LANZAROTE
Economy
Economy
Cities in LANZAROTE
| Costa teguise | Puerto del carmen |
Popular destinations SPAIN
| Andalusia | Catalonia | Costa blanca |
| Costa brava | Costa del sol | El hierro |
| Formentera | Fuerteventura | Gran canaria |
| Ibiza | La gomera | La palma |
| Lanzarote | Mallorca | Menorca |
| Tenerife |
Economy
General
The service sector, and of course mainly tourism, employs about 75% of the working population. Construction and crafts employ about 20% and only about 5% of the population still works in agriculture and cattle breeding.
Lanzarote, like all the other islands of the archipelago, has the status of a free trade zone.
Agriculture
Due to the dry soil, it is not easy to cultivate anything on the island. A great discovery was the technique of the 'enarenado': chunks of volcanic rock (picón or lapilli) absorb the moisture from the trade winds at night and release it to the roots of the plants during the day.
Crops grown for their own use include maize, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, lentils, grapes, figs, melons, garlic and tobacco. Some horticultural products are also exported through the commercial port of Arrecife. Onions are the main export product, although classification and packing for export is done on mainland Spain. Red and white potatoes, locally called 'batatas' or 'boniatos', are also exported, as is spinach.
Wine
Today, approximately 40% of white wine is still made from malvasía grapes. The traditional grape variety is slowly being replaced by other varieties.
Wine has been produced on Lanzarote since 1600, especially in the wine-growing region of La Geria. Here, the vines are planted in two-metre-deep pits surrounded by semi-circular stacked walls of lava rock. The whole forms a unique cultural landscape.
Fishery
Besides tourism and agriculture, fishing is one of the pillars of the industry. In fact, Lanzarote has the largest commercial fleet in the Canary archipelago.
Everything that is caught in the sea is for personal consumption and for the many restaurants. Some of the fish caught is processed in the fish canneries near the capital Arrecife.
Among the fish caught are sardine, mackerel, tuna, crayfish, squid, hake and sole.
Sources
Evers, K. / Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote
Gottmer/Becht
Reisenegger, V. / Lanzarote
ANWB
Scialdone, V. / Lanzarote
Bonechi
Weniger, S. / Lanzarote
Van Reemst
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info