One of the interesting things about visiting foreign countries can be the different type of food available.  Either there are local, previously unknown, delicacies.  Or there may be the same brands, but with different varieties of their products.  Sometimes there are even the same brands under different names (one of the best-known examples being Twix, known previously in Germany as “Raider”).

Of course, this can make shopping in a foreign country, especially in a foreign language, an interesting experience.

Now, I found the idea of a 24-hour supermarket in Puerto del Carmen innovative.  What I am not so thrilled about is reading today that the supermarket chain Lidl are building a store near Arrecife.

Not that I am opposed to Lidl – I shop there myself in Germany.  But I am wondering how much local produce they will be stocking, and how much it will be geared towards the tourists on the island?  Will you need a car to get there?

Let’s hope that it doesn’t have an adverse effect on the smaller supermarkets.

Visitors to Lanzarote coming from the UK will be familiar with the concept of 24 hour shopping, but for visitors from other countries it may come as a bit of a surprise.  Now a supermarket in the old town of Puerto del Carmen has caught on to the idea and is open “a todas horas”.

24h supermarket in Puerto del Carmen (Photo: C. & L. Tappenden)

Not that they were not open late into the night before.  The whole arrangement looks a bit like a cashpoint – “hole in the wall” would definitely be a fitting description.

The supermarket in question is “Marcelo” in the Calle Roque Nublo.  Customers select their goods from around 2000 items on a touchscreen built into what really does look like a cashpoint at the front of the store.  Alcoholic drinks can only be purchased before 10pm, and only then after the security camera operator has confirmed that it is an adult making the purchase.

Once the shopper has finished chosing their items, they then pay for their items – the machine takes Euro notes up to 50EUR – and wait for their goods to be delivered in a drawer below the machine.

So will it catch on?  Well, according to an article on a local website a second machine was due to open at a petrol station in Arrecife.  The creators claim that the system is unique to the Canary Islands, which, although maybe a shame for shoppers elsewhere who would also like have such a facility, it does mean that it will be something I definitely want to see on my next visit to Lanzarote.