The holiday island of Lanzarote is the closest of the Canarian archipelago to the North African coast. And whilst not as arid as the Sahara, water is a precious commodity on this island.
The small size of Lanzarote means that it has only one or two sources of natural spring water. Neither of which produces enough to slake the thirst of the entire resident population. Water instead is produced by a desalination plant. Which makes enough of the wet stuff to fill all of the island’s many swimming pools.
Which is just as well, as the warm and sunny climate makes bathing an absolute must. Holidaymakers flock to the pools of their accommodation in Lanzarote or the local beaches. Especially when the mercury rises over 30º.
And taking a dip is obligatory to all those visitors staying in Lanzarote villas , as the private pool is one of the nicest features of hiring a rental property. What could be better than dipping one’s toes in the water whilst sipping a glass of wine?
But how did the locals cope before the advent of desalination? Anyone who gets out and about will find that there were several ingenious methods for conserving water used by residents in the past. For this reason alone, Lanzarote car hire is a must for the curious holidaymaker.
Chief amongst these was having an aljibe or underground water tank. Strategically positioned to capture as much rainwater as possible, these carefully crafted containers would keep the water from evaporating under the fierce African sun.
Some locals might be lucky enough to live close to a water source and could access it by boring a well into the water table. Whilst others conserved their precious H2O by imbibing wine instead.
More recently a system of netting has been put to good use, with the aim of capturing moisture as it hangs around the highest points of the island. This is then funnelled down and stored in tanks and bottles.
And then there is picon. This is the black volcanic gravel that covers many fields across Lanzarote. Its porous texture retains the overnight dew and releases it during the day. Which is why it is heaped around the roots of the plants it is there to irrigate.
It is due to this ingenious method that grape vines are able to flourish at all. Without the picon, there would be no viniculture or local wine to taste on a tour of the La Geria region.
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