This
travel guide is full of information and travel inspiration for first-time
visitors to Fuerteventura in Spain. Serenity, space, freedom, untouched nature… all
attributes one wouldn't expect when talking about Fuerteventura. I find all of
this and more. Fuerteventura is after Tenerife the second-largest island of the Canary Islands. The island in the Atlantic Ocean covers an area of 1659.74 square
kilometres. One look at the landscape and you instantly feel the closeness to
North Africa. To reach the Moroccan coast is a skip and a jump of a mere 120
kilometres. The island enjoys 300 days of sunshine per year. That certainly
sounds like Fuerteventura is one of the sunniest places in the world. Sunshine
is a true drawcard for many.
98,000 people call Fuerteventura home.
Archaeologists concluded that the island was visited thousands of years ago by
Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans. These days, every year, more
than eight million foreigners visit the Canary Islands. Fuerteventura is
dependent on tourism. It is popular with all the ones who appreciate a stay at
an all-inclusive resort. At the airport, I overheard a woman telling another
"It is heaven. It is stress-free. They make sure we get to sit at the same
table for breakfast during our 14 days stay." I nearly gasped out loud.
Some of the coastal areas are built-up entirely with large hotels. In 1973, the
first international flights arrived at the airport of Fuerteventura. Today,
more than 40 different airlines from 102 destinations come to Fuerteventura.
Fuerteventura - All about the small things
Mass tourism is a fact you must accept when
visiting Fuerteventura. Some feel more comfortable when everything is as they
know it; it is what some want. No doubt, we are all tourists after all. If you
look for something tranquil and away from the crowds, stay in a small town. In
Lajares, surfers and lifestyle-conscious meet, as in urbanites looking for a
sea change, travel nomads, and the free-spirited.
There are so many small things one can enjoy in
Fuerteventura and they are all far removed from mass tourism. One morning, I saw this cactus in bloom as I drove off to start the day
with a cortado at a café in the village. I stopped, jumped out of the car and
took a quick photo. Marvellous find I thought. An hour later I had to return
since I forgot to take my bikini. Right. Guess what had happened. The cactus
wasn't in bloom anymore. Whoops, I felt so lucky. Priceless being somewhere at
the right moment. No idea what this cactus is called though. It looks magical.
Fuerteventura - one of over 700 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
The climate is very arid, there are hardly any
trees. At times it feels as if being on the moon. Hard to imagine that the
volcanic activity can be traced back to more than 20 million years. It looks as
if most people prefer to hang out on a beach near their hotel resort. That is
ideal, it means that most of the time you are going to have Fuerteventura all
for yourself.
There are over 700 UNESCO recognized biosphere
reserves worldwide (as of now). The island of Fuerteventura is one of the
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. “The western coastline stretches over 100 kilometres
and is free of human intervention. The island contains a rich fossil record,
distributed among 50 paleontological sites of global importance. Fuerteventura
has a significant range of biodiversity. It is home to approximately 644
species of vascular plants alone. Fossils of extinct fauna species also provide
historical evidence of rich diversity.”
Visit Fuerteventura: You won’t meet too many humans along the way
Walk along rugged cliffs. See the largest desert
and semi-desert in Europe. Look at the swell, often higher than the horizon.
Admire the white foam of waves hitting black lava beaches. Search for palm oases in
the neverland of the interior. Drive through seemingly uninhabited tiny
villages and find abandoned convents. Find windmills on lonely hilltops. Listen
to the wind in the desert. Enjoy the eerie peacefulness of an abandoned
monastery complex. Meet adorable Barbary ground squirrels. Have lunch in
colourful gardens of remote country inns. Visit lighthouses. Go swimming at
wild, endless beaches or try one of the innumerable little bays. Hike along the
beach and inhale the smell of the Atlantic Ocean. Hike through a volcanic
landscape and over lava fields. Take photos of powder-fine 20 meters high
dunes. Look at street art in fishing villages. Chat to locals. Get your daily
dose of Vitamin D. Drink cortado. Slow down.
Travel Spain – A First-Timer’s Guide to Fuerteventura
Here comes inspiration for what to do, see and eat
in Fuerteventura.
Breakfast – the Spanish way
Order a cortado (espresso with a dollop of hot milk
froth) and Pan con tomate (toasted white bread with grated tomato, garlic and
olive oil). You probably want to order an almond croissant also…. and have a
second cortado.
Visit Lighthouses – where Fuerteventura shines bright
A lighthouse a day keeps
the doctor away… or as the saying goes. There are five lighthouses in
Fuerteventura, one for each day of the week.
Entallada Lighthouse on the east coast of Fuerteventura
You find the active La
Entallada Lighthouse, constructed in 1955, on the east coast. The lighthouse
with its three squared towers was built with stone sourced from the island. Its
building style and material used make it a striking piece of architecture to
look at.
It sits high on a cliff.
One has to drive up from the nearby village of Las Playitas in Tuineje over a
rather steep and winding narrow road. If you aren't a fan of heights the drive
is thrilling (only a little bit). The view over the ocean and the strong winds
you are going to experience are well worth the little scare.
Coordinates La Entallada
Lighthouse: 28.230412°N 13.948550°W
El Tostón Lighthouse – Original one opened in 1897
This is a beautiful
little lighthouse away from the (not too far away) crowds in El Cotillo. Being at
a point far in the north of Fuerteventura, and only five kilometres away from
the next town, still, it feels as if you are at the end of the world. The active
Tostón Lighthouse stands at the La Bocayna strait that separates Fuerteventura
from the nearby island of Lanzarote. The lighthouse is dressed in red and white
bands; there is another tower in beige and a third one in dark red. The scenic
views over the Atlantic from here are magnificent. The beauty of this place is
that there is nothing there, it is a great place to reflect and relax. Walk
along the coast towards Majanicho. There are many small bays where you can go swimming.
Coordinates El Tostón
Lighthouse: 28.715561°N 14.013810°W
Corralejo Natural Park - 2.5 by 10.5 kilometres of wilderness
Visit the Corralejo
Natural Park, 2.5 by 10.5 kilometres in size. Experience its stunning desert
beauty. Walk along the Atlantic coast. Experience large soft dunes, picturesque
sand drifts, and the volcanic landscape in red and ochre. It is a breathtakingly
gorgeous contrast between the deep blue ocean on one side and the rough rocky
landscape on the other. Hike the Montaña Roja, and you feel once more as if
walking on the moon. Bring enough water, walking boots, wear a hat and
sunscreen. Carry a towel in case you would want to go swimming on these
wild and endless beaches. Please ask for
swimming conditions first (see whether there are lifeguards on duty).
Be prepared to have to
look at all sorts of penii (you read that right, that is plural for penis).
Penises would do it too. There is no avoiding them since many guys are
literally 'manspreading' in the dunes. One look into the wrong direction, and
bang, one can’t help it. The landscape, the beaches are breathtakingly
beautiful. The region remains in most places beautifully deserted. Probably the
reason why there are so many nudists. Not entirely the case, you find nudists
at pretty much every beach on Fuerteventura. Over the course of the day, the
colour of the dunes, the rocks, the sky and the water changes. Simply magical.
Even castles made of sand, fall into the sea,
eventually (Jimi Hendrix). We are slowly running out of sand. Did you know that
sand is scarce? Experts warn that the demand for sand and gravel has risen
dramatically. We need sand for so many different things. Without sand, there is
no ceramics, glass, computers, streets, or properties. We use so much more sand
(from the sea) than nature can reproduce. Remember your geography lessons at
school? Sand is the result of the slow, millennia-long erosion of mountains.
Dredging such high quantities of sand from seabeds affects coastal areas and
oceans. Microorganisms and animals, and habitats are destroyed. According to
the UN Environmental Program estimates, three out of four beaches worldwide are
disappearing. A couple took around 40 kilograms of sand from a beach in
Sardinia this summer. They now face a few years in jail (google it, it was big
news this summer). That is a rather long vacation in Italy, I wonder whether
they are going to spend it in a shared cell? What I am saying is, that the time
of sand stealing is well and truly over for everybody of us.
The Barbary Ground Squirrel – simply adorable
The Barbary Ground
Squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus) is simply adorable. You might meet them pretty
much everywhere on the island, and lots of them. They live colonially in
burrows. The cute little fellas are endemic to Western Sahara, Algeria and
Morocco and have (sort of only recently) been introduced into the Canary
Islands. They thrive in dry shrubland, temperate grassland and rocky areas.
Rumours have it they were brought to Fuerteventura by legionnaires from the
African continent. It apparently started with three couples, but they got lost
and they did what everyone would have done. This led to today's count of more
than 20,000 of them. Please do not feed them. Wildlife is wildlife.
The Convento de San Buenaventura
As I pick up my rental car at the airport, the
woman tells me that “you have to visit the town of Betancuria. It is the
prettiest place in Fuerteventura.” On a little hike outside of town, I find
ruins of a Franciscan monastery. Seven monks started building the Convento de
San Buenaventura in 1416. It grew over the years. Two hundred years later it
got damaged heavily during a pirate attack. It lies abandoned since the 19th
century.
The remnants of pointed arches, round arches, thick
outer walls, and the chancel are still here. Standing inside the monastery,
nothing shields you from the sun. One can look straight into the blue sky
above. I notice that somebody must have started some renovation works. It sits
in the middle of a garden full of succulents. There is a small chapel next
door. The only creature I meet during my hour-long visit is a hare. The silence
is powerful. The only sound I hear is the wind. This is a fantastic place for
the soul who loves spending time alone.
Have a little wander through Betancuria in the afternoon,
the tour groups are gone by then.
Information: Convento de San Buenaventura, Calle Pdte. Hormiga,
13, 35637 Betancuria, Las Palmas, Spain.
The Clean Ocean Project Fuerteventura
The Clean Ocean Project
is an NGO founded in 2000. They aim to protect oceans and beaches. Their focus
lies on how to avoid plastic pollution of the ocean. They follow a pretty
straight forward approach. The Clean Ocean Project believes that everybody is
part of the problem - and the solution. They challenge everyone to do their
bit.
We all know that
recycling and reusing goods are fantastic ideas. We also know by now that it is
even better to stop buying and using plastic. They organize regular beach
clean-ups and also projects to inform and educate about the situation. Two
notable initiatives are Stop Sucking and the Plastic Bag Ban.
For the initiative Stop
Sucking, they visit local bars and restaurants. They ask establishments to stop
using plastic straws and provide information about alternatives. The places
that agree receive a wooden sign, stating that they don’t offer plastic straws.
They also want to change the attitude of shops offering plastic bags.
I won't use straws. I use a cotton bag when I go shopping.
When I go to the beach, I pick up pieces of rubbish and discard these. It is so
simple. Everyone can do their bit. Don’t be a keyboard activist and start
acting. Read Travel – Everyday life - Repeat: Living Green at Home and Elsewhere for more inspiration.
Visit one of the Clean Ocean Project shops in Lajares
( or El Cotillo () and visit their
website to learn more about their work.
Stargazing in Fuerteventura
You find the perfect conditions to look at the
night sky and its stars since there is almost no light pollution in
Fuerteventura. Make your way to the south of Fuerteventura, to a town called
Pájara. The Sicasumbre viewing point is a fabulous place to view the skies.
Another fantastic viewing point is Morro Velosa, in the central-western region
of Fuerteventura, near the town of Betancuria.
Watch the Atlantic Ocean – Poetry on the beach in Ajuy
The several
metre-high waves roll out over the black volcanic sand on the beach. It is
windy. Wave after wave breaks on the beach. It is a wilderness of seawater. I
know that the waves are huge when I can’t see the horizon as they roll towards
me standing on the beach. Bring enough time to just sit on the beach and watch
the Atlantic Ocean. Ajuy is a fishing village in the west of Fuerteventura.
This afternoon with its waves is like poetry, the rhythm is deeply touching.
Stay late and watch how the sun dives into the ocean, unhurriedly but
passionately.
Calderón Hondo – What does it take to climb a volcano?
You already see
this volcano, that emerged about 50,000 years ago, from the centre of Lajares.
Simply follow the main road until you reach a small football stadium and from
there follow the sign towards Majanicho. Drive on for a few hundred metres and
park at the walking path. The return walk from the parking ground takes roughly
two to three hours. You have two options. If you walk the path to the right, in
front of the crater, that is the easier walk, whereas the one to the left
becomes a little bit of a climb. You reach the highest point of the walk at 278
meters. Wear sturdy shoes regardless of which path you plan to follow.
Information: Calderón
Hondo, Lajares, La Oliva, Spain. Free. Do not feed the Barbary Ground Squirrels.
Picture perfect swimming beaches in Fuerteventura
-Risco del Paso. The beach Risco del Paso is in the
south of Fuerteventura. The seemingly endless space is framed by the blue of
the ocean and sky and the white beige of the large sand dunes and beach.
Depending on the tides the scenery changes completely. You get two for one
here. High tide creates a lake with a sandbank in its middle. Comes low tide,
the lagoon disappears, and the area becomes one gigantic sea of sand. This is a
beach walkers dream. Risco del Paso is a true spectacle. The beauty of the
scenery might leave you speechless.
Information: Risco
del Paso, 35626 Jandia, Las Palmas, Spain. Bring your own food and water and
have a picnic on the beach. There is no shade. It might be a good idea to bring
a sun umbrella or sunshade sail. Parking is right on the beach.
-Caleta del Marrajo. The beach Caleta del Marrajo is in the
north of Fuerteventura. There is hardly anyone here, you probably end up being
almost all alone. Way back in the past black lava flowed into the ocean and
formed little bays. These are ideal for swimming. Park at the nearby El Tostón
lighthouse and walk along the shore to find your perfect spot.
Information: Bring
food and water. There is no shade. There are no toilet facilities. It might be
a good idea to bring a sun umbrella or sunshade sail. Parking is at El Tostón
lighthouse. Coordinates: 28.715561°N 14.013810°W
-El Cotillo Beach
and La Playa del Aljibe de la Cueva. The beaches El Cotillo Beach and La Playa del Aljibe de la Cueva
form one long beautiful stretch of beach. You park at the edge of the cliffs
after you followed a gravel road from the town of El Cotillo. Walk down the
slopes and find your spot. This should be easy, since there is so much space.
Information: Bring
food and water. There is no shade. There are no toilet facilities. It might be
a good idea to bring a sun umbrella or sunshade sail. Parking is on the cliffs.
Street Art in Fuerteventura
There is some
street art to be found in a few places on the island. It is obviously not as widespread
as it is in Madrid or London. Look closely and you are going to find the
most amazing pieces of art.
Vegetarian Friendly Food in Fuerteventura
Vegetarian friendly places in El Cotillo
-La Vaca Azul. I highly
recommend the grilled vegetables. Book in advance and ask for a table with a
view. Come twilight, the sky turns a light purple. La Vaca Azul, Calle Requena
9 Muelle Viejo, 35650 El Cotillo, La Oliva, Fuerteventura Spain. Phone +34 928
53 86 85.
-Olivo Corso. Go for vegetarian
tapas, as in for example Pimientos de Padrón and potatoes. For dessert, I
highly recommend the Gofio Mousse. Gofio is a flour made from roasted ground
grain. Olivo Corso. Calle Mallorquin 34, 35560 El Cotillo, La Oliva,
Fuerteventura, Spain. Phone +34 928 53 89 22.
Vegetarian friendly places in Lajares
-La Cancela. It is busy for a
reason. Pizzas are of great quality. Book in advance. La Cancela, 2 Calle
Central, Lajares, La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Spain. Phone +34 928 86 85 68.
-Pastelo. Go for breakfast
and/or coffee and cake. Pastelo, Calle Coronel Gonzalez Del Hierro Lajares,
35650 Corralejo, La Oliva, Fuerteventura Spain.
-Agua Tiki Bar Lajares. A bit away from the main road, with a view of the stunning volcano
scenery. Excellent for lunch. Also, try the freshly prepared juices. Agua Tiki
Bar Lajares, Calle Majanicho 31, 35650 Lajares, La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Spain.
-Pasteleria El Goloso de Lajares. Good for breakfast, lunch, and/or coffee and cake. It is busy, there is
a rooftop terrace. Pasteleria El Goloso de Lajares, Calle Coronel Latherta
Gonzalez Hierro | Lajares, 35650 Lajares, La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Spain.
-La Paneteca. Good for
breakfast, lunch, and/or coffee and cake/snacks. La Paneteca, Calle Coronel
Latherta Gonzalez Hierro | Lajares, 35650 Lajares, La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Spain.
Vegetarian friendly places in Corralejo
-Rompeolas Restaurante. Designed in white and blue, this place feels so inviting. Go for the
Vegetarian Paella. On arrival, guests get served a glass of sparkling wine.
Book in advance. Rompeolas Restaurante, Calle Delfin 1 Avenida Maritima de
Corralejo | Muelle Chico, 35660 Corralejo, La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Spain.
Phone +34 928 85 41 52.
-Calu. Book in advance.
Ask for a table with a view. Go for the vegetarian pasta that is on offer on
the day (truffle and pear in my case). Calu, Avenida Maritima 42, 35660
Corralejo, La Oliva, Fuerteventura Spain. Phone +34 604 13 79 10.
Vegetarian friendly places in Betancuria and La Vega de Rio Palma
-Casa de la Naturaleza. You find this country-style
restaurant in the most beautiful scenery. Order vegetarian tapas. Casa de la
Naturaleza, Calle San Juan Torcaz, s/n, 14700 La Vega de Rio Palma, Las Palmas,
Spain. Phone +34 928 17 54 64.
-La Sombra. A lovely place where you sit under palm
trees. Order a crepe with prickly pear cactus jam and a cortado. La Sombra,
Calle Alcalde Carmelo Silvera, 35637, Betancuria, Fuerteventura, Spain. Phone
+34 605 24 95 89.
As I said in the beginning. Serenity, space,
freedom, untouched nature… all attributes you find plenty of in Fuerteventura.
Visa requirements for Spain
You can apply for the Spain
Schengen Visa, as a Member State of the EU Spain is a member state of the
Schengen Area. Visitors from the Schengen countries do not need a passport or
visa, only a valid an ID-card or passport. Visit this website to see whether you need a Visa to visit Spain.
How to get to Fuerteventura
Public transport: Catch
a ferry from neighbouring islands Teneriffa, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.
By plane: Most European
airports offer direct flights to Fuerteventura. El Matorral Airport is near
Puerto Rosario, the capital of the island. This is the cultural and social
centre, almost 40% of the locals live in the capital.
Best Time To Visit Fuerteventura
Temperatures on
Fuerteventura are pleasant all year round and rarely rise above 30 degrees
Celsius in summer (June, July and August). And then there is the Calima: At
times the wind can be as hot and dusty as in the Sahara 100 kilometres away.
Spain – Currency and how to pay
Spain is a member of the European Union. The
official currency in Spain is the Euro. Exchange money on arrival at the
airport, or get some cash at an ATM. You can pay in cash still almost
everywhere (some shops/restaurants/cafes will only accept cash). Credit cards
are widely accepted.
From Berlin with love