The Cactus Garden

The Cactus Garden in Guatiza is a celebration of the plant worlds spiniest species.  Orchestrated to perfection once again by the ubiquitous Cesar Manrique. 

The site here was formerly a quarry – but today it is home to over 1,000 different species of cacti.  All artfully arranged in terraces around this bowl shaped ampitheatre-like space.

Visitors are initially greeted by a giant, eight metre high, green, metallic sculpture of a cacti, spikes and all.  Which stands sentinel-like over the car park and main entrance.

This cacti motif is cleverly repeated everywhere: on door handles, in the big wrought iron front gates and in slightly more abstract forms throughout; such as in the beautiful glass ball sculpture that adorns a sinuous spiral staircase in the stylish bar, situated beneath the restored Gofio mill, at the rear of the garden.

The Cactus Garden is a plant lovers paradise.  And sensively it is located right in the heart of what was once Lanzarote´s cactus country.  As this plant was originally grown by islanders in order to attract the cochineal beetle, which was in turn dried and crushed and used as a natural dye-stuff. 

Written by Nick Ball, editor of the Lanzarote tourist information guide Lanzarote Guidebook.