Tourism has been Lanzarote's engine for decades. It has brought progress, employment and a social ladder for thousands of families. But when 82% of your economy depends on a single sector, any tremor can be devastating. We saw it in 2020, when the pandemic's "zero tourism" left the island without shock absorbers, exposing its fragility.
Too concentrated. Too exposed. Too dependent. This is Lanzarote's economy: an island that has put almost all its eggs in the tourism basket. In 2025, this is not a strategy; it is a vulnerability.
Lanzarote needs to diversify. Not because tourism is "bad", but because betting everything on a single card is unsustainable. We must use the tourism card to make everything else flourish.
What does it really mean to diversify?
It is not about trying a little of everything or launching ideas at random. The word "diversification" is exhausted and often misunderstood. Diversifying requires strategy: identifying what we excel at, where we have a competitive advantage and what sectors can grow without compromising our resources. It also implies giving up projects that consume time, space and budget, and that do not generate real value.
Diversifying is not just executing projects. It requires institutional orchestration. Examples such as Barcelona before the Olympic Games or Bilbao after its industrial reconversion demonstrate this. Both cities created committees with global experts, urban planners and cultural partners that aligned everyone, administration, private sector, civil society, opposition, in a common vision. Lanzarote needs that collective impulse: adding allies of always and those who think differently. Diversifying requires multi-sectoral, multi-party and multi-level agreements that last 10, 20 or 30 years, even 100. It requires political, economic and social maturity. Long lights on an uncertain path, trusting that the GPS that we build together will help us reach the final destination.
In the last three years, the island government has promoted more strategic documents than in the past three legislatures combined. Another significant fact is that the Chamber of Commerce, from its institutional neutrality, is working on a Plan that will define the future of the island, marked by a participatory process that has brought together civil society, associations, groups and, more importantly, all the political forces of the island, to derive a roadmap based on broad consensus.
It is a crucial step: every investment, whether state, European or private, requires a defined project with priorities, frameworks and clear rules of the game. But Lanzarote has historically advanced at a snail's pace, with one or two major projects per legislature (if lucky). In an accelerated world, where new alliances and territories that reinvent themselves emerge every day, we need exponential leaps (leapfrogg), activating 50 or 100 strategic projects simultaneously in vital sectors linked to the prosperity and quality of our island life project.
Diversification does not happen on paper, it happens when vision, resources and action align. Without funding, leadership and courageous decisions, those strategic documents will end up on a shelf.
Are these challenges unique to Lanzarote?
Other islands with similar challenges have diversified successfully. Six relevant cases, in relation to their dependence on tourism 30 years ago (1995), to this day (2025), are worthy of analysis by the society of our island.
These cases show that diversifying reduces dependence on tourism and strengthens the economy. Madeira and Malta, for example, have significantly reduced their exposure to tourism while growing in other innovative sectors (See table 1). Lanzarote, with an almost identical dependence to 30 years ago, is lagging behind, but there is still time.
And in the rest of the Canary Islands, who is diversifying?
In the archipelago, each island has its own reality, but all face the challenge of reducing dependence on tourism. Tenerife and Gran Canaria have significantly reduced their dependence on tourism, betting on sectors such as science and technology. El Hierro, with its 100% renewable model, is a global benchmark. Lanzarote, however, has barely advanced: its dependence on tourism remains almost intact since 1995 (See table 2) The "magic" of the island, its landscape, culture and community is not yet reflected in employment, innovation or prosperity data. Transforming that magic into tangible results is the challenge of diversification.
A diversification portfolio for the next decade
Lanzarote can build a resilient economy by leveraging its strengths: its status as a Biosphere Reserve, its recognition as a Geopark, and the recent designation as an Important Agricultural Heritage System (SIPAM, UN, 2024), in addition to a stable climate with 300 days of sunshine a year, and the cultural legacy of César Manrique, which attracts visitors and creative professionals. By 2035, a diversified portfolio, backed by real data and adapted to the island, could include:
1. Renewable energy: Develop offshore wind farms, financed with €75M from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which in 2024 allocated €1.2 billion to renewables in Spain. These parks could generate 400 jobs for young people in installation and maintenance, increase renewable production from 12.3% to 50% according to Red Eléctrica data, and reduce the electricity bill by 20% for 50,000 households. In addition, the €15M in annual revenue from the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers (CACT, 2024) could finance solar panels for 10,000 households in five years, making each house a node of clean and self-sufficient energy.
2. Bioeconomy and wine: Scale up the production of aloe vera (which had exports of €5M in 2024), and cochineal, with an annual growth of 10%, according to the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce. Positioning Lanzarote as a wine training center, with the Lanzarote Designation of Origin (1.8M bottles per year) as a base, could generate 200 jobs and €10M in exports in five years, taking advantage of the volcanic soil and unique cultivation techniques. In addition, the leaves of the island's 83,000 Canary Island palm trees, especially in Haría, could re-imagine a crafts economy (basketry, mats, etc.) and biomass, generating 150 jobs and €3M annually, inspired by the Elche white palm model. These leaves, after controlled pruning against the Diocalandra beetle, could produce 332,000-747,000 liters of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year through pyrolysis, creating 50 additional jobs and €1.5M in revenue (in addition to a pioneering project at European level for Binter, Iberia, AirEuropa, Aer Lingus and other airlines loyal to the island).
3. Regenerative tourism: Develop "farm-to-table" experiences and agritourism in the 5,000 agricultural hectares, and tourist models where the tourist helps to regenerate the ecosystems. If only 10% of the 1.8M annual visitors to Timanfaya were redirected to regenerate the island's ecosystems, it would create a domino effect and call for a different tourist around the world. Transforming the CACTs into centers for the production of new knowledge and practices (think tanks), instead of passive spaces for visits, could create 800 direct jobs and increase tourism revenue by 7%, according to the Cabildo.
4. Digital nomads: Attract 1,000 digital nomads with salaries of €100-150K per year, generating €30M annually in local spending and reducing the pressure of 2.7M tourists in 2024 (less masses, more investment). Mentoring programs with local youth and these nomads could help create local community businesses fostering new economies and social mobility for our youth.
5.Water transformation: Modernize the desalination plants, which produce 68,000 m3 per day according to INE, with renewable energy, reducing costs by 25% and nurturing sectors such as agriculture (5,000 ha), wine and agritourism. An integrated system could save €10M per year and guarantee water for all new economies. If 50% of the island's water is lost due to old infrastructure, how do we turn our greatest weakness into the spearhead of the entire economic and social system of Lanzarote?
6. Longevity economy: The global longevity economy, valued at $8.3 trillion in 2023 and projected to grow 8% annually according to the Aging Analytics Agency, is driven by people over 60, mainly from Europe and North America, with high purchasing power and an interest in health, culture, wellness and sustainable environments. This group, which represents 25% of the EU population (Eurostat, 2024) and spends 20% more on wellness tourism than other segments, seeks quiet destinations with warm climates and cultural offerings. Lanzarote has a competitive advantage due to its stable climate, unique volcanic landscape, Biosphere Reserve status and Manrique's legacy, which inspire authentic wellness experiences (increase this segment of the elderly, and cut the segment of young party tourism that does not contribute). Creating a wellness center and specialized residences could attract 2,000 European residents, generating €100M in foreign investment and 300 jobs in health, hospitality and services, taking advantage of the growth of wellness tourism, which increases 15% annually according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). 7)
7. Circular economy: Convert the island's 96,000 tons of annual waste, according to the Cabildo, into a circular economy through incineration or gasification to generate electricity (waste to energy) and recycling of plastics and organics for compost or bioplastics (waste to other types). An energy recovery plant, inspired by the Mallorca model, could generate 200 jobs and €5M annually. Recycling 60% of waste, compared to the current 25%, could create 150 additional jobs in collection and processing, strengthening sustainability and reducing dependence on landfills.
This portfolio, financed by €140M-200M from the EU NextGeneration Funds and the European Investment Bank, could reduce tourism dependence to 60% of GDP by 2035, preserving Lanzarote's identity and allowing a generational leap.
Conclusion: the greatest risk is not acting
Lanzarote does not have a problem with tourism; it has a problem with mono-dependence. Diversifying is not a threat to tourism: it is its lifeline.
No sensible investor would put 100% of their capital in a single asset. Why should we do it with the future of an island? It is time to design a new economic portfolio for Lanzarote, investing in water, energy, technology and human talent.
The greatest risk is not making mistakes, but standing still and maintaining the same system while the world around us is radically transformed. Lanzarote has the opportunity to reinvent itself. With vision, courage and collective action, we can build a future where "that special thing" that our island has translates into prosperity for all.
