Experience Lanzarote - An Historic Island

Lanzarote is located in the Canary Islands and is a popular and modern tourist destination famous for it amazing year round climate, amazing beaches and excellent water sports. But the sun aside the island also has a fascinating history so many tourists staying in Lanzarote hotels, villas and apartments choose to get out and discover the islands past by booking cheap Lanzarote car hire to enable them to explore.

With around 1.4 million holidaymakers coming to Lanzarote annually the most popular way to get is by booking one of the many Lanzarote flights . Air travel is not the only way of getting here though, so if you have plenty of time on your hands you could charter a yacht or hire Luxury motorboat.

Of the seven Canary Islands Lanzarote was the first to be invaded in the early 1400´s by an expedition that represented the Spanish crown and which was led by a Norman noble called Jean de Bethencourt. The conquistadores had little trouble subduing the native Guanche inhabitants. An aboriginal people believed to have reached the island from North Africa.

And by the 16th century Lanzarote had started to assume great strategic importance to the growing Spanish empire thanks to its location between the New World and the Old.

Spanish ships sailed to the New World with slaves from Africa on board before dropping them off and returning to Spain via the Canaries with cargoes which often included looted gold and silver from the Incas. But at the same time this lucrative trade also caught the eye of pirates and privateers from across the globe and as a result the waters around the Canaries become a real hot spot, with Lanzarote fighting a continual battle against pirate incursions.

Consequently the Spanish authorities decided that they had to fortify the town to protect the local inhabitants from further attacks. And this resulted in the construction of a new castle, the Castillo de Santa Barbara, on Mount Guanapay. Which stands about 400 metres above Teguise. From here it was possible to spot marauders and sound the alarm, with excellent views down to Lanzarote's coastlines. Today this spot is now home to Lanzarote´s very own Pirate Museum, which chronicles this interesting period in the islands history.

These days there are still plenty of tourists visiting the island by sea, but most visitors arrive on budget Lanzarote flights from countries such as the UK. First time visitors are also well advised to book Lanzarote airport transfers before touching down at Arrecife airport in order to avoid queues for taxis, which can become lengthy during peak holiday periods. Such as Easter, Christmas and the school summer holidays.


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aave Talbot is a keen writer and also enjoys travel especially to his favourite destination the Canary Isalnds. To find out more about Lanzarote hotels or Lanzarote villas and apartments to rent visit lanzaroteguidebook.com