Tourism that does less harm: Lanzarote away from the big beach resorts

After this year’s protests against mass tourism all over the Canaries, we head for the small towns, vineyards and rugged coast of Lanzarote’s less-visited north

The sky is clear as I sit sipping coffee in the sunny courtyard of an 18th-century house – now a boutique hotel – in the small Lanzarote town of Teguise. But Óscar Cubillo, my host, sees something different. Looking up, he says: “The planes are always there. They never stop.”

Lanzarote, an island shaped by volcanoes, salt and wind, feels like an otherworldly outpost, but it has recently been wrestling with an influx of tourists that residents fear the island cannot handle. Continue reading...