Windmills of Fuerteventura

On Fuerteventura there are a lot of picturesque windmills in various states of repair. The traditional windmills can be divided into two categories, Molinos and Molinas. The Molinos have the millstones on a different floor to that on which the flour is handled. There are also windmills used to pump water from underground reservoirs, and to generate electricity.

The wooden hut that sits on top of the stone structure and carries the sails, can have its position, relative to the wind, adjusted by means of a wooden rudder. The Molinas are a more modern design, as the millstones and grain handling areas are on the same floor, and the whole wooden structure rotates on an axle, so that it can be orientated in the right direction.

     

A Molina at Antigua, a Molino at Antigua, around which there is a visitor centre, and a waterpump at Valles de Rio Palma.

   

Two Molinos, one in Antigua, and one in Villaverde. You can clearly see the rudder used to make the sails face into the wind.

    

These windmills are in Corralejo. The first two pictures are of the same one before and after repair. The third one has yet to be started.

   
Windmills are now used to generate electricity. The picture on the left is a windfarm, just outside Costa Calma. The other is a single generator at Punta de Jandia

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