Jameos del Agua premieres the musical “Víctor” on July 10–11, 2026: an original production about Víctor Fernández Gopar, “El Salinero,” the salt-worker poet of the Janubio salt flats who set Lanzarote’s daily life to verse. The show, produced by the Centros de Arte, Cultura y Turismo (CACT) and sponsored by the Cabildo de Lanzarote’s culture department, is the result of more than two years of historical research and brings together over 70 musicians, actors, choir members, dancers, and technical crew. All of it created entirely on the island.

Who Was Víctor Fernández Gopar, El Salinero

Born in Yaiza and tied all his life to the Janubio salt flats, Víctor Fernández Gopar worked the salt while composing the coplas — popular verses — that made him one of the best-loved figures in Lanzarote’s folk culture. His poetry captured the trades, landscapes, and daily struggles of several generations: the land, the sea, faith, and the grind of an island that lived off whatever it could wrest from wind and tide. Much of that work survived orally, passed from voice to voice, which is how it reached the present day.

His name now sits above the door of Arrecife’s main theater, the Teatro Víctor Fernández Gopar “El Salinero,” and his figure remains a symbol of the Canary Islands’ intangible heritage. The salt he worked at Janubio, incidentally, is the same salt that still shapes the island’s cooking. He isn’t a textbook character — he’s the neighbor who sang what everyone was living.

A Musical Made Entirely in Lanzarote

Directed and written by Iván Curbelo, with artistic direction by Ubay T. Alemán, the show combines live music, dance, and theater in a staging that moves between historical fact and legend. The script weaves in references to Atlantis and the island’s oral tradition, building a story where memory, humor, emotion, and cultural roots share the stage.

The project involves students and faculty of the CIEM (Lanzarote’s island music school), and the Cabildo frames it as a bet on bringing the island’s heritage to audiences through the performing arts. More than two years separate the first documentary research from this premiere, and the ambition shows in the scale: few recent Canarian productions have put this many people on one stage.

The Venue: The Jameos Auditorium

The setting supplies the other half of the spectacle. The Jameos del Agua auditorium — the volcanic tube that César Manrique turned into a concert hall — has an acoustic and an atmosphere no conventional theater can imitate. Watching a musical about Lanzarote’s memory inside a work that is itself Lanzarote’s memory makes perfect sense.

Dates, Tickets, and Practical Info

When: Friday, Jul 10 and Saturday, Jul 11, 2026, at 8:00 pm.
Where: Jameos del Agua auditorium, in the north of the island (municipality of Haría).
Tickets: from €27, on sale at cactlanzarote.com and culturalanzarote.com. There is also a cocktail ticket, which includes a gastronomic tasting and a drink after the show.

A practical tip: from Puerto del Carmen or Arrecife, allow 30 to 40 minutes by car to reach Jameos. If you want to round off the evening, the coastal villages of Punta Mujeres and Arrieta, a short hop from the venue, make a good dinner stop before the performance.

→ The full month’s program is in the Lanzarote Cultural Agenda — July 2026.

Published: Jul 3, 2026. Official sources: CACT Lanzarote, Cabildo de Lanzarote — Cultura.