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Author: Nick Ball, editor of Lanzarote
tourist information guide, Lanzarote Guidebook.
Puerto del Carmen has long been the engine
room of tourism on Lanzarote. Once known locally as
Tiñosa,
this popular resort really took off in the 1980´s – initially
in and around the old harbour fishing area – which
is still a focal point of the resort today. And has
been attracting higher visitor numbers than resort rivals
Costa Teguise to the North and Playa Blanca to the south
ever since.
Where tourism leads, property development tends
to follow. And
as a result demand for property
for sale in Puerto del Carmen over the last decade
has remained consistently strong. Not least as property
owners are able to rent their apartments out for twelve months
of the year thanks to Lanzarote´s year round clement
climate.
The
majority of holiday accommodation in Puerto del Carmen is
comprised of self-catering apartments. Offering
fairly basic one or two star amenities. So enabling
tour operators such as First Choice and Airtours to offer
very cheap package holidays to Lanzarote.
All-inclusive
package deals have become quite pervasive – an
arrangement which is much maligned by local businesses such
as bars and restaurants. As many tourists now rarely
venture out from their accommodation as all of their needs
are catered to on site.
However this pattern of development
has become increasingly at odds with the strategy of the
island tourist authorities, who are keen to modernize the
resort and take Puerto del Carmen up market.
Central
to this strategy is the pedestrianisation of the main Avenida
del las Playas – which runs alongside
the resorts main beaches and which is currently
dominated by traffic. Making it decidedly non-tourist
friendly.
According to a recent announcement from the Director
General for Tourist Infrastructures on Lanzarote the pedestrianisation
of the main sea front promenade in Puerto del Carmen will
be going ahead in 2008.
The project to pave the main Avenida
de las Playas has been mooted for some time and is felt by
many local observers to present a real opportunity to improve
the quality of the infrastructure and tourist offering in
Lanzarote's
most popular resort.
€855,00 has been earmarked for the
project and the official intention is to close the Avenida
to traffic at the end of 2007. With work scheduled
for completion before the summer season of 2008.
The pedestrianisation
of Puerto del Carmen is part of a broader plan to “reinvent” tourism
in the resort – according
to the mayor of the local municipality of Tias. By
improving both the infrastructure of the resort and the standard
of accommodations offered by apartment complexes.
With the
overall aim of ensuring that Puerto del Carmen is able to
compete on a more equal footing with other popular tourist
destinations across Europe.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly
those of the author. Spanish Property Guide publishes
these articles in good faith and with the understanding that
there are no intellectual property infringements. If you
feel there has been such an infringement, please contact
us stating your claim.
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