The island was formed by volcanic eruptions more than 15 million years ago.
The entire island is composed of volcanic rock and sand.
There are no lush green fields, only solidified lava streams and vast plains of grim, black soil.
The weather is hot and dry throughout the year, and rain is rare.
On an average there are no more than 16 days of rainfall annually.
Its surprising that anything grows here at all.
But Lanzarote has extensive vineyards and grapes are grown in abundance for wine cultivation.
Vines pits are scattered over vast regions of central Lanzarote called La Geria.
From a distance, it look as if the entire region has been hit by thousands of meteors.
These visual elements create a truly unique landscape that is both surreal and beautiful.
Grain and cereal production, the staples of the time, were destroyed.
The farmers instead of fleeing the island for greener pastures in Europe began to rethink their methods of cultivation.
This enabled a method of dry cultivation known as enarenado which is completely unique to Lanzarote.
The only down side to this method of cultivation is that everything has to be done by hand.
Vine cultivation is a laborious process in Lanzarote.
For an island that is only 862 square km this is a sizeable proportion of available land space.
