The island of Lanzarote maintains a curious military heritage formed by forts and castles that tell us about times when the Canary Islands was not a safe place.
Lanzarote was a frequent target of pirate attacks or squads of other nations since the island was incorporated into the turbulent European reality. Fruit of this history of violence, castles, watchtowers and towers were built that formed a precarious system of defenses that faced the attack of English, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Moriscos and Algerians. In total, 13 attacks that followed one another between 1459 and 1762 and that had a very high cost in lives, kidnappings and damages.
A series of castles and dykes were built that together with the natural reefs were used to defend the city. The Castle of San Gabriel is located in the small Islet of the English, which can be reached by two the small Puente de las Bolas, which has two cannonballs on top of its two pillars.
In its origin it was a wooden fortress, but it was insufficient to fulfill the defensive tasks, being finally set afire by Berber pirates.
In the sixteenth century it was replaced by a stone castle, which played a fundamental role in protecting the port and the city. It was declared a National Historic Monument in 1972 and houses a small ethnographic museum.
Whenever we pass through the city of Arrecife with time it is worthwhile to go for a walk to the maritime avenue. We can see the military fortifications and walk through them and see how the landscape changes with the tides.
It is also an area with lots of activity and things to see or do, is next to an outdoor shopping area on the real street (although the street is really called Leon y Castillo) where we find old buildings such as the Yellow House (old Cabildo) and very close is the San Ginés puddle.