Lanzarote Tourism Guide - Arrecife

Arrecife Lanzarote History

It wasn't until 1852 that Arrecife took over from inland historic Teguise as Lanzarote's capital. By that time pirate invasions had eased off, so the port of Arrecife was free to develop without frequent rampages. It's relatively recent development means there are fewer historic old buildings as compared to Teguise, but Arrecife is a pleasant surprise and the beach is popular with locals and perfectly pleasant. The waterfront stroll is a delight, and if you like exploring genuine work-a-day Spanish and Canarian culture in the flesh then this is the place to visit.

Castillo de San Gabriel, the central fort waterfront focus in Arrecife was built in 1574, whilst Castillo de San Jose was built much later in 1771. San Jose has more to offer with it's superb exhibition of contemporary art, but Castillo de San Gabriel has a more attractive external setting (although inside there's some weird displays - when we visited it was a collection of possessed looking dolls in various traditional dresses?!)

Arrecife really began to develop in the 19th century. Today a number of ferries leave here on route to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria and Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura (worth considering an island hop here to split your holiday!).

Today there's a chic cafŽ culture in Arrecife - a real Canarian/Spanish vibe, so great shopping to be had, an attractive waterfront and a nice enough beach (well used by locals) - Playa del Reducto. Often one of the most mentioned features of Arrecife is the Grand Hotel on it's waterfront, built much to Cesar Manrique's disgust before he could instigate his height restrictions on buildings. There's much more to Arrecife than this reference (it doesn't look too bad a hotel close up anyway).

Castillo de San Jose and Contemporary Art

This small, and once castle defence, is now a joy indeed for contemporary art lovers and sits on the coast just north of Arrecife town centre near Arrecife docks. Well worth a look, this gallery has on show some real contemporary art gems including works by Manrique himself.

The exhibition space is in an old fortress dating from the 18th century. This fort was built later than San Gabriel in Arrecife and Santa Barbara in Teguise - in a century that must have been dire for the inhabitants of Lanzarote. The list of mishaps is endless during the 18th century, including the eruptions of Timanfaya, numerous drought periods and the development of the Spanish feudal system which practically bled local farmers dry. There was both starvation and emigration. Contruction of San Jose between 1774-79 was undertaken by many residents and was known locally as 'The Fortress of Hunger'.

Enter Cesar Manrique in the 1970s, and mass restoration work began on San Jose to establish an International Museum of Contemporary Art (MIAC) on Lanzarote. Here you can expect to see some prolific artwork by the likes of Manrique himself, and other Canarian artists such as Oscar Dominguez, Manolo Millares, Pancho Lasso and Cristino de Vera. Alongside these are works by Rivera, Guerrero and Sempere.

The collection is linked by abstraction, and clear trends can be picked out from the collection - for some of the best contemporary art on show in the Canaries head to San Jose! Museo Internacional de Arte Contemporaneo, Carretera de Puerto Naos, 35500 Arrecife, Lanzarote. Tel: 928 81 23 21.