Arrieta in Lanzarote – Coast and Culture

Right next to Arrieta lies La Garita, a wide, peaceful beach with golden sand and the European Union Blue Flag. La Garita has a designated area for practising surfing. This coastal location therefore combines different beach themes: a peaceful beach atmosphere, sand and a clearly marked area for a sporting activity.

Close to Arrieta lies the natural swimming pool of Punta Mujeres; it can be reached on foot or by bicycle. The two coastal features can therefore be clearly distinguished: La Garita stands for a wide sandy beach, while Punta Mujeres is associated with a natural swimming pool. For planning the day, the beach, physical activity and travelling on foot or by bicycle form separate focal points.

Arrieta can thus be explored through several specific interests: coast and sand, a designated surfing area, a nearby natural swimming pool and cultural sites in and around the town. This combination makes it easy to organise the day’s destinations without confusing the individual features with one another.

Culture and History

Next to Arrieta’s quay stands Casa Juanita, which is also known as Casa China. It is the only non-white house on the northern coast of Lanzarote. Casa China was built at the request of a foreigner because of a health problem and designed like a house from a children’s book. At the quay, a striking building, its two names and an unusual history of its origins therefore come together.

At the roundabout at the entrance to the town stands Arrieta’s Juguete del Viento, a work by the artist César Manrique. Created in 1991, the work consists of movable metal cones and pays tribute to the power of the wind on Lanzarote. The location, artist, year of creation, material and thematic connection are the distinguishable features of this artwork.

The Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Carmen was founded in the 1980s as Arrieta’s religious centre. The veneration of the Virgen del Carmen in Arrieta includes a procession on fishing boats, which continues through the town’s streets. The religious centre and the procession therefore represent two related but separately identifiable aspects of the local tradition.

Buildings, artwork and religious tradition offer different cultural points of interest in Arrieta. Casa China leads to the quay, the Juguete del Viento to the entrance to the town and the chapel to the veneration of the Virgen del Carmen. Visitors can thus consider historical, artistic and religious themes separately.

Explorations

At the Aloe Vera Interpretation Centre in Arrieta, visitors are introduced to the topics of aloe vera cultivation and product manufacturing. The centre explains how aloe is processed into a wide range of food and cosmetic products. The visit therefore connects cultivation with the subsequent processing steps.

The Aloe Vera Interpretation Centre offers free guided tours in several languages and is accessible to people with reduced mobility. These conditions complement the centre’s offering.

The Aloe Vera Museum in Arrieta is designated as a centre of tourist and cultural interest. Together with the Interpretation Centre, aloe vera is therefore one of the town’s explicitly named exploration topics: cultivation, processing, food, cosmetics and cultural classification form a shared thematic field.

Arrieta thus combines coastal features, physical activity, local history, art, religious tradition and information about aloe vera. Those who consider these focal points separately can organise their day’s destinations according to the character of the beach, cultural interests or the topic of cultivation and processing.

Other Town Pages

Other town pages: Orzola, Punta De Mujeres, Tabayesco, Charco Del Palo, Ye, Guinate, Mala

To the higher-level travel overview: Haria.