Countryside and landscape

Rainwater cistern

A cistern, often underground and whitewashed, that collects rainwater from roofs or slopes. On an island with almost no springs it was every household's water supply.

The round-up of free-roaming goats

The round-up of the goats that roam free along the coast: at dawn the herders and their dogs form a wide circle and close it until the animals are driven into the gambuesa. It is used to mark the kids, select animals and pick out those without a brand. The practice may go back to the majos, the island's first inhabitants, and was declared an intangible Bien de Interés Cultural in 2025.

The pound for animals caught in other people's fields

A round stone pen where goats and other animals found grazing in someone else's crops were shut in. It was run by the village's alcalde pedáneo, who mediated between the farmer and the owner, who got the animal back by paying for the damage.

Large stone pen where free-roaming goats are gathered

A large dry-stone enclosure, usually round, at the bottom of a valley or ravine, where herders gather the goats that roam free along the coast. During the apañada the goats are driven inside to be counted, marked and sorted; the walls stand up to about two metres so they cannot escape.

Embanked field that traps rainwater

A farming system typical of Fuerteventura: a flat field enclosed by earth banks that hold the water of the rare rains, diverted from the ravines, until the soil soaks it up. You can still see them all over the island.

Kiln where stone was burnt to make lime

A stone kiln where caliche, the island's limestone, was burnt for days to make quicklime. From the late 16th to the mid-20th century lime was one of Fuerteventura's exports to the other islands, and more than three hundred kilns survive.

Old lava field of rough black rock

Literally «bad land»: a stretch of solidified lava, rough and hard to cross, where nothing can be farmed. Fuerteventura has large ones, such as the Malpaís de la Arena and the Malpaís Grande.

Common grazing land for free-roaming goats

Common land belonging to the residents, usually near the coast and unfit for farming, where "coastal" goats graze freely. Each municipality manages it through a bylaw on common land; "mancomún" also refers to the herders who use it and hold the apañadas there.

The windmills that ground gofio

In Fuerteventura windmills ground the toasted grain for gofio. The «molino» is the round, multi-storey tower with sails at the top; the «molina», developed in the Canaries in the 19th century, is smaller and lighter, with the mechanism set on a low building.

Livestock show and traditional market in Tiscamanita

MUESGAM is a livestock and agricultural produce fair tied to Tiscamanita, which includes the Concurso Monográfico del Perro Majorero, a show dedicated to the Majorero shepherd dog, a breed native to the island.

Livestock and rural crafts fair in Betancuria

Muestra de Ganado de Betancuria, Betancuria's livestock show: a weekend devoted to rural life in the Vega de Río Palmas, with the parade of animals, livestock displays, a local produce market, crafts, food and demonstrations of old trades such as ploughing with donkeys and camels.

Mud-capped conical straw stack used as a store

An open-air conical structure made by stacking straw and capping the top with mud. Grain, cheese and other farm produce were kept inside at a steady temperature, especially in drought years.

Traditional cloth bag

A talega is a cloth bag once used in the countryside to carry grain, gofio or a packed lunch. In festival programmes it appears in traditional craft workshops.

Small round stone tower for curing cheese

A rural stone building shaped like a small round tower, with a wooden roof and door. It was used to store and cure cheese and dried meat, to keep tools or as a shelter for herders: cheese stayed cooler inside than in the pajeros.

Threshing grain on the threshing floor

Traditional threshing: on the threshing floor animals walk in circles pulling a wooden sledge over the sheaves until the grain separates from the straw. Today it is shown as a demonstration at rural fairs.

Pair of yoked animals for ploughing

A pair of oxen, cows, donkeys or camels yoked together to pull the plough. «Manejo de yuntas» demonstrations show how the land was worked before tractors.