Why is the ground black in Lanzarote?

The surface of most vineyards is covered with black volcanic ash that does not allow for other vegetation to grow but has excellent properties to retain moisture from dew. This means that the vineyards planted here also prosper because under the ash, the soil is fertile, made up of clay or sand on a bed of limestone.



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The trade winds, constant winds that blow from the polar zones of the two hemispheres to the equatorial zones, and the absence of mountains on the island mean that there are practically no rainy days in Lanzarote.

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But in the case of the Canary Islands, the challenge goes further. In addition to the pollutants emitted by our cars, ships and electric power stations, the islands are exposed to uncontrollable desert dust from the Sahara. Air pollution is responsible for some seven million deaths a year worldwide.

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Wear a sun hat to protect the top of your head, the back of your neck and your face from the sun. Limit the number of hours you spend in full sun, particularly between 11am and 3pm.

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“Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are much older and are marked by processes of erosion, rather than growth,” she said. Nevertheless, Mateo said that, although an eruption is “very unlikely”, it's not impossible, and recalled that the last eruption in Lanzarote took place in 1824 at Tinguatón.

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First settlers on Lanzarote Very little evidence of its early settlement has been preserved, however, we do know that the first inhabitants of the island were the Majos tribe of the Guanches, thought to have arrived there around 1000 BC from North Africa.

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The Canary Islands were created by a series of volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. The oldest of these is Fuerteventura, which is thought to be over 20 million years old, followed by Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, respectively.

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Unlike the majority of the Canary Islands, Lanzarote doesn't have any high mountains, meaning that there are distinctly fewer clouds than in other parts of the archipelago – which is why Lanzarote is the second sunniest island in the Canaries after Fuerteventura, with the two islands seeing a combined rainfall of less ...

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The coldest months in Lanzarote are January and February, when temperatures are between 13 and 22 degrees, with an average temperature of 19 degrees - so not very cold at all!

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