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Current Weather
in Lanzarote:
General: Lanzarote was
probably the first Canary Island to be settled.
The Phoenicians settled there around 1100 BC.
The Greek writers and philosophers Herodotus,
Plato and Plutarch described the garden of Hesperis,
the land of fertility where fruits and flowers
smell in the part of the Atlantic. The first known
record came from Pliny the Elder in the encyclopedia
Naturalis Historia on an expedition to the Canary
Islands. The names of the islands (then called
Insulae Fortunatae) were recorded as Canaria (Gran
Canaria), Ninguaria (Tenerife), Junonia Mayor
(La Palma) and Capraria (El Hierro). Lanzarote
and Fuerteventura were only mentioned as an archipelago.
After the fall of the Roman
Empire, the Canary islands became abandoned until
999 AD when the Arabs arrived to the island and
was known as al-Djezir al-Khalida and other names.
In 1336, a ship from Lisbon under the guidance
of Lanzarote da Framqua, alias Lancelotto Malocello.
A fort was later built in the area of Montaña
de Guanapay near today's Teguise. Jean de Béthencourt
arrived in 1402 on a private expedition to the
Canary Islands and brought slavery to the island
as well as raw materials. Bethencourt first visited
the south of Lanzarote at Playas de Papagayo.
In 1404, the Spaniards with the support of the
King of Spain came and fought against a rebellion
among the local Guanches. The islands of Fuerteventura
and El Hierro were later conquered. In the 17th
century, pirates raided the island and took 1,000
inhabitants to slavery in Cueva de los Verdes.
From 1730 to 1736 (for 2,053
days), the island was hit by a series of volcanic
eruptions, creating 32 new volcanoes in a stretch
of 18 km. The minister of Yaiza Don Andrés
Lorenzo Curbelo documented the eruption in detail
until 1731. Lava covered a quarter of the island's
surface, including the most fertile soil and eleven
villages. One hundred smaller volcanoes were located
in the area called Montañas del Fuego.
In 1768, drought affected the island and winter
rains did not fall. Much of the population was
forced to emigrate to Cuba and the Americas. Another
volcanic eruption occurred within the range of
Tiagua in 1824 which was not as bad as the major
eruption between 1730 and 1736.
In 1927, Lanzarote as
well as Fuerteventura became part of the province
of Las Palmas.
Currency: EURO - The
euro is divided into 100 cent. All coins can be
used in all member states. There are €2,
€1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c coins. All
euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination
on both sides. Notes are issued in the following
values: €500, €200, €100, €50,
€20, €10, €5.
Language: SPANISH -
Spanish the fourth most widely spoken language
in the world according to some sources, while
other sources list it as the 2nd or 3rd most spoken
language. It is spoken as a first language by
about 352 million people.
Country Code: ES - Tel:
+34
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