The magic of the island of Lanzarote is reflected in a mixture of its black volcanic landscape with the paradisiacal coasts of crystalline waters. In contrast, the human factor has built a scar through roads, houses and hotels to guarantee mobility, accommodation and the advancement of the tourism model. With an island in constant growth, more and more infrastructure is needed to meet the demand in mobility and accommodation made by locals and tourists.
Nearly three million tourists and a population of more than 150,000 inhabitants coexist in an area of 845.6 square kilometers. Lanzarote is the third most populated island in the Archipelago. Congestion determines the capacity of tourist occupation that a place has, taking into account the maximum number of visitors it can receive and the volume of infrastructure that can respond to this demand.
For example, if we talk about the main place of entry for tourists to the island, we have to start with the airport. Aena's César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport works with three future "foreseeable" scenarios in the new Master Plan. According to the information collected in the Lanzarote Load Capacity Study, the estimates fall on the users expected in 2025, 2030 and 2035.
For 2025, the Master Plan foresees receiving 8.5 million passengers, around one million more than in 2017, when it reached its historical maximum of arrivals with 7.4 million tourists. The second "foreseeable" scenario anticipates that 9.7 million visitors will be reached by air by 2030. While for 2035 it is estimated that 11.1 million passengers will be reached.
This growth follows the current trend of visitor arrivals to the easternmost island of the Canary Archipelago. The load capacity of the César Manrique airport considers "the maximum possible development" of the aerodrome through a work that would consist of expanding its base towards the sea. In this way, it could reach a maximum of 14 million passengers per year.
"The increase in tourist demand, with the consequent drag of the increase in accommodation capacity, does not correspond to endogenous tourism market decisions but to other interests such as those associated with air transport, where the design of the airport infrastructure plays a determining role," the research highlights.
Lanzarote, over-motorized
The road network is essential for the mobility of tourists and residents. Lanzarote has a road network of 465 kilometers. Likewise, in some sections, "progressive saturation" is observed, attests the aforementioned research.
The study collects this as "a sample of the excessive use" of the private car, among which are also the rental vehicles "to access jobs, in particular those related to tourism and hospitality, in a scenario of wide residential dispersion".
Most of the private vehicles in Lanzarote are passenger cars. In February 2023, there were 93,570 passenger cars in circulation on the island, followed by 31,054 trucks and vans. In total, among those that include trailers, motorcycles or buses with a date of March 2023, there were 138,687 private vehicles registered, which represents an interannual increase of 4%.
According to data from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics, in March of this year 138,687 vehicles were reached and a rate of 888 vehicles per thousand inhabitants.
The indicator of the number of passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants is a reference to know the level of motorization of the island. In 2022, 93,123 vehicles were reached, achieving a rate of 596 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Or what is the same, "a tourism for every two residents".
This index only competes with cities like Barcelona (570). The density of vehicles has grown by 39% in the last four years. This growth is not associated with the possession of more electric vehicles, in 2021 only 424 of the island were electric.
This point is highlighted by the load capacity study, since "60% of the energy consumed on the island corresponds to land transport". Likewise, the research prepared by Gaia Consultores highlights that "this scenario of over-motorization is favored by the intensive use of the rental car, which increases even more in the case of holiday homes scattered throughout much of the island territory".
In addition, another Gaia report dating from 2005 already stressed then that the island of Lanzarote is "over-motorized" and exposed "the lack of planning criteria for island mobility". Already then there were 800 vehicles, including buses, trucks or motorcycles, per 1,000 inhabitants. As of March 2023, we are talking about 888 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants in Lanzarote, the third Canary Island with the most vehicles.
In 2005, tourist rental vehicles represented "by themselves 40% of all motor vehicle movement on the island, even though they only" represented "around 20% of the island's vehicle fleet".
"This over-motorization scenario is favored by the intensive use of the rental car, which increases even more in the case of holiday homes scattered throughout much of the island territory."
Likewise, the company in charge of analyzing the load capacity in Lanzarote reveals that "there are no unusual indicators, such as synthetic or qualitative indices derived from surveys. However, the "existing" series are "very consistent".
For a less polluting model
Regarding the pollution produced by the excessive use of private vehicles, it is concluded that "at least 50%" of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted in the Canary Islands are produced by land transport. "The reduction of emissions is evidently in the saving of water and electricity, but very especially in the change of mobility model".
Despite all these figures offered in the analysis, the lack of data is one of the major problems that experts have encountered. For example, in a joint investigation carried out by the two public universities of the Canary Islands, it is highlighted: "that more information is needed, more precise, published frequently and regularly from official sources". In addition, the lack of municipal and micro-destination data is also a notable deficiency that prevents an even more exhaustive analysis.
The historical maximum of the CACT in 2022
Another example of the saturation of tourism is given in the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers (CACT), which received the historical maximum of visitors in 2022 with more than three million tourists. "Some centers show signs of saturation, as could be demonstrated in the long queues of vehicles and visitors in the summer of 2022 in Las Montañas de Fuego-Timanfaya", the study concludes.
