The wind has been a key element in the idiosyncrasy of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, influencing their landscape, ecology, economy, and culture from ancient times to the present day.
The wind is not only newsworthy in the eastern islands due to the debate over wind turbines. Its influence has been constant and profound in shaping life in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. From the arrival of the first species to the rise of sports tourism, the moving air has marked every aspect of these islands.
An Unceasing Traveller That Brought Life
The trade winds and siroccos have been responsible for the biological colonisation of the Canary Islands for millions of years. The wind carried seeds, insects, and spores that populated the first emerging volcanoes. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, the oldest islands in the archipelago and the closest to Africa, received this rain of life with particular intensity.
However, the wind has also been an unrelenting erosive agent. The lack of high mountains prevents the trade winds from retaining moisture, which exacerbates the aridity of the land. Thus, the very element that brought life slowly contributes to the disappearance of the islands, a process that has already submerged other island formations in the Atlantic.
The Wind as an Economic and Social Engine
The trade winds have historically favoured the passage of ships, turning the Canary Islands into a strategic point on the route to America. Christopher Columbus found in the archipelago a perfect stopover, and contacts with the Phoenicians and Romans also had the wind as an ally. The export economy, from orchilla to current tourism, has depended on this Atlantic hinge.
The salt flats, livestock farming, shellfish gathering, and hunting have adapted to the whims of the wind. In agriculture, the dry stone architecture offers examples such as nateros, gavias, and windbreak walls, designed to protect crops from gusts. The orientation of traditional houses is also arranged to shield from the northeast.
Sport and Culture: The Wind as a Protagonist
In recent decades, water sports have flourished thanks to the constant wind. Sailing, kitesurfing, and windsurfing not only fill the coasts with colour but also generate new businesses and strengthen the tourist offer. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote have become reference destinations for wind enthusiasts.
The wind has also left its mark on popular culture, from thatched windmills to legends of gales. Its presence is so commonplace that it often goes unnoticed, but without it, these islands would not be what they are. For the Canarian reader, the wind is more than a meteorological phenomenon: it is part of their identity.
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