Two camels named Andrés and Aída stole the show in La Geria on Saturday, August 15. Hundreds of residents and tourists joined the traditional harvest organized by the Ayuntamiento de Yaiza on the feast day of the Virgen de La Caridad, patron saint of farmers and winemakers, and stomped more than 300 kilos of listán blanco grapes in the old press house of the La Geria winery.

The two animals, aged 15 and 12 and owned by herder Chalo Viñoly, carried grapes cut from the deepest hollows of the protected landscape, just as it was done before mechanization. Groups of visitors walked down to a nearby plot as many as three times to watch farmers and camels at work and understand the effort behind every bottle of volcanic malvasía.

Yaiza’s mayor, Óscar Noda, described the event as a way of staging the traditional harvest alongside “the camel, a key animal in the construction and conservation of this landscape.” The day closed a weekend of La Caridad festivities that included a popular tasting with folk music at the Rubicón winery, a solemn mass at the chapel, and an offering by the Agrupación Folklórica Rubicón.

A vintage that brings La Geria back to life

This year, the traditional harvest in La Geria came with an extra reason to celebrate. After two years of drought and three short campaigns, a rainy winter has transformed the outlook. “The vine in Lanzarote is something magical, and it has responded. It is producing a lot of grapes, healthy and of good quality,” said Ramón Melián, director of the La Geria winery, who expects the island to reach around 3.5 million kilos this season, with some 400,000 kilos for his own cellar.

Picking started in late July, earlier than usual, and is now entering its central weeks across the island. For visitors, this is one of the best moments of the year to explore La Geria and see the wine landscape in full swing.

→ More on the island’s wineries and volcanic wines in our Lanzarote wine guide.

Published: Aug 22, 2026. Official sources: Ayuntamiento de Yaiza.