Description: It was somewhat overcast on this day in late November, and after a leisurely lunch at the apartments we decided to walk the length of the 5km main coastal road from Los Pocillos to the harbour at Puerto del Carmen. The Avenida de la Playas has no history, as this narrow resort has been built to pamper for the needs of the sun-searching tourist. We averted our eyes from the multitude of shops, restaurants, and bars and enjoyed the well-manicured coastal edge.
Caesar Manrique, the island’s revered architect, had decreed that buildings should be no more than two stories high and he felt that Lanzarote's own products could speak for themselves in providing beauty and challenging monuments. So it wasn't too surprising to see several simple rocks mounted as centrepieces down the length of our walk. They had been simply hewn and I would not be so pretentious as to interpret their meaning. Suffice it to say that they formed a link between man-made Lanzarote and the rugged black rocks, as it was these rocks that formed a barrier between the tarmac road and tiled pavements, and the enticing sweep of fine sand.
We looked back towards Matagorda (where we stayed over 5 years ago) across the quiet beaches of Playa de Los Pocillos and Playar Matagorda, which sweep uninterrupted around the place, offering fairly peaceful environments for beach lovers. In front of us is a beach which has been monstrously abominated by the needs of sun-worshippers, covered with bright parasols, and during the main months of July and August it will be heavily filled with pulsating bodies.
The harbour authorities have not made the best out of this area and we were a little disappointed (well, actually, that’s a vast understatement) with the port. It's surrounded by the bright white dwellings that dominate the island and is in the middle a huge tarmac car park. Approaching the water's edge we watched the amusement of children (young and old) as the hordes of fish leaked to the surface to feed on the bread thrown at them from the dockside. Out of this spectacle a small boy shouted excitedly, "It's that big silver one again—he always comes when I feed the fish!" Oh, the innocence of youth!
Returning by the beach we noticed more serious fishing was taking place both from the safety of the jetty and, if you fancy it, off the side of locally hired boats.
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