Linked Figures of Lanzarote

César Manrique and historical figures from the conquest or from island culture help explain Lanzarote's contemporary image.

Biographies linked with Lanzarote show how wider Canarian processes take shape through concrete people: leaders, artists, religious figures, politicians, scientists or bearers of tradition.

Among its main reference points are Timanfaya and eruptions, Art and landscape, Adaptive agriculture, which connect landscape, memory and everyday life. This section connects local memory with the project's general figures section.

Key points

Jean de Béthencourt

The Norman navigator who conquered Lanzarote in 1402, beginning European rule over the archipelago under a seigneurial regime backed by the Crown of Castile.

César Manrique

Artist and environmental activist from Lanzarote who transformed the relationship between art, architecture and landscape on the island, influencing policies for protecting the territory.

Domingo Ramos

A fisherman from Arrecife who led one of the best-known episodes of popular resistance in the island's history, linked to the defence of seafaring traditions.

Guadarfía, the last Majo king

The indigenous leader who handed the island over to Béthencourt without armed resistance in 1402; his figure stands for the end of the Majo world and the beginning of European colonisation in the Canary Islands.