Yaiza

Yaiza is a village on the island of Lanzarote. It's the admin centre for the southern part of the island, but the main visitor attraction is that it's an access point for Timanfaya National Park, the only UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserve dedicated entirely to geology. This place is nothing short of a topographical marvel for geology, volcanology, and seismology enthusiasts!

Only the southern half of the national park lies within Yaiza municipality but it's convenient to describe it all here. In 2022, the village population was just 1,098 and most of the municipality's population lives further south in Playa Blanca.

Understand
"El día 1 de septiembre de 1730, entre las nueve y las diez de la noche, la tierra se abrió en Timanfaya, a dos leguas de Yaiza...."

- The village priest described the landscape erupting, and a new mountain arising.

Lanzarote was created by volcanic activity, but the big eruptions were 20 million years ago and the cones had long been quiet. Yet in 1730 the earth cracked open, and lava spouted from a line of volcanoes along the fissure. This mostly flowed northeast, sparing Yaiza but destroying a dozen villages and everything else in its path. It enlarged the island where it hissed into the sea, and slowly cooled to leave a black barren plain. Eruptions continued over the next six years, with another in 1824. Remarkably there were no fatalities, as tremors gave plenty of warning, but the farmland was ruined and much of the population emigrated.

These badlands – malpais – were declared a National Park in 1974 and given further legal protection in 1994. It's a bleak, haunting landscape that today is Lanzarote's main visitor attraction.

El Diablo is the mascot of Timanfaya and depicts the Devil holding his pitchfork horizontally above his head with his legs spread apart and his tail hanging down. This was designed by the artist César Manrique in 1968 and the original drawing is inside the visitor centre. He is also on the sign going into the park and on many of the souvenirs available throughout Lanzarote.

By road
Yaiza is west of Arrecife via the main highway LZ-2 to Playa Blanca.

By bus
– The supermarket in the village centre is the main bus stop.

Entry
The Timanfaya National Park attraction itself is called Montañas del Fuego (Mountains of Fire) and is part of Centres of Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT). CACT manage several sites on Lanzarote and offers combi-tickets which cover entry to their other attractions. However, you may struggle to break even between the other attractions. In 2023, the combi for 3 centres costs €21, 4 centres €28, or 6 centres for €32.

The best way to visit is via a bus tour, though you may forfeit the opportunity to dine in the El Diablo Restaurant.

Get around
You need wheels to explore the Park or anywhere off the main highway. A bike would do, but a hired car will cover more ground and shelter you from the sun and winds.

By tour bus
Timifaya National Park is best explored via a guided coach tour (see below) with detailed explanations of the different types of lava which caused different rock formations and craters, though you'll spend longer than you care for in gift shops.

See

 * is more beige than white but stands out against the black lave field – it's pumice rubble. The simplest trail to the crater rim is from Mancha Blanca village to the east: drive up the unsealed lane to the parking lot, and then it's a hike, so wear stout shoes. Montaña Caldereta is a side crater just before you reach the main one. You can circle both if time allows, the sunset views are impressive, but think about getting back in darkness.
 * is the west end of a ridge extending 1.5 km from Highway LZ-56 through Montaña Corujo. It's best to park at the highway junction rather than scrape the car to find a space along the access lane. The area between the ridge and the National Park Visitors' Centre is farmland, and ingenious farmers have plots right up the arid slopes.
 * is reached by the same access lane: this is suitable for 2WD to the foot of the hill, but not the loop trail beyond. Three smaller volcanoes lie on its west flank and the group beyond is Pico Partido.
 * Montaña De La Tabaiba is a three-caldera hill just east of the parking area for Los Rostros on LZ-56.
 * is best reached by hiking southeast from Los Rostros car park. The main attraction is the two lava tunnels just west. However, since the trail is 4WD-drivable these are often used as a party room, garbage dump and latrine.
 * is reached from a free parking lot on LZ-56, then you walk about up a sand and gravel trail to the base. Take the right fork if you want to descend into the caldera, or either fork for a longer loop trail. The volcano is probably named cuervos (crows) for the thieves who target the parked cars. Montaña Negra is the black hill just east of the car park and highway.
 * is northeast of the same car park, or there is a closer car park north, equally thief-prone. The trail brings you to a field of bombas on the southeast mountainside, great volcanic boulders that rained down red hot. The summit and caldera are nothing special. You can trudge on across the lava field to Montaña Cardona but there are shorter access trails.
 * and Cueva de los Naturalistas are two entrances to a lava tunnel. Signs forbid entry but most visitors venture in for a few metres to admire the spooky interior with sparkling rocks lit up by their cell phone. Traversing the tunnel is a 45 to 60-minute scramble where you want a headlight, to keep both hands free.
 * Gateras means cat-flaps, formed when a lava cave collapses but the roof hinges downwards instead of fragmenting. A good example is Gatera de Sory in the lava field 500 m south of Cueva de Las Palomas / Los Naturistas.
 * is a black beach with sea caves: the sea is too rough for swimming and there are strong currents. Get here by driving past Vulcano del Roja to the end of LZ-705 then hiking the dirt track across the lava field. Or hike  along the coast trail from El Golfo, passing a natural arch midway.
 * is a laid-back little village on the west coast. The beach is rugged black lava and the sea is rough. The "Playa del Paso" marked here on Google Maps is simply the parking lot for the coastal trail.
 * Charco Verde - Green Lagoon - is in an eroded caldera south of El Golfo. A lava shingle beach has formed across the caldera trapping a little brackish lake behind, green from algae and minerals, better photographed than tasted. Visitors in 2022 / 23 found the track from the village car park blocked off. You may be able to get a view by driving around the hill on LZ-703 to the south viewpoint, but this too may be closed and the police will fine anyone attempting to park.
 * means "the boiled ones". The lava cliffs have been eroded into caves and pillars. When the tide is high and there's a strong wind from the west, the waves surging into the caves create blowholes above. In 2023 the turnoff lane and parking lot are closed by landslide, but you can park on LZ-703. The area is free and 20 minutes will be plenty.


 * are salt pans. The 1730s lava flow closed off a sea inlet to create a lagoon. Over the following decades, this dried out, and was panned commercially from 1895. The lagoon is replenished by raw seawater and then fed into evaporation ponds, yielding up to 15,000 tons of salt per year. You can't enter the industrial area but there are viewpoints. Migratory birds visit the lagoon and ponds, but the salt company is tight-lipped about what they do whilst there.
 * is a village amidst vineyards along the slopes of Montaña Chupaderos and Diama. It's a striking landscape where the black volcanic surface - you couldn't call it soil - has been "cupped" by a myriad of little walls to trap moisture and break the wind to protect the vines. See below for the wine they produce, and tours.

Do

 * Ruta de Tremesana is a guided hike from Yaiza north to Montaña Tremesana on the park boundary. Short hikes turn back here, the full-day hike continues west to El Golfo.

Vineyards (Bodegas)
Vineyards around La Gería are:

The volcanic soil favours Malvasia grape varieties – historically called "Malmsey" but nowadays that only refers to sweet wines.

Sleep
There is no accommodation or camping in the Park. Yaiza itself has a few pansiyon (pension) guest houses:

Connect
As of Oct 2023, Yaiza and its approach highways have 5G from MasMovil, Movistar and Orange, and 4G from Vodafone.

Go next

 * Arrecife – east on the LZ-2 road, the capital has two offshore forts, one a museum and the other a modern art gallery.
 * Playa Blanca – southwest on the LZ-2 road, a small resort at the south tip of the island. Ferries sail to Fuerteventura.