Lanzarote is one of the seven Canary Islands that are part of Spain but situated off the coast of Africa. The island of Lanzarote is at 29° Latitude, the eastern most of the Islas Canarias a distance of 125 km from Africa and 1000 km from the Spanish peninsula.

Lanzarote has an enviable all year round climate, situated in between the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean the temperatures here rarely drop below 15 degrees or rise above 30 degrees with an annual rainfall of 140 mm and at least 7 hours per day sunshine! There is normally a north easterly breeze of 10 – 14 km in, these trade winds are stronger in the summer months rising to a peak in July.

Lanzarote’s landscapes are spectacular! The island was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1993 with 36% of the land protected. Local farmers have found ingenious ways to grow crops in the volcanic landscape, the wine region known as La Geria has large circular deep pits and semi circular walls known as zocos, Fields are covered with a thick layer of crushed volcanic rock known as pícon, this helps protect the roots of the crop from the daytime temperatures and prevents the moisture from evaporating. There are over 100 beaches in Lanzarote and a coastline stretching some 213 km, the highest point of the island is Peñas del Chache at 678 m.

The population is currently 141,938 (2009), three out of every ten residents are foreigners and the main languages spoken are Spanish, English and German.