Over the last two decades, Lanzarote’s population had steadily increased year on year until 2009, where the figure has remained in the region of 141,000-142,000 residents.

According to the density of population figures published for 2013, the municipality of Arrecife has the highest number of residents with 55,673 and Haría the lowest at just 4,782 people. In municipalities with holiday resorts, Teguise (Costa Teguise) is the most populated with 21,152 residents, Tías (Puerto del Carmen) second at 20,451 and Yaiza (Playa Blanca) in third place with 15,571 residents.

You can see the evolution of Lanzarote’s population from  read more »

Many people who fall in love with Lanzarote often end up buying a property here – either as a holiday home, or in some cases as their primary residence.

Buying a property in Lanzarote shouldn’t be difficult, but it is different to the process in many other European countries, so we’ve listed the steps below, with pointers on each, so that you should know what to expect.

Financing

Assuming you haven’t already arranged financing in your home country, then the banks here are beginning to lend money for mortgages again, but they are pretty cautious about that lending, so we’d recommend a visit to a local bank before you start house hunting in earnest. They will tell you what terms you can expect, and what paperwork you will need to provide. The amount they will lend here is based very much on the value of the property, not the selling price, so at the early stages they will only be able to give you a very general idea of how much you are likely to be able to borrow.  read more »

From today, early retiree expats will no longer be able to apply for the residual S1 to entitle them to healthcare within European countries.

Previously it was possible to carry an entitlement of up to 30 months of UK funded healthcare, if you retired early or were without employment in Spain or another EEA country.  Anyone who has successfully registered in the system here, using the old E106 / S1 form and below retirement age will know the difficulties of trying to use the paperwork locally. It was possible to  read more »

NB. This meeting has now been confirmed as Wednesday 25th June at 17:00.

The Mayor of Tías, Pancho Hernández invites local residents and business owners from the municipality of Tías to attend a meeting on Tuesday.

This meeting is entitled Mejor@ndo Tías, which translates to Improving Tías and is aimed at networking with the English speaking residents and businesses of Puerto del Carmen and municipality of Tías. The meeting is  read more »

Talleres Viajar Lanzarote is an English speaking garage in Lanzarote offering professional motor services and specialising in electrical mechanical repairs. Owners José & Teresa have recently moved to the island from Madrid to set up this new garage equipped with the latest technology, bringing with them 25 years of experience in the automotive trade.

The couple launched the Viajar brand in Madrid, first with a small workshop of 150m2 in July 2004, then expanding in December 2008 to launch Talleres Viajar Boadilla in the Parque Empresarial Prado del Espino with premises of 1500m2 and 10 staff. The name Viajar which translates to travel is actually a combination of José & Teresa’s surnames. Having spent time working in Houston and Milton Keynes, their English is excellent, Teresa runs the administration whilst José and Domingo, a mechanic who relocated with them from the mainland, will concentrate on the workshop.

Last year the couple took time out from their busy life in Madrid to have a holiday in Lanzarote, and like lots of us, they fell in love with the island and  read more »

Earlier this year we told you about a sale on vines and of a course to learn how to maintain them. The Association that organised this course is the “Asociación de amigos del vino y el queso”, or The Friends of Wine & Cheese Association.

I have come across that name in the past in several occasions, so I spoke to Ana María Martín, one of the Association's representatives and this it what I found out: the Association which is based in Haría was established on the 1st of July 1993 and it has about 160 members. Their main aim is to learn, collaborate and have a good time. They organise events around, well, wine and cheese, with some activities restricted to their members and others open to the public.

All their events are  read more »

Two walks in Haría and Tías have been organised by the Island’s Sports Service for residents aged 60 plus.

The "programa de paseos para mayores de 60 años" has been produced in collaboration with the local government to promote sport and leisure activities across the island. This spring programme is aimed at improving pensioners skills and physical health.

Paseo en Haría is the first walk planned for Saturday 5th of April which will take place from 10:30 to 14:00. This is a low difficulty walk of 4.8 km starting from the campo de fútbol in the direction of Barranco Elvira Sánchez. Professionals with expertise in physical exercise for older people will be attending the walk. Participants are encouraged to wear suitable shoes, there will be rest and snack stop at the Rincón de Haría on this guided walk ending in the Plaza de Haría for entertainment from Parranda ´P’al Porrón and a chance to browse the Saturday craft market.

Inscription is free  read more »