A new luxury hotel is set to grace the southern shores of Lanzarote, after the Cabildo unanimously agreed to give the green light to a project by Explotaciones e Inversiones Timanfaya S.L. to construct a five-star holiday complex with 684 beds. The complex, yet to be named, will be located on Parcela AB1 of the Playa Blanca Partial Plan.
The application was originally made in January 2023 for a 698 room hotel and after a report by the Yaiza Town Hall regarding the suitability of the activity within the urban plan of the area, concluded that the five-star hotel met the requirements of the 2014 General Plan.
The process continued this year. On January 11th, the legal expert from the Tourist Planning Department of the Lanzarote Cabildo issued another favourable report for the project's authorisation. This document stipulated the requirements for obtaining the urban planning license, including the company's commitment to sign a continuous training agreement with the Canary Islands Employment Service and to collaborate in training unemployed people for potential employment.
The text further clarifies that the Cabildo (Local Government) is the competent body to authorise the project. To commence construction, the company requires a permit from the Yaiza Town Hall, which has not been granted yet, but is just a technicality as the project follows all their stipulations.
The hotel is planned in the tourist hub of Playa Blanca, near to the island's largest hotel with 1,440 rooms, inaugurated two months ago, the Barcelo Playa Blanca.
The news of this new hotel emerges amidst a heated debate over tourist overcrowding in the Canary Islands. Lanzarote is one of the five islands that have already joined the demonstration scheduled for April 20th under the slogan "Canarias tiene un límite" (The Canary Islands have a limit).
These protests will also take place in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and La Palma, demanding the implementation of a tourist moratorium, the introduction of an ecotax, with revenues earmarked for protecting natural spaces, and finding solutions to the lack of housing for the local population.
