Disabled Access In Lanzarote

Lanzarote has made great strides in recent years to become more disabled friendly as a holiday destination. Pavements have been made accessible, most shops, bars and restaurants have added ramps and toilet facilities, and the hotels are well set up.

There are also two businesses on the island, both British run, that offer hire of the usual wheelchairs and scooters, as well as more sophisticated equipment like bed hoists and swimming pool chairs.

Our friends over at Lanzarote Information have recently started adding a lot of news for disabled travellers, and Mike Cliffe-Jones, who runs the site, even spent a day in a wheelchair in one of the resorts: “I decided earlier this year that I wanted our site to become a useful resource for disabled people looking to come to the island, and it occurred to me that I had no idea what it was like to try to conduct my normal life from a chair. So I borrowed one and spent a day in Playa Blanca. Overall, I was pleased that so many things did work well, but I also found so many things that could be done much better. So I’m on a mission now”

One focus of Mike’s attention is going to be the beaches. Several now have access on wooden slats: “These work well, but they aren’t wide enough to turn around on, and they don’t actually get you to the water, so my first project is to get these changed.”

Lanzarote is a fabulous destination, with year round sunshine, and whilst it can’t yet be described as a paradise for disabled people, it’s certainly getting there, and most areas are easily accessible. You can read Mike’s story of his day in a wheelchair and find out more about accessibililty on the island here: Lanzarote Accessibility