Lanzarote: el papel de la crisis - Fundación César Manrique

could be most helpful in the conservation of what is good and the improvement of situations
needing to be set right. This was pointed out not long ago by the Mayoress of Calviá, with
the unquestionable logic of the most primary of syllogisms: tourism depends on touristic
attraction; touristic attraction - at least in places that stand out in qualitative terms - is
closely connected to scenic beauty; if this is not conserved, tourism will be affected
negatively and the quality of the population’s daily life will also suffer. The landscape is a
key component of the environment in which one lives and of the identity of the societies
that have created it through the centuries.
Many are the learned who have insisted on this last statement: the landscape is memory, it bears
the footprints of the past. It is also, however, part of the present, it acts as a permanent test of
good and bad practice on the territory. What is more, we can turn it into a criterion for the future
and organise the territory in such a way that the beauty of the landscapes surrounding us is
conserved and enhanced. We can all observe and understand the landscapes that are nearest to
us or that we sense most closely. Let us hope that the territory of Lanzarote may be contemplated
and admired by the island’s inhabitants and its future visitors alike as they find in it the memory
of the past, recognising the values of the present and building on the will to trust in the future.
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