Manrique's Lanzarote
31 October 2016 | Marina Lanzarote, Arrecife
Alan
For me one of the most impressive of the natural features of Lanzarote that we have visited to date is the Jameos del Agua site in the northeast of the island. This popular attraction is a small section of a 7km long lava tube that extends from the La Corona volcano to a point a kilometre or two beyond the coast under the seabed to the east. In a few places the roof of the tube has collapsed (such openings being the Jameos) allowing both light and people to enter. Once in the tube a fascinating environment is revealed, where light is limited where it manages to penetrate at all, and temperature and humidity are very stable at levels that are quite pleasant for visitors. There are few resident species, but one among them is a small white blind crab, about 1-1.5cm across, that occurs nowhere else in the world other than in a small still pool in the lava tunnel at the Jameos del Agua site. The crab is a natural wonder, but the site is a superb example of what sensitive and intelligent human involvement can achieve in harmony with nature. In this case the human involvment was provided by Cesar Manrique and his collaborator Jesus Soto. It is hard to overstate the influence that these two artists/architects, but most especially Manrique, have had on Lanzarote, the most obvious being the absence of high rise tourist development on the island.
It was Manrique with his deep sensitivity and feeling for his native Lanzarote who campaigned, largely successfully, for development of a type of tourism that would respect what he felt was a uniquely beautiful place. Tourism was always going to impact Lanzarote once inexpensive international travel became available to almost all. Its near ideal climate and location in a warm blue ocean a few hours flying time from the European winter would ensure that. The developers eyed quick and massive profits to be had from building and running mile upon mile of large hotels and holiday apartments in an unbroken chain along the coastline. It was Manrique who mobilised opinion to thwart them; an effort that some people say eventually cost him his life.
So who was Cesar Manrique? At the private/personal level I find it hard to know, other than he was a visionary who felt a closeness to the environment that most people could never achieve. He was energetic in his pursuits and his enthusiasm for his projects was infectious for those around him. He must have been a powerful personality. Born in Lanzarote he went to Spain for his education in architecture where he was greatly influenced by the contemporary art movement that was thriving there at the time, centred around personalities such as Picasso and Miro among others.
After returning to Lanzarote Manrique threw himself into combining architecture and art, but in a unique way that drew on, and drew out, the beauty of the natural world. Jameos del Agua is a good example of the product of his genius and energy. The natural crab pool is the central feature, but on either side of this in the lava tube he created rest and refreshment areas with a mix of artificial and natural lighting, and gardens in the more open western section. There is also a subterranean concert hall and a volcanism exhibition centre that I found even more informative than the one at Timanfaya. For me our visit there was a high point in our touring.
We visited and greatly enjoyed other natural features that Manrique managed to make accessible in his typically sensitive manner, and to the huge benefit of those who choose to see them, such as the Cueva de los Verdes (another section of the La Corona-created lava tube) and Mirador del Rio (a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the islands of Graciosa and Alegranza to the north of Lanzarote). However, it would be wrong to think that Manrique only worked on displaying natural features. He was also an accomplished artist and sculptor, and it is in his first home at Tahiche near Arrecife where one can see all of his talents brought together. His former home is now an exhibition centre built on, and out of, the lava field in which it is situated, where one can see examples of Manrique's artwork, his draft designs, and his collection of the works of other artists. It is very well done indeed.
If you have inferred from this account that Lanzarote is to an extent a product of Cesar Manrique, I think I would agree with you. The island is beautiful in its stark volcanic way, and thanks to Manrique it is largely unspoiled and unscarred by reckless development. Cesar Manrique is the guardian of Lanzarote's soul.