Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
23
public or private) had to comply with specific guidelines and conditions. Constructions in
rural areas would have to be built in line with the style of a traditional house. Colours (white),
materials, textures and finishes need to be used both for private buildings and for hotels. The
number of floors for each building was limited: four for hotels; three for institutional
buildings; two for private houses. Private houses should be built for single families, exception
made for the city of Arrecife. Some basic models of construction were defined for different
municipalities. (Fernando Llorente Sagaseta de Ilurdoz M. S. 2001: 22).
Further guidelines were given on the matter of integrating constructions with the
landscape and protecting the environment. Telephone and electricity cables must be as least
visible as possible. No advertising boards are allowed in urban areas. No advertisement of any
kind is allowed in the whole Rural Area. It is strictly forbidden to release waste and garbage
in the volcanic calderas. The construction of roads should have the least environmental impact
possible and roundabouts should be decorated with local vegetation. Only local plants and
flowers should be used when gardening. Only volcanic stones should be used when building
fencing walls. It is forbidden to practice motocross and other similar sports out of the
dedicated areas. Camping is not allowed in any part of the Island. (Ibidem: 23).
A new PIOT was approved on May 20
th
1998, with its main goal being limiting the
uncontrolled estate building of the last decade, and due to its restrictive character is
commonly known as the “Moratorium”. Among other things, all the recently approved
building grants were revoked and resubmitted to new commissions in all municipalities. On
March 25
th
2010 a revision of the PIOT was presented by the local Government. Being only a
revision, this new document dealt mainly with an analysis of the current status of the Island
and listed actions the Government feels that need to be undertaken to maintain or improve the
situation. Although the whole paper mainly stresses the importance of the creation of new
alternative markets and economic models for the Island, as well as the necessity for a
sustainable development model in terms of energy needs and subsistence means, the main
point of interest is the last one, namely the tourism model. The revision proposes a new
balancing of the territorial model, based on the fact that at the moment in Lanzarote there is a
clear-cut division between tourist areas and residential areas. The latter are somewhat
underdeveloped and neglected by the municipalities, which tend rather to invest in the former,
i.e. those that contribute more to the tourist image of the Island. Moreover, a reform of the
tourist model is desirable, in terms of: improvement of sustainability; maintaining and
enhancing the original cultural, social and architectural background so as to attract tourists;
giving hotel residences priority over tourist housing in order to provide more jobs; and
creating new public spaces for the benefit of both tourists and residents. (Fundación César
Manrique
2010: 43-44)
Place-Branding
John Urry, taking his point from the work of Michel Foucault about the medical gaze,
maintains that the tourist gaze might be just as socially organized and systematized and
therefore its nature depends on the historical period, the social group, the society, etc. (Urry
1990: 1-2). A key feature of tourism and of the tourist gaze is that there must be certain
