There are times on Lanzarote when it pays to speak Spanish. At previously mentioned, it can be quite useful when there are problems with your bill in restaurant.

But a special mention should be given to the market at Teguise.

Here, even the guidebooks tell you not to accept the first price that the sellers ask you for, and try to agree on a price that you are happy with. This is not only more difficult in a language that is foreign to the seller, but often they will be more happy to go down in price if they are selling to someone who appears to be a bit less of a tourist.

So if you can speak Spanish, it is worth using it straight away for any questions you may have, and increasing your chances of lowering the price. The better you speak it, the more chance you have…

Many visitors make their way to Teguise on Sundays to visit the weekly market and for those not on an organised bus tour the main problem will be where to park.

Although it is possible to park in the streets around the centre of the town, these are often blocked off for the day with police on hand to make sure that only the locals use them.

For everyone else there are the lava fields on the outskirts, where your car will be guarded for a charge of 1.50EUR. Often these display a notice with the distance to the market – be aware that the first ones you see will not be the closest!

Teguise market is the place to go on a Sunday morning on Lanzarote. So much so, that it is important to go early if you don’t want a long walk from one of the many car parks, set up in fields around the town.

The market sells almost everything in terms of souvenirs and crafts that you could wish for. Most of the souvenirs that you see elsewhere on the island can be found somewhere on the market, usually slightly cheaper than normal.

Crafts such as woodwork or lace are of good quality – and the prices usually reflect this quality.

Clothes stalls sell a variety of cheap T-Shirts as well as hand-made goods. Locally-made clothes often have a label in showing that they come from the Canary Islands, so they are easy to spot, although it is useful to be able to speak Spanish if you have any special questions that you want to ask the stall holders.

In fact, although they are used to tourists and speak some English, it is not as much as in the shops on the coastal resorts so if you do speak to them in Spanish, they really open up and give you a lot more details about their wares.

The market takes place on the square in front of, and the streets surrounding, the church. Somewhere there is bound to be a band playing music, often on pan-pipes or other South American instruments.

One word of warning is necessary, though. The market has a reputation for pick-pockets. It can become so crowded, that you may not notice someone brush past you and take your wallet, so this really is a place to go where you only take essentials and keep what you do take such that you know at all times, that it is still there.

Finally, do remember that amongst all the beautiful wood carvings and lava stones, that whatever you buy you probably have to take back in your suitcase – and there is a limit to how many kilogrammes that can have !