Is the Lanzarote Underwater Museum under threat of closure?

The Museo Atlántico (Underwater Museum), set just off the coast of Las Colorados in Playa Blanca, has been a popular spot for divers all over Europe, and in recent days it's been reported that the local authorities have tried to instigate the removal of the statues.

The Museo Atlántico, Europes ONLY underwater museum opened off the coast of Playa Blanca back in 2016 and has been a dive spot of choice for both new and experienced Scuba Divers ever since. Situated just off the coast and the beach at Las Colorados, the museum is made up of sculptures created by Jason deCaires Taylor, many of which were modelled on local residents of Lanzarote and The Canary Islands.

On the evening of Friday 25th November, TravelON world received disturbing news that local authorities had planned to remove sculptures from the museum. At this point it was unclear if this was specific sculptures, or the entire attraction was being removed. We spoke to local Dive Instructor, Robert Haigh, who was there at the time in an attempt to protect the site.

I am a Scuba Diving Instructor working in Playa Blanca and since it’s inception it has been my privilege to guide divers at the Underwater Museum. These divers come from many nations and many have made a stop in Lanzarote for the express purpose of visiting this unique attraction. Each of these divers have spent money in the local economy not only in the dive centres but in hotels bars and restaurants.

Why do I say it is a privilege to guide divers at the museum? It is because I believe in the message that the museum gives. A clear message of how we are destroying our planet and the consequences that we face should we not change. This message fits ideally into the “Lanzarote as a biosphere” that our government is promoting. In addition the museum is an excellent price of Art.

Late on Friday night I and other divers were shocked to learn that the government planned to dismantle the museum without any warning or consultation. So it was decided to stage a protest to try to halt this work until consultations could take place. Early Saturday morning image my surprise to find that I was the first boat from the dive centres to arrive at the museum and find a large tug boat about to enter the museum. For 10 minutes I was able to stop this boat from entering the museum till a number of other boats arrived.

We were informed by the crew I the tug boat that they had been commissioned to withdraw 4 statues that day. Other government sources were simultaneously telling local media and politicians that the boat was there to conduct routine maintenance. For 3 hours a game of cat and mouse ensued and eventually the tug boat withdrew.

Sadly later Saturday night under the cover of darkness the boat returned supported by the police who threatened all protesters with arrest if we intervene with the work of the boat. It was stated that the boat had all of the licenses required to remove statues and we must leave.

On Sunday morning we saw that the boat had taken out 2 statues that were apparently modeled on a disgraced local politician! I have dived the museum daily for 6 years and cannot recognize statues that were modeled on friends after this time. Sadly I can only conclude that this removal was a act of political spite.

I would now like the government to give assurances that they will not touch any more of this fantastic attraction, and in an ideal world hand over its management to Yaiza council and local dive centres.

Since the events of that weekend, online petitions have started to gather momentum in a bid to prevent the local authorities removing the sculptures entirely.

When asked for comment, the president of the Cabildo Dolores Corujo spoke of reasons related to corruption in reference to the denounced lawyer Ignacio Calatayud. No further comments or reasoning were provided. Coalición Canaria continue their investigations into the weekends activities to determine if any crimes have been committed in the attempted removal of the project. To date, it is believed that two sculptures have been removed with the assistance of a boat costing in the region of €10,000 per day. Yaiza Council has pointed out that it was not aware of the of the planned removal of the statues and believes it was done as an act of political revenge.

The Museo Atlántico is just one of the many amazing things to do in Lanzarote for water sports enthusiasts.