Over the next few days, we’ll review some of the key stories we covered during 2012, to give you a brief summary of what happened on the island during the year.
It has been another tremendous year for us here at Lanzarote Information, with our traffic doubling once again – something that has happened every year since we started. Our monthly “circulation” is now over 120,000 readers!
In 2012 we
- Produced almost 1,000 articles – that’s about 20 a week
- Wrote about 350,000 words – that’s the equivalent of 7 full length novels!
- Shared over 2,500 photos with you
So what else happened in 2012?
January
Margaret Holt Missing
We started the year as part of the search team looking for Margaret, alongside many members of her family. It was heart breaking, and all the more because we didn’t succeed in our quest. We’ve stayed in touch with her son Ben, whose first child was born during 2012. Sadly, it looks as though we’ll never know what happened to Margaret. On day 18 of the search, we wrote this: Margaret Holt – Day 18
Earth Tremor
The island suffered an earth tremor on 5th January, which was felt most strongly in the south. It hit 3.5 on the Richter scale. Here’s the story: Lanzarote earth tremor
Irish Walkers
The Bishopstown walking club arrived from island, with a team of over 20 walkers to enjoy the delights of winter walking in Lanzarote. They loved it so much, they’re coming back in 2013, with more than 50 walkers! Irish walking Group
Ferrari Formula 1 Team
The Ferrari team carried out their pre season training at Club La Santa – Fernando Alonso, after an epic season, was just pipped at the post by Sebastien Vettel for the world championship. We watched Alonso and Felipe Massa playing basketball at the La Santa court. Ferrari F1 in Lanzarote
Weather – No Rain!
We were already concerned at the lack of rain way back in January. The drought actually continued until October! Concern about lack of rain
February
Jellyfish
We had a plague of jellyfish in the waters around the island, which was put down to the lack of rain. They persisted for several months, but finally disappeared. Jellyfish plague in Lanzarote
Cochineal Workshop
Before tourism, the island’s economy was sustained by breeding cochineal beetles for their dye. We went to a workshop to understand how it all went: Cochineal workshop
Carnival!
February is carnival season on the island, and we attended several parades. Here’s a short video we shot in Puerto del Carmen: Puerto del Carmen carnival 2012
March
Hotel Fariones
The Fariones was the first hotel in Puerto del Carmen, and it has maintained a dignified position as one of the best. We stayed there and reviewed it: Hotel Fariones, Puerto del Carmen
No Oil Canarias
A campaign was started to oppose potential oil drilling off the island coast. Despite support from The Cabildo, and a big protest movement, the campaign failed, although drilling hasn’t yet started. No Oil Protest Lanzarote
Bird Watching
Spring is a fabulous time to watch birds on the island, and we joined a group from Lanzarote Active Club last March to see what we could find: Bird watching in Lanzarote