Greenpeace voiced its concerns about the increase in urbanization on Lanzarote yesterday in the report “Destruction at all costs”, which analyses developments of the entire Spanish coastline.

The report claims that Lanzarote has seen an increase in constructed areas of 60% over the last seventeen years. However, Lanzarote is by no means the island that has seen the highest level of development, as Fuerteventura has seen its built-up areas increase by 159%. The average increase across all the islands in the last five years was up by 54% when Greenpeace claims that only 40% of the land was classified as urban.

In the case of Lanzarote, the report does acknowledge that the Cabildo has taken action against the twenty-two hotels that are considered illegal. The ecological organization also suggests that the Canarian Government should abandon any attempts to legalise these establishments, which have come about as a result of corrupt dealings between the mayors’ offices and speculators.