This is not a talking point anymore. When Gerd spoke in June 2025, he warned about water as one of the island's existential problems. La Voz reported his call for action on water alongside climate, housing and mass tourism. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

That is an enormous structural development. Gerd's diagnosis was strongly validated.

Island's response: finally substantial, but reactive and crisis-driven rather than strategic.

This is probably the second-biggest story.

La Voz's February 2026 analysis says:

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

And in June 2026 the political debate had reached: "Who will be able to live in Lanzarote?" Five left-wing parties were holding a specific forum on the housing emergency, including holiday homes, speculation and touristification. (La Voz de Lanzarote). The really telling number is the holiday-home explosion.

That's a 113.4% increase.

This is where the island has gone in almost exactly the opposite direction from the "less massification / more value / regeneration" argument.

Lanzarote received:

— the highest number ever recorded.

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

And then add: >660,000 cruise passengers. So La Voz reports more than 4 million visitors in total in 2025. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

And here's the really interesting part:

Hotels and tourist apartments generated:

— the first time the island's accommodation sector exceeded €1 billion.

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

Average rates rose 7.2%. So the tourism industry has discovered a perfectly rational economic response:

fewer nights + higher prices + higher revenue.

January–May 2026:

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

So there is no evidence of a major tourism reset. In fact, in the first quarter of 2026, 74.6% of visitors cited climate as a reason for choosing Lanzarote, followed by safety and tranquility. (La Voz de Lanzarote) That creates an interesting future problem:

This has changed. In November 2025, La Voz reported that housing had become Lanzarote's number-one problem, with more than half of residents identifying it as their principal concern. And tourist/demographic overcrowding entered the island's top five problems.

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

Another survey showed housing, immigration, overcrowding, infrastructure and tourism management dominating public concerns. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

And politicians are now openly talking about the relationship between:

tourism → population growth → workers → housing → water → infrastructure.

This one deserves a nuanced GREEN… Gerd proposed that visitors should "give back what they take" — a mechanism to fund the island's future. La Voz reported that as one of the central elements of his June 2025 presentation. (La Voz de Lanzarote) A few months later, Lanzarote Futuro was proposing exactly this kind of contribution to finance the Climate Laboratory. (La Voz de Lanzarote). But then something more concrete happened.

This is the most directly attributable development. On 24 October 2025, the Cabildo unanimously approved a motion to turn Lanzarote into an Island Climate Laboratory. And the councillor responsible explicitly said the initiative arose from: Gerd Leonhard's Global South Forum presentation.

La Voz reported this directly. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

The proposed laboratory includes:

(La Voz de Lanzarote)

We see evidence of a fully functioning laboratory with serious funding, projects, KPIs and delivery machinery.

So: Gerd's idea was politically picked up.

But:

The implementation is still questionable.

This is another area where something tangible has happened. In July/August 2025 Lanzarote became the first Canary Island to establish renewable-energy acceleration zones.

The mapped area covers around:

for potential wind and solar development. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

That's significant. But don't overstate it. It's land designated for potential renewable development, not 3,100 hectares of renewable infrastructure.

So:

Here the change is much smaller. The Digital Coworking Lanzarote exists and is backed by the Chamber, Cabildo and Incyde, with infrastructure intended for entrepreneurs, startups, audiovisual production and digital transformation. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

And there are technology/startup programs. But I don't see evidence that Lanzarote has become the international innovation magnet you envisioned.

This is perhaps the most fascinating part. After Gerd's talk, La Voz reported the Tourism Minister saying: "Tourism is not the goal, but the tool to improve the lives of Canarians." And her presentation explicitly referred to People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity — the 4Ps Gerd had just presented. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

The Cabildo then launched a campaign for "ethical and responsible tourism", saying Lanzarote needed not just any tourist but one who loves and respects the island. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

By FITUR 2026 the official positioning was:

sustainability + quality spending + diversification + social wellbeing + territorial protection. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

And Lanzarote was working with the UN Global Compact around sustainable tourism and climate action. (La Voz de Lanzarote)

The rhetoric has changed faster than the underlying system.

Because simultaneously: