Not every tourist adds to this land.
As a result of the latest video we have seen in which “pieces” of our land were acquired to avoid buying the relevant souvenirs, interpreted by a group of tourists, especially “the aunt” of the Tik-Tok user who uploaded the content, I have decided to write this reflection:
In Lanzarote, each stone, each corner, each line of the landscape has an incalculable value. They are not simple decorations or souvenirs to take in your suitcase. They are the memory of a volcanic island that has learned to live with the harshness of the environment and transform it into beauty.
And yet, we still see scenes that hurt: tourists laughing while tearing fragments of this territory as if they were trophies. What they take is not just a stone. They take identity, they take the future, they take a piece of us.
The tourism we want is not measured by the money in your pocket, (which, listen, also has to come with the mentality of leaving it to generate local wealth), but by the civic-mindedness with which you step on this land. Because record numbers are useless if what is left behind is a wounded landscape and a tired community. What matters is not how much you spend on a bracelet or a rental car, but how much you are willing to leave here in the form of respect, care and commitment.
I will continue to be annoying and this humble account will continue R that R defending the legacy and ideology of his father: César Manrique. And César was clear: he defended a tourism in balance with nature and culture, a tourism that understood that Lanzarote is not a theme park, but a living work of art that must be protected. His legacy reminds us that this island is not negotiated, it is cared for.
Whoever does not respect it, better not enter. Because Lanzarote is not a souvenir. It is a home, a legacy, a treasure that deserves to be loved and defended.
