacted us to ask if we’d consider an article about César Manrique that she planned to write on her forthcoming Lanzarote holiday. Instead, we invited her to get right to the heart of the matter, at the lively, noisy demonstration in Arrecife on April 20th, where Manrique’s face and words were on the placards of many of the 9,000 marchers.

By Isobel Haldane. Photos: Jack Allen,

I am sitting on the patio of a beautiful low-rise, whitewashed villa in Lanzarote, overlooking the azure sea and contemplating the life of one of the island’s most famous sons, César Manrique, and what he would have made of life on the island now.

I am doing my best to be mindful of the scarce resources here and be a dutiful ecotourist. The view in front of me is five-star. The bay sweeps round to the south and an arc of volcanic mountains frames the town, standing sentinel to the outside world. No high-rise developments here to spoil my view. Thank you, César.

Of the three million visitors who fly in and out of the César Manrique Airport every year, I wonder how many appreciate just how much this man was responsible for maintaining the cultural integrity of the island, the preservation of its natural resources and the sympathetic development of its built environment.

I wonder too whether some of the island’s administrators may have temporarily forgotten that, although Manrique means money and tourism means money, there is a balance to be struck here. The scales have tipped too far one way, and perhaps I am part of the problem.

On 20th April I attended the march in Arrecife in protest at the continued development of mass tourism on the island. There was a family GAZETTE | NEWS atmosphere; peaceful, respectful Lanzaroteños protesting in an almost carnival setting, but the simmering anger and resentment was also palpable.

It was an emotional experience for me. I found it impossible to imagine how my hometown would cope with a similar influx of people and the additional strain on already scarce resources. There are other European countries who would not be as tolerant as the very patient Canary Islanders.

So, if I am part of the problem, what is the solution? Every person I have spoken to has been quite clear. Tourists are not the problem – tourism is, and there is a difference between the two. Lanzarote is friendly and tourists are welcome here.

We do, however, have to accept the implications of our tourism, in particular mass tourism and what this means for the island. Personally, I would fully support a tourist tax and would be happy to pay one. Many countries have this in place, and it works well, but the income must be properly directed to support the local community. There must be a moratorium on further development until a new plan is put in place. Perhaps new laws on second home owning too?

As I sit on the patio of this beautiful low rise, whitewashed villa, a school bell rings, dispersing happy chattering children into the town below, and I cannot help but wonder what their future holds.

Will they grow up to have jobs serving the tourist industry at the expense of their own natural environment? Will they leave the island because there is no affordable housing or, worse still, become second-class citizens in their own country, living in half-built skeleton hotels with no running water or electricity, watching the tourist industry expand, like a house of cards, towards its inevitable collapse.

Make no mistake, any collapse will be at the expense of this beautiful island, its particularly fragile ecosystem, and the cultural heritage of future generations. The tourists will simply move on, and other places will be found and developed unless all of us play our part. The recent demonstrations in Lanzarote and the Canary Islands have the potential to be a pivotal moment in global mass tourism and the world should listen.

It is not my island, and it is not for me to say how these problems are to be resolved, but I am conscious of one thing. It is over 30 years since Manrique died. Who or where are the visionaries now?