After passing by Emma’s Cantina several times on our last visit to Lanzarote, we finally made it there this time round.

Emma's Cantina Mexicana in Calle Teide

The food is of a very good standard and the menu includes both spicy and non-spicy Mexican dishes. Even the children’s menu has Mexican items on it!

The fajitas are worth a special mention – tortillas that you fill yourself with either beef, chicken or prawns and a selection of sauces – as is the home-made “chili rojo”.

As we left we were given a voucher for 15% off our next meal if we went back on a Sunday or a Thursday – something we did make use of.

On the downside, we felt that most of the desserts were overpriced, with the worst being the „brownies“ which turned out to be three small brownie wedges for 6 Euros (plus I.G.I.C.).

A special mention should be given to the German translation of the menu, which is one of the best that we have seen on the island!

Our recommendation: go there and enjoy the atmosphere and the excellent Mexican food, but maybe consider an ice cream on the way home as an alternative to the desserts.

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Emma’s Cantina Mexicana

Visitors to Lanzarote coming from the UK will be familiar with the concept of 24 hour shopping, but for visitors from other countries it may come as a bit of a surprise.  Now a supermarket in the old town of Puerto del Carmen has caught on to the idea and is open “a todas horas”.

24h supermarket in Puerto del Carmen (Photo: C. & L. Tappenden)

Not that they were not open late into the night before.  The whole arrangement looks a bit like a cashpoint – “hole in the wall” would definitely be a fitting description.

The supermarket in question is “Marcelo” in the Calle Roque Nublo.  Customers select their goods from around 2000 items on a touchscreen built into what really does look like a cashpoint at the front of the store.  Alcoholic drinks can only be purchased before 10pm, and only then after the security camera operator has confirmed that it is an adult making the purchase.

Once the shopper has finished chosing their items, they then pay for their items – the machine takes Euro notes up to 50EUR – and wait for their goods to be delivered in a drawer below the machine.

So will it catch on?  Well, according to an article on a local website a second machine was due to open at a petrol station in Arrecife.  The creators claim that the system is unique to the Canary Islands, which, although maybe a shame for shoppers elsewhere who would also like have such a facility, it does mean that it will be something I definitely want to see on my next visit to Lanzarote.

by Nick Ball

Could Lanzarote’s oldest resort be about to become the Puerto Banus of the Canaries? It’s a bit of a stretch for anyone who has visited the island over the last few years, as Puerto del Carmen, still the most popular destination on Lanzarote, has been looking a little tired around the edges of late. Thanks to the impact of over thirty years of package tourism.

But now island authorities are pressing ahead with ambitions plans to “reinvent” tourism in Puerto del Carmen by taking the resort upmarket. A project which has profound implications for the both the future of tourism on the island and the Lanzarote property market.

Part of the harbour extension is towed into position and sunk (Photo: C. & L. Tappenden)

Puerto del Carmen is the place where tourism first took root on Lanzarote. Growing dramatically over the last thirty years to transform a small fishing village called La Tiñosa into a bustling holiday destination. And now Puerto del Carmen is about to undergo a second metamorphosis – as island authorires start work on a project that is designed to maintain the resorts popularity as newer, fresher challengers enter the holiday market.

The central plank of this plan is the project to turn the Old Town Harbour area – currently home to a few old fishing boats and excursion vessels – into a luxury marina. A project inspired by the runaway success of the marina at nearby Puerto Calero – now the most upmarket destination on the island, where property prices command a premium.

Local tourist authorities hope that this new marina – which is already in construction and which should be completed by May 2009 – will have a similar halo effect in terms of attracting a more affluent tourist to the resort. Whilst also creating a more upmarket ambience.

Roadworks in Puerto del Carmen (Photo: C. & L. Tappenden)

This desire to improve the aesthetic feel of Puerto del Carmen also encompasses the current project to part pedestrianise the main beachfront strip, the Avenida de las Playas. Where tourists currently come a very poor second to two lanes of traffic. As well as the imposition of new uniform, shop fronts and fascias on the units lining the Avenida – which currently advertise themselves with a fairly garish kealdsicope of neon signage.

These multi million euro initiatives – in tandem with the opening of the new golf course on the outskirts of the resort next year – are expected to have a positive impact on both tourist numbers and property values over the years to come. Regardless of current concerns about the economic climate.