A Fuerteventura Road Trip - Say Cheese!

Researching our trip to Fuerteventura I couldn't have been more excited when I discovered that the island had a cheese museum. Never mind the fantastic year-round weather, the stunning landscape and the gorgeous beaches.......cheese!

Produced on the island for over a thousand years, Majorero cheese is the gastronomic pride of Fuerteventura. In addition to being named as an Asset of Cultural Interest by the European Union, it is the first goats cheese in Spain to hold the Denomination of Origin meaning that it can only cheese produced in Fuerteventura can be called Majorero cheese.

Situated in the town of Antigua, in the North of the island, Museo del Queso Majorero offers a walk through the history of Fuerteventura since its volcanic formation, passing by the aborigines (the Majoreros) and their cattle breeding, the Majorera goat and the cheese. There's even an opportunity to virtually milk a goat, which, of course we couldn't resist.

Once initiated into the art of cheesemaking we could think of little else but of how much we fancied a slice of cheese however, with such a gloriously pretty space to explore, we put our greed to the back of our minds and explored the other attractions.

Set in the gorgeous museum gardens, this is one of twenty 19th century windmills to be found on the island. Also designated Assets of Cultural Interest, these beautiful buildings were used to grind cereal and to make gofio, another of the leading members of the local traditional gastronomy. 

Cacti thrive in Fuerteventura, the gardens included lots of weird and wonderful species in addition to palm trees.

The cheese museum is a fabulous & fascinating place to spend a few hours and, if you get here early enough, you'll beat the crowds and have the place to yourself. Admission is €4.00 per adult but, for an additional €7 you can buy a combi ticket which allows you to also visit Los Salinos de Carmen & Los Molinos at your leisure. During the Winter months (1st November until 30th April) the museum opens from 9.30am until 5.30pm and in the Summer (1st May until 31st October) from 10am until 6pm.

 

                  

A ten minute drive from Antigua lies picture perfect Betancuria, the former principal town of Fuerteventura. Founded in 1404 by the Norman knight Jean de Bethencourt, the town's location was chosen for its secluded inland position which offered better defence against pirate attacks. 

The Church of Santa Maria of Betancuria was originally built in the French Gothic style in 1410 but following an attack led by privateer Xaban Arraez in 1593 the town was destroyed and the church flattened. The church was rebuilt almost a century later.

We're rampant atheists but absolutely loved some of the early Spanish Renaissance art and 17th Century frescos on display, there were some particularly goulish scenes of hell (our favourite!)

Several of the plaster statues, including Jesus in his purple brocade gown, had signs we translated to read "Human hair" leaving us to wonder who on earth would have donated it. I didn't like to hang around for long just in case a crazed priest came after me with a pair of scissors.

When we visited Teror, a mountain village in Fuerteventura's neighbour, Gran Canaria last year I'd photographed another statue of the lady with a souvenir tea towel and was informed by several readers that she's actually Saint Veronica and the tea towel is the sacred shroud.

Is Jesus on the phone in the tableau below and is that an electronic tag around his ankle? Is he the saviour, is he the son of God, no, he's ASBO Jesus! 

There's some lovely places to eat in Betancuria and despite it being a tourist hotspot, the prices were really good. Our potato tortilla served with a delicious salad of fresh goats cheese, toasted almonds, chopped tomatoes and mint drizzled with palm sap along with two beers (sin alcohol for the driver) came to less than €20.

Admission to the town's fascinating Museo Arqueologico (Museum of Archaeology) is free and is well worth a visit.

We were happy with how many healthy cats we spotted in Fuerteventura. 

We stopped off at the Morro Velosa Viewport, designed by Caesar Manrique, the Canary Island's most famous artist. Devoid of any tourist areas or sand dunes, the landscape looks almost lunar. I sent a photo to one of my friends and she asked if we were holidaying on Mars.

Centro de Interpretación Los Molinos (The Windmill Museum) traces the history of the islands windmills, 'used to produce gofio, the Canarian roasted grain used to make everything from bread, soups and stews to ice cream and deserts. Added to paprika it's also used to coat the island's Majorero cheese.

We'd sampled gofio earlier that day, wolfing down some artisan banana biscuits from the Cheese Museum's gift shop as we were ravenous. This time we tried something which resembled fudge (but not as sickly sweet), enjoying it so much that we bought a bag of gofio to take home with us. 

On the way back to El Cotillo we stopped off at the town of La Oliva to have a look at the Casa del Colones, a grand 18th Century house said to be one of the most photographed buildings on the island. Unfortunately it seemed to be under construction and fenced off so we did a bit of urbexing and explored the derelict buildings surrounding it instead.

And to think that up until fourteen months ago we'd dismissed the Canary Islands as being a bit of a cultural wasteland. 

Where next? Stay tuned for more of our travels around Fuerteventura.