Tías, the land that enamoured a Nobel Prize laureate
José Saramago made this town his home for its calm, its colour and its light. Tourists love it for its wide, comfortable beaches and lovers of scuba diving and golf have it written down in their diaries.
It’s worth asking yourself why a Nobel Prize winner like José Saramago could leave his beautiful native Portugal to make his home in Tías. Who wouldn’t feel wildly curious and want to explore its irresistible charms? The best place to start is the house that was his home – a space of complicity with the blank page now turned into a gift for the visitor: A Casa Museo José Saramago.
This offers a window onto the life of a man in love with the island, for which he was the perfect ambassador, receiving illustrious guests such as the writers Susan Sontag, Carlos Fuentes, Gonzalo Torrente Ballester and Günter Grass. It is temporarily closed due to the pandemic, but you can take curious look at its surroundings. How could you not feel excited at the sight of the desk at which “Essay on Blindness” was written, or the garden where he himself planted several trees with intimate meaning for him. Saramago once defined it as “a house made of books.”
Continue your cultural tour at the Ermita de Tías, a 17th century Site of Cultural Interest located in the centre of the village which has been robed in the most varied costumes throughout its history: in addition to its ecclesiastical role, it was also a warehouse for cereals and tomatoes, and even a barracks for soldiers. For years, it has been used as a small and welcoming refuge for painters and sculptors whose works stand out on the immaculate walls.
Satisfied after this dip into art and literature, it’s time to head for another refreshing dip, this time in the Atlantic Ocean, which in the middle of December makes your skin prickle and warms the soul. You can enjoy the tranquillity of the waters that bathe Puerto del Carmen, one of the Canary Islands’ most important tourist towns that has been receiving visitors for more than half a century. However, the years have not left this enclave untouched, and tourists and residents continue to choose it for its varied gastronomic and commercial offer, as well as for its lively nightlife.
Do you feel like enjoying a calm sea, a comfortable sunbed where you can let your mind go blank under a friendly parasol that will protect you if the autumn sun decides to go too far? The range of beaches you can choose from is overwhelming: Playa Grande, Los Pocillos and Matagorda offer the tranquillity that is so well known by families. It’s not difficult to catch a glimpse of children building ephemeral sand castles while their parents relax reading the newspaper and their grandparents take a quiet walk along the shore.
You can shake off a little of this peace at Playa Chica or Pila de la Barrilla, where you can put on your wetsuit and let yourself be guided by the diving experts, who will show you some extremely beautiful sea beds. Let yourself be amazed by the uniqueness and richness of the El Veril caves, declared a Special Conservation Area.
In La Catedral you can rub shoulders with greater weever fish, wide-eyed flounder, Atlantic ghost crabs and diamond lizard fish. Who can describe the sensations experienced underwater? Who can put into words the freedom of almost gravity-free movement among garden eels while descending an imposing rock wall? Who can explain the butterfly in the stomachs when an intense violet flabellina emerges from the darkness?
Have you been told that Tías not only looks at the sea, but also offers beautiful inland villages, where lava and good wines reign supreme? This is the case of Masdache, which rests on the volcanic eruptions that gave rise to the Timanfaya National Park almost three centuries ago. You can enjoy this black land that offers white grapes that are transformed into unique wines in the heart of centuries-old wineries. You can also go to Conil to catch a glimpse of the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
Suddenly you will find yourself at a natural viewpoint full of vines and cisterns in which the scarce vital water is stored. This pleasant rural tour finishes in La Asomada, a town traditionally dedicated to agriculture. Check out the crops growing in sand and soak up the tranquillity conveyed by the small immaculate houses, which dot a land that turns green the instant the rain falls.
After so much activity, you must be hungry. Starving even! Walk along the pleasant and wide promenade of the Avenida Las Playas, until you reach the area of La Tiñosa. This enclave is surprising for its traditional touch, with its buildings sporting a seafaring air. As you observe the hustle and bustle of the port, let the intoxicating smell of fresh fish draw you to the fishermen’s guild, where you can sample grilled octopus, limpets with mojo sauce and split Atlantic wreckfish with an island malvasia wine.
Before heading home, how about taking some golf lessons, working on improving your handicap with the best of swings and with the volcanoes and the ocean as a dedicated audience.
Bring your day to the perfect end by watching the rosy sunset from the Quíquere ravine. Keep your shoes on to avoid an uncomfortable scare from the sea urchins, and descend the rocks to dive back into the generous ocean. This union between human and nature is moving. Give yourself over to this wild place that can reconcile you with your more untamed, more authentic side, making you feel in tune with the world. This is a place that no one in their right mind would ever want to leave.
“I return to Lanzarote. The impression, very intense, is of coming back home”.
José Saramago
Cuadernos de Lanzarote I (Lanzarote Notebooks I)