Central message:
Lanzarote is at a historic crossroads. To face its structural challenges and regenerate its economic, social, and territorial model, it must reconnect with its rebellious spirit—not from nostalgia, but from the courage to collectively reinvent itself, avoiding polarization, activating its global talent, and betting on integrated and visionary solutions.
There are places whose history weighs so heavily that it sometimes prevents looking forward freely. Lanzarote is one of them. An island that has transformed adversity into beauty, isolation into identity, and scarcity into uniqueness. Much of that legacy was catalyzed by César Manrique, whose greatest work was not his urban, artistic, or architectural wonders (which it was also), but perhaps the change in collective mentality he achieved: believing that what is our own could be valuable and universal.
That shared story was a roadmap for many generations for decades. But like any powerful story, it runs the risk of becoming dogma. Today, the transformations facing the island demand new languages, new questions, and an expansion of the frame of reference. Not to replace what we were, but to continue the conversation that was left unfinished. Lanzarote was always a rebellious island: it decided not to be just another one. It questioned, challenged, innovated.
As the I Ching, the classic of Chinese philosophy, reminds us, everything that is born, grows, transforms, stabilizes, and then is destroyed and renewed. That cyclical logic inspires us to rethink Lanzarote as a living process, not a closed model. In this new cycle, the challenges are clear: lack of access to housing, youth unemployment, saturation of public services, ideological polarization, and a growing perception of fatigue with the tourism model. These are not isolated symptoms, but signs of a system that has been very successful for many things, but today seeks to renew itself. As Albert Einstein said, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Lanzarote cannot continue to apply the same formulas of the past and expect a different future: it needs to reinvent itself with courage and vision. And we are taking good steps.
From systems theory to quantum physics, we know that complex challenges are not solved in isolated compartments. Tourism, housing, water, energy, prosperity, mobility, and happiness are deeply intertwined and part of the same ecosystem.
We see trends from other territories that are already experimenting with models where the tourist is not a mere consumer, but an active participant in the regeneration of the territory, and in the activation of its prosperity: such as in Costa Rica, where participatory reforestation is encouraged; in French Polynesia, with the restoration of corals alongside scientific communities; or in Ibiza, with financial mechanisms that allow tourists to contribute directly to local sustainability projects.
These models, although different, offer useful inspiration to rethink the role of tourism in fragile island contexts like ours.
Now that we are experiencing the tension of the misnamed 'tourism-phobia' - it would be a mistake to treat tourism in isolation from the rest of our challenges. Tourism has allowed Lanzarote to make a generational leap from absolute poverty to being part of the Western prosperity system. Tourism should be used as a lever to help Lanzarote decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
For example - now that we have had the courage to open the 'melon' of the integral water cycle after more than 3 decades. Why not propose a transformation of such caliber that not only solves environmental and basic supply challenges, but also activates new economies linked to agricultural cooperatives, which use regenerated water (from tourism) for local crops, boost the island's wine industry worldwide, to startups that develop technological solutions in tourist areas, connect with the circular economy, the bioeconomy and the creation of qualified technical employment —and allow Lanzarote to be positioned as an Atlantic reference in water innovation, in the style of what places like Singapore, or Tel Aviv have already achieved.
What unites all these proposals is their ability to integrate the environmental, the social, and the aesthetic in the same urban intervention. And Lanzarote, due to its scale and institutional capital, has everything to become a laboratory of territorial innovation.
But this requires more than good ideas. It requires a common narrative that transcends flags. The Island Plan of the 90s demonstrated that technical consensus can generate institutional stability if the collective is prioritized.
And yet, today, on an island of just 160,000 inhabitants, political polarization is more reminiscent of powers facing each other in global forums than an island community. In Davos, this author has seen negotiations between the U.S. and China with more pragmatism than some local plenary sessions. Lanzarote cannot afford that luxury. Our strength must be in agility, coordination, and the capacity for anticipation.
Lanzarote in transition: talent, pacts, and strategic leap
The recent presentation of the MET Plan (Economic Modernization and Transformation) represents a turning point. A roadmap that seeks to integrate the economic, social, and environmental. We have a fantastic opportunity, once in a generation, to rethink the island's model completely – and link it economically, legally, politically, and socially to all the island's official processes and institutions.
But a vision without execution is just a wish. Lanzarote has a history of difficulties in implementing plans, even when the budget is available. If we fail to move from discourse to action —vision, strategy, planning, political consensus, and execution— we run the risk of becoming a postcard of the past.
As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt warns, lasting projects are built from moderation, dialogue, and mutual recognition. Instead of "winning" a debate, it is about sustaining it. Singapore, in just two decades, went from being an island without resources to a global benchmark. It did so by attracting talent (from outside what it lacked, and elevating within what it already had), simplifying procedures, supporting the private sector, and betting on solid institutional intelligence.
Lanzarote has an advantage that many regions do not have: its scale. Here, agreements could be faster, governance closer, and citizenship more involved. In an increasingly volatile world —with geopolitical tensions, cultural wars, and technological disruption— the key is not to choose between tradition or innovation, but to integrate them.
That is why this column is born with a purpose: to open spaces for dialogue, connect Lanzarote residents inside and outside the island, and focus on transformative ideas beyond identity or ideology.
It is not about looking for the next César Manrique (it would be useless, unfair, and frankly unnecessary), but about using the seed he planted and integrated into our DNA – and identifying the new profiles that are already transforming the present from fields such as artificial intelligence, regenerative design, or the blue economy. Lanzarote residents today around the world working on innovation in talent management, in new frontiers of sustainability, urbanism and ecology, in artificial intelligence, programming and robotics, and working in longevity sectors (extending human life). This talent "made in LNZ" with global projection is our best bridge to the future.
Lanzarote does not need more volume. It needs more intelligence, more coordination, more stop looking at its navel and look outwards. The opportunity is in leapfrogging: skipping stages thanks to the knowledge already available, the right alliances, and a clear vision. For the first time in history, we have access to all the knowledge, talent, financing, technology necessary to do what we want. It is within our reach.
Lanzarote has already shown that it can reinvent itself. Now it's time to do it without fear of complexity. So - quo vadis Lanzarote?
About the author: Luis Alvarado has worked in Brussels, the Rockefeller Foundation in New York and London, the British Government and the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, and today helps Lanzarote in its international agenda. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, the College of Europe in Bruges and the ULPGC – and most importantly, of Güime in Lanzarote. In all these contexts he has learned one lesson: lasting solutions are not born from dogma, but from consensus where everyone gives something to gain in common. He believes in a Lanzarote that returns to being rebellious, but also ambitious, proud, strategic and capable of 'stop with the stories, and useless debates' to join forces to build prosperity in a world that changes faster than we manage to understand it.
What now? What role can Lanzarote play in the era of artificial intelligence, climate change and the change of geopolitical board? Are we limited to being a tourist destination forever? What international alliances do we need? Can we prosper with fewer tourists, more intelligence and more quality? Are we prepared to think together, without fear? These and other questions will mark the path of this column.
