The Council of Lanzarote is carrying out forecasts regarding the changes that are going to occur on this island during the next twenty-five years. According to the studies carried out by experts it is thought that the island will have a population of 200.000 people, opposed to the 70.000 people that presently live on the island. This increase without a doubt will bring important repercussions for the island, it therefore becomes necessary to know these in order to plan and organise the problems that can submerge in the future.

For this reason the Council of Lanzarote has decided to begin a reflection process between society and experts that analise the problems that will derive in the future from the economic and touristic increase that the island will have.

The island has been named "Lanzarote in the Biosphere" which deals with bettering the quality of life of residents on the island for the next generation. This plan which originates interest in the touristic sector, from the entrepenuers, workers and society, means that if you do not take care of the island's attractions it will not be possible to maintain the tourism. On the other hand the institutions are more interested in defending the quality of life and to make the island development viable in the short, medium and long term.

The experts say that if you do not help the problems that the economic and touristic development will bring you in the next twenty-five years, a series of social and environmental conflicts could be produced with serious consequences for the population and the island. In the base document that has originated demographic evolution, economy, socio-economy and the human pressure upon the island is studied. The forecasts are that the population will increase by 60% in the next twenty-five years. Only four out of ten people will be from the island. This population growth will have fundamental incidents in the touristic areas, the beaches and the most fragile places on the coast and interior of the island.

The tourism will continue being the motive of the island. The agriculture will begin to lose part of the cultive area if one does not search for new alternatives that permit the recovery of that sector. The forecasts also say that there will be an increase in the population income, an increase in the level of studies and professional preparation. The crime and drug addiction will increase. The demand for electrical energy will also increase, the production of water will tiple. On the other hand the car parks will increase considerably, with the city of Arrecife being practically collapsed by traffic. The tourism will grow in turn 3% annually. This will convert it into a potential focus of new investments. These investments will give new employment opportunities and creation of economic activity.

The editors of this plan have made it clear that this forecast project will require the active participation of the whole of the Lazarote society, and between them they need to decide the type of projects that will be able to be carried out on the island. In order for this they are going to work on some key areas that will be the population, the well-being, the culture, the wealth, the economy, the tourism and its diversification, the urban system of Arrecife and the important population centre, conservation of the environment, the nature, the country-side, etc.