It’s no coincidence that multiple films – including the star wars Han Solo spin-off, have been filmed on the Canary Islands. The Atlantic archipelago’s incredible landscapes are thanks to their volcanic heritage, which are still making waves 60 million years after emerging from the depths of the ocean. In fact, to this day, the most exciting activities across these islands of fire – from lava hikes to black sand beaches and Europe’s highest vineyards – are all volcanically inspired.
TENERIFE
Even to the untrained eye, Tenerife’s Teide National Park looks like a lunar landscape. That’s partly because at 3,718m – the highest point in Spain – it’s the nation’s nearest spot to the moon. The island’s most instantly recognisable volcanic legacy is, of course, the dormant volcano itself, which visitors can scale – either via cable car or a 6.5-hour hike – and whose surrounding landscape stretches to 189km2 of wild west-style terrain. Head to the El Portillo Visitor Centre, which highlights Teide’s 33 endemic species and geomorphological history. Its little wonder Teide has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007.
However, while it looks lunar, it’s actually Teide’s geological similarities with Mars that have made it a study point for the red planet. The otherworldly scene also rings true thanks to the modern celestial observatories dotted around, each with the look of an alien spaceship – the park’s height, together with the island’s clean skies, make it one of the best places on earth to stargaze and study the universe.
A thousand metres downhill, through forests of Canary Island pine trees, there are yet more volcanic riches – this time drinkable. Several Rutos Del Vino, or wine routes, crisscross the island’s Orotava and Abona regions – both protected under Spain’s ‘Denominacion de Origen’ system to signify their importance as the origin locations for traditional wines. Indeed, Abona is home to the highest grape vines in Europe. “Tenerife’s volcanoes give very particular characteristics to our wine’s aroma and flavour,” says Felipe Monje, the fifth-generation owner-vintner of vineyard Bodegas Monje. “There are different types of volcanic soil that exist depending on the time of each historic eruption. And each type of soil has a different composition, and therefore taste, due to its evolution.” One of the most luxurious ways to experience the island’s volcanic heritage is to visit the vineyard and join a tasting of Monje’s latest vintages.
To the northeast, Tenerife’s quietest beaches sit amid the Anaga National Park. Three million years ago one of Mount Teide’s eruptions raised the ragged Anaga Range here, and today, visitors can explore a high-altitude rainforest where 468 species can be found within a single square kilometre – the greatest biodiversity in Europe, which has earned the park official recognition as a Biosphere Reserve. Beyond it, on the island’s northernmost tip, Jungle Mountains crumble into volcanic black sand. Beaches like Playa de Benijo remain as empty as in Christopher Columbus’s day – with the occasional surfer riding the Atlantic breakers past pillars of volcanic rock.
Over on the west coast lies the beautiful Masca Valley- an otherworldly gorge of mist-covered headlands and lava sculptures. Six decades ago the only way through its rolling topography was by donkey and it’s little changed today. Best discovered by hiking down to the coast, the route starts at the pretty village of Masca. Then magma canyons and pear trees line the five-hour walk, which ends on the volcanic black sands of Playa de Masca beach. Here, the €10 Masca Express taxi-boat carries hikers back along the coast to the resort of Los Gigantes. En route, the boat sails past the giant basalt cliffs of the same name – yet another geological marvel that’s a product of Tenerife’s explosive origins.
LANZAROTE
There’s a good reason why Lanzarote is so peaceful. On a starry night in 1730, local priest Don Andres Lorenzo Curbelo noted the first seismic trembling that would change local history forever. “On the first day of September the earth suddenly opened near Timanfaya,” he wrote. “An enormous mountain emerged from the ground with flames coming from its summit. The lava extended over to the northern areas to begin with, running as fast as water.” The eruption of the Timanfaya volcanoes (known as the ‘mountains of fire’) for the next six years saw ash and magma cover a full third of the island, forcing many locals to relocate to Cuba and the Americas.
These days, lanzarote is perfectly safe, and Timanfaya National Park encompasses the 1730s lava flow. The resulting moonscape – topped by orange, red and blue cones – is so remarkable that it’s protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. To preserve its beauty, only two footpaths and a camel track meander through. However, the metamorphosis is not complete. Pioneer plants, including green figs, sprout from the jet black lava, and the residual volcanic heat is now put to good use. At Restaurant El Diablo within the park boundary, the geothermal heat is used to grill steaks and fish on the world’s hottest barbecue, which hits a seriously steamy 500C.
You only have to drive, hike, cycle or run to witness the island’s volcanic legacy further east. From those 1730s eruptions, fertile ash fell upon Lanzarote’s highlands. Rich in nutrients, the spongy black earth proved ideal for grapevines in a land devoid of summer rain, creating perfect conditions for volcanic wines. Today, the tasting room at the 240-year-old vineyard El Grifo offers samples of Malvasia, a flinty white wine with a flavour intensified by Lanzarote’s year-round sunshine. For those keen to mix their wine tasting with exercise, next June the area will host a new Wine Marathon, which will see runners weave their way through 10 wineries. The winners receive their weight in wine.
Elsewhere, after the 1730s eruptions, locals learned that in Lanzarote you shouldn’t fight nature, instead choosing to embrace the beautiful scenery. That’s why the legacy of the island’s most famous artist, Cesar Manrique, is found in museums, villas, wind sculptures and installations across the land.”Lanzarote’s volcanic landscape fed the roots of his creativity,” says Fernando Gomez Aguiera, director of the Cesar Manrique Foundation. “He said that: ‘All my painting is volcanology and geology.’ His style is inexplicable without the island’s volcanic landscape.”
Aguilera’s favourite Manrique attraction is the Cesar Manrique House Museum at Haria. It’s an ice-white villa melded into a black lava hollow: part elegant mansion, part film star hideout. Manrique also conceived another similarity incredible property. At LagOmar, rock swimming pools, green cacti and white apartments (some now for rent for €600 per week) spill down a red-rock volcanic quarry.
A further volcanic attraction unique to Lanzarote – and which owes a debt of gratitude to Manrique – is the Cueva de los Verdes. This 6km-long lava tube, known as the Tunnel of Atlantis, is the world’s largest underwater volcanic tunnel and was used by locals to hide from pirate attacks in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1964, Manrique collaborated with fellow Canaries-born artist Jesus Soto to transform a section of the tunnel into a visitor attraction, complete with a 500-seat concert hall. Tours and performances still take place today, giving visitors the chance to step back in time to Lanzarote’s fiery origins.
FUERTEVENTURA
Fuerteventura naturally shares many similarities with its Canarian neighbours, but it also now shares its identity with a galaxy far, far away. The island has been used as a filming location for the upcoming star wars spin-off film about Han Solo, out in spring 2018. Its stretching dunes and dormant volcanoes stood in for the desert planet of Tatooine. “Our island really appealed to the star wars filming crew,” says Moises Jorge Naranjo, managing director of the island’s tourist board. “To the south, for example, the most attractive sections for filmmakers are Zona Cofete and the Natural Park of Jandia.” At Cofete Beach, blue surf crashes onto 12km of virgin sand, so tourists adore it too. The panorama can be admired by hiking the 7km trail up Pico de la Zarza, which, at 807m, is the island’s highest peak. Fuerteventura’s best sands are also visible from here. The island has no fewer than 152 beaches. Two-thirds of them are soft yellow sand; the rest volcanic black.
Of those otherworldly black beaches, one of the finest is Ajuy. It sits within the Parque Natural de Betancuria, a prehistoric wilderness that has hosted yet more film crews including those for One Million Years BC and The Land That Time Forgot. The area also features the Caldera de Gairia, the remnants of a volcanic cone that visitors can drive, bike or hike through. The crater contains historic lava rivers and aloe Vera plantations, plus packs of semi-wild goats and camels, and at its 461m peak allows more spectacular island panoramas.
Fuerteventura’s most recent volcanic activity took place around Montana Arena some 4,000 years ago. The grassy craters can be reached from the town of La Oliva. Hike high over the malpais, the rocky landscape formed by ancient lava flows in the area. Fuerteventura’s volcanoes may be long-dormant, but that doesn’t make a visit any less exhilarating.