The long list of storms that have affected the Canary Islands during the 2025-26 season, nineteen specifically, have made the weather on the islands during the last months of autumn and winter be cold, rainy and windy. This has made tourists arriving in Lanzarote and the rest of the islands surprised by the absence of sun and low temperatures, a scene contrary to what they expected due to the false idea of eternal sun in the archipelago.
Several tourists have posted different videos on social media in a humorous tone in which they appear in warm clothes trying to shelter from the cold. In one of those posts, one of the tourists comments: "Go to Lanzarote, they said, it's always sunny, they said. You can swim all year round, they said. Well, here we are...", all this amidst strong gusts of wind.
As you may recall, La Voz already published a few weeks ago how another group of tourists complained about the wind in Lanzarote in a video published on TikTok, which accumulated more than 350,000 views. In it four people could be seen on the sunbeds of a hotel in Puerto Calero with warm clothes and, even, a blanket. Furthermore, they added the following in the caption of the recording: "Let's assume it's snowing in England, so I can't complain too much."
To find when this belief of permanent sun in the Canary Islands began to spread, we have to go back to Francoism, as explained by Elena Marrero, heritage manager and classical philologist, who disseminates the history of the islands on social media. According to her, the dictatorship "taught foreigners the image it wanted the rest of Europe to have of the islands".
Following this idea, in the sixties, the potential of the archipelago as a tourist destination began to be seen, so after news reports that spoke of natural disasters in the islands, the idea began to be sold of the prevailing good weather. "News reports that told of storms and bad weather disappear and the only thing shown is how incredible the Canary Islands are at any time of the year," Marrero points out.
However, the Canary Islands are characterized by a subtropical climate in which the swell, the rains, the donkey's belly, the trade winds that bring humidity, and the dust clouds are the main protagonists throughout the year. Therefore, a mistaken idea of eternal sun on the islands spread throughout Europe and the rest of Spain, since the Canary Islands have a subtropical climate due to their geographical location, but the orography of the islands makes this not entirely true.
The microclimates due to their altitude on each island are something very common and that is why we can see arid zones, forests, laurisilva, mountainous landscapes such as that of Roque de Los Muchachos or Las Cañadas del Teide. Despite the passing of the years, the slogan of the "Canarian paradise" continues to govern the islands facing outwards and those who visit us, sometimes, get off the plane "disappointed" by cool and windy weather for many days.
