Lanzarote did not become extraordinary by accident. The island you see today — stark volcanic landscapes, whitewashed villages untouched by high-rise development, vineyards planted in volcanic ash — is the product of thousands of years of human history layered on top of one of the most geologically restless pieces of land in the Atlantic.
Understanding that history changes the way you experience the island. If you are planning a visit, our full Lanzarote travel guide covers everything from resorts to beaches to volcanic hikes. But before you pack your bags, knowing the story behind the landscape will make every crater, every whitewashed wall and every vine pit mean something more.
Lanzarote History
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Table of Contents
The Guanche and Majos: Lanzarote’s First People
Long before European explorers arrived, Lanzarote was home to the Majos, the indigenous people of the island. Related to the wider Guanche culture found across the Canary Islands, the Majos are believed to have descended from Berber peoples of North Africa, most likely arriving on the island several thousand years ago. Exactly how they made the crossing — across 125 kilometres of open Atlantic water — without advanced seafaring knowledge remains one of the island’s most debated historical puzzles.
The Majos were a settled, pastoral people. They raised goats, fished the coastal waters, grew basic crops and lived in caves and simple stone structures. Archaeological evidence, including cave paintings, stone tools and burial sites, has been found across the island. Their name for Lanzarote was Titerroygatra or, in some historical accounts, Tyterogaka, though neither spelling is universally agreed upon among historians.
By the time European contact arrived in the 14th century, the Majo population numbered only a few thousand. They had no metal tools, no written language and, crucially, no military capacity to resist what was coming.
European Discovery and the Norman Conquest
Lanzarote entered recorded European history in 1312 when the Genoese explorer Lancelotto Malocello landed on the island. The island’s name is widely believed to be a corruption of his own: Lanzarote from Lancelotto. He lived on the island for some years, and a Genoese cross was later found marked on maps of the period to denote his presence.
The more significant moment came in 1402, when the Norman knight Jean de Béthencourt, acting under the authority of the Castilian Crown, launched a conquest of the Canary Islands beginning with Lanzarote. The Majo people, small in number and entirely unprepared for armed European invaders, offered limited resistance. Béthencourt established the first permanent European settlement on the island and used Lanzarote as a base for subsequent conquests of Fuerteventura and El Hierro.
The conquest was brutal in its consequences for the indigenous population. Many Majos were enslaved, sold in markets on mainland Europe or died from diseases to which they had no immunity. Within a century of European contact, the original Majo culture had been almost entirely absorbed or destroyed. What remains today exists mainly in the archaeological record and in the traces of Berber genetic heritage found among modern Canarians.
Spanish Rule, Piracy and the Age of Vulnerability
Following Béthencourt’s initial conquest, Lanzarote passed formally into the control of the Crown of Castile, eventually becoming part of a united Spain. For the next two centuries, the island lived in a state of near-constant vulnerability. Its position as the most easterly of the Canary Islands, closest to the African coast and to the busy Atlantic shipping lanes, made it a target.
Pirate raids were a defining feature of life on Lanzarote from the 15th through to the 17th century. North African corsairs, operating primarily from the Barbary Coast in what is now Morocco and Algeria, launched repeated attacks. The most devastating came in 1586, when a large Moorish raiding force sacked the island and carried away hundreds of inhabitants into slavery. A second catastrophic raid in 1618 saw the population devastated again.
These attacks left a deep mark on the island’s architecture and culture. Defensive towers and watchtowers were built across the coastline. Settlements moved inland and built low, with thick walls. The castle of Santa Bárbara, which still stands above Teguise and now houses the Museo del Emigrante Canario, was built specifically to defend against these raids — though it proved only partially effective.
By the late 17th century, the threat from Barbary corsairs had diminished, and Lanzarote slowly began to rebuild and grow. Agriculture expanded, the port at Arrecife gained importance, and the island settled into a quiet rhythm of farming, fishing and trade.
The Great Volcanic Eruptions of the 18th Century
Nothing in Lanzarote’s history compares to what happened between 1730 and 1736. For six years, a series of volcanic eruptions tore open the island’s surface, destroying villages, burying farmland and reshaping the landscape permanently. The eruptions began on 1 September 1730 and continued almost without interruption for six years — one of the longest volcanic eruption sequences in recorded history anywhere in the world.
The priest Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo kept a detailed diary of events during the eruptions. His account describes the earth opening, villages consumed by lava, and livestock dying from poisonous gases. By the time the eruptions ended, roughly a quarter of the island’s surface was buried under lava and ash. The fertile agricultural land in the centre-west of the island — among the most productive on Lanzarote — was gone entirely.
The region we now visit as Timanfaya National Park is the direct result of those eruptions. What looks like a freshly formed alien landscape is, in fact, a 300-year-old wound that the island has never closed.
Remarkably, the eruptions eventually brought an unexpected agricultural benefit. Farmers discovered that the thin layer of volcanic ash, called picón, that settled across the surviving farmland acted as a natural mulch. It absorbed moisture from the night air and protected the soil below from the sun’s heat. This discovery transformed La Geria into a wine-producing region, with vines planted individually in pits dug through the picón to the fertile soil beneath — a technique used to this day.
A second series of eruptions struck in 1824, though these were shorter and less devastating. The lava field at Timanfaya still retains geothermal temperatures close to the surface, a reminder that the volcanic system beneath Lanzarote is dormant rather than dead.
The Rise of Tourism and Modern Lanzarote
For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Lanzarote remained one of the poorest and most isolated corners of Spain. The economy relied almost entirely on agriculture, fishing and the export of cochineal dye, produced from insects farmed on cactus plants. When synthetic dyes collapsed the cochineal market, emigration increased sharply, with many Lanzaroteans leaving for Cuba, Venezuela and mainland Spain.
Tourism began to arrive in the 1960s, initially in modest numbers. The island’s airport opened in 1946, though regular international charter flights only became common in the 1970s. The potential was obvious: reliable sunshine, dramatic scenery, proximity to northern Europe. What was not obvious was how the island would manage the development pressure that tourism inevitably brought.
César Manrique and the Shaping of an Island’s Identity
The answer to that question came largely from one man. César Manrique (1919–1992), born in Arrecife, was already an internationally respected artist when he returned to Lanzarote in 1968 after years in New York and Madrid. What he found alarmed him: the first signs of the same mass-tourism development that was transforming the coastlines of mainland Spain and other Canary Islands.
Manrique used his international reputation, his personal connections with island politicians, and a relentless public campaign to establish building regulations that have defined Lanzarote ever since. No buildings above two storeys in most areas. No billboards. All new construction to be painted white, with green or dark blue accents. Architectural harmony with the landscape, not competition against it.
He also created a series of landmark sites that turned volcanic features into cultural spaces: Jameos del Agua, Cueva de los Verdes, Jardín de Cactus, and Mirador del Río among them. His former home, the Fundación César Manrique, built into five volcanic bubbles, remains the most personal and revealing of his creations.
Manrique was killed in a car accident near his home in 1992, but his influence remains embedded in law and in the landscape. Lanzarote looks the way it does because of him, arguably more than any other individual in the island’s history.
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Status
In 1993, one year after Manrique’s death, Lanzarote was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve — recognition of the island’s exceptional natural environment and, implicitly, of the planning principles Manrique had fought to establish. According to UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve directory, the designation recognises areas that demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature, with active conservation combined with sustainable development.
Lanzarote was among the first entire islands to receive this designation, and it remains one of the most intact examples of a tourist destination where development has been meaningfully controlled. The absence of high-rise hotels and garish signage is not an accident of geography — it is the result of decades of deliberate policy, shaped by history, by tragedy and by the vision of one extraordinarily determined artist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the original inhabitants of Lanzarote?
The Majos were the indigenous people of Lanzarote, believed to be descended from Berber peoples of North Africa. They were a pastoral, cave-dwelling culture who arrived on the island thousands of years before European contact. Their population was largely destroyed or absorbed following the Norman and Spanish conquest in the early 15th century.
Where does the name Lanzarote come from?
The name is widely believed to derive from Lancelotto Malocello, the Genoese explorer who arrived on the island around 1312. Over time, Lancelotto was adapted into the Spanish form Lanzarote, which has been the island’s name ever since.
How long did the 18th-century volcanic eruptions last?
The main eruption sequence ran from 1 September 1730 to 1736 — approximately six years — making it one of the longest continuous volcanic events in recorded history. A shorter series of eruptions followed in 1824.
What did César Manrique do for Lanzarote?
César Manrique was a Lanzarote-born artist and architect who returned to the island in 1968 and campaigned successfully for strict building regulations that prevented the kind of mass-tourism overdevelopment seen elsewhere in the Canary Islands and Mediterranean. He created several iconic cultural attractions built into the island’s volcanic landscape and ensured that Lanzarote’s natural and architectural character was protected by law. His legacy is visible in virtually every corner of the island today.
When did Lanzarote become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve?
Lanzarote was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1993, one year after the death of César Manrique. It was among the first entire islands in the world to receive this designation, in recognition of its exceptional natural environment and its commitment to sustainable development and conservation principles.
Is Lanzarote’s volcano still active?
Lanzarote’s volcanic system is considered dormant rather than extinct. The last eruptions occurred in 1824. In Timanfaya National Park, geothermal heat remains close to the surface — temperatures just a few metres underground can exceed 100°C — a clear sign that volcanic activity beneath the island has not permanently ceased. Scientists continue to monitor the island’s seismic activity.
How did piracy shape life on Lanzarote?
Repeated raids by North African Barbary corsairs between the 15th and 17th centuries had a profound effect on Lanzarote’s culture, architecture and population. Defensive towers and castles were built along the coastline, settlements moved inland and built low for protection, and hundreds of islanders were taken into slavery during the most severe raids of 1586 and 1618. The scars of this period are still visible in the island’s fortifications and the cautious, inward-looking character of many of its older villages.
For a complete guide to exploring everything Lanzarote has to offer — from its volcanic national parks and wine regions to its beaches and resort towns — visit our comprehensive Lanzarote travel guide.
