A hotel comedy from Mácher: free theatre at the Teatro Municipal de Tías
This Sunday the Teatro Municipal de Tías on Lanzarote is staging a play whose title is already the first joke: “El hotel de Mácher, a la orilla del mar” – the hotel of Mácher, by the seashore. Mácher is an inland village in the municipality of Tías. It has no coastline of its own.
Photo: Dguendel, CC BY 3.0 (Symbolbild).
The comedy is performed by people from that very village. According to Diario de Lanzarote and the island portal Living Lanzarote it is an in-house production by the Grupo de Teatro de Mácher, directed by Jonathan Ramírez de Jong. Admission is free while seats last, according to the weekly culture agenda of La Voz de Lanzarote.
The performance: when, where, how much
The date is Sunday 6 September 2026 at the Teatro Municipal de Tías. Diario de Lanzarote and Living Lanzarote give the start time as 8pm, with a running time of roughly one hour, so an end around 9pm.
On admission, the weekly culture agenda of La Voz de Lanzarote states “entrada libre hasta completar aforo” – free entry until the hall is full. No advance sale, ticket price or booking office appears in any of the announcements consulted. Anyone who wants a guaranteed seat should therefore arrive early.
The evening forms part of the municipal culture programme of Tías. Which body formally stages it – the town hall, its culture department or the group itself – is not stated unambiguously in the announcements.
What the play is about
According to Living Lanzarote and Diario de Lanzarote, the action takes place at the reception desk of a small hotel by the sea. There the receptionist meets a succession of eccentric but endearing guests who keep pushing him into unexpected situations. The piece is described as a comedy with a social undertone: the laughs come from the characters, but the characters stand for something.
The culture agenda of La Voz de Lanzarote sums the evening up rather more solemnly, as a “propuesta dramática” inviting the audience into a moving story set in the “esencia insular”, the essence of the island. The two descriptions do not necessarily contradict each other, but they set different accents – comedy on one hand, emotion on the other.
Fourteen performers take the stage, according to the island media. No full cast list has been published.
Mácher, the village without a sea
Mácher lies inland in the municipality of Tías, between Tías and Yaiza, on a ridge above the southern coast. It has no beach of its own; the sea and the tourism are down below, in Puerto del Carmen. That is exactly where the title gets its punchline: a hotel “by the seashore” in a village that has no shore.
It matters to be clear about what is not established here. The sources reviewed for this article give no indication that the play works through a real hotel project in Mácher, built or failed. Nor can any link to César Manrique, or to Lanzarote’s well-known disputes over building heights and landscape protection, be inferred from the announcements. Claiming otherwise goes beyond what the sources say.
What can be said is that Lanzarote has no shortage of hotel stories, from resort schemes planned on a grand scale and never built to complexes that reopened after decades. Whether the play draws on any of that, the announcements do not say.
The company and the people behind it
The evening is carried by the Grupo de Teatro de Mácher. Island media explicitly call the production the group’s own work, not a guest appearance by a professional company. Direction is credited to Jonathan Ramírez de Jong by Diario de Lanzarote and Living Lanzarote; one report shortens the name to Jonathan Ramírez.
Fourteen people on stage, one hour of playing time, free admission: this is village theatre in the format that belongs to the culture programme of many Lanzarote municipalities. It is also the reason the usual programme-note details are missing. Whether the group is constituted as a registered cultural association, how long it has existed, and whether 6 September is a premiere or a revival are not answered in the announcements reviewed.
The question of whether the play draws on memories and stories from the village also remains open. The media speak of an in-house production, not of documentary theatre.
Practicalities – and what else is on in Tías
The Teatro Municipal de Tías is at Calle San Antonio 4 in Tías, postcode 35572, a few minutes above Puerto del Carmen. The venue listing of the cultural association Tenique Cultural puts capacity at around 400 seats and describes the house as equipped with modern sound and lighting technology.
The theatre night does not stand alone. The day before, on 5 September, the same hall hosted the trumpet concert “Trompetissimo” as part of Class_IK Lanzarote; the La Voz de Lanzarote agenda listed admission at 15 euros. On 19 September the zarzuela “La verbena de la Paloma” follows in the same auditorium as part of the Lanzarote opera festival, announced for 7pm, with the Compañía de Zarzuela del Atlántico and tickets from 15 euros.
So within little more than a fortnight Tías puts brass music, village theatre and zarzuela on the same stage – a fairly precise snapshot of what a municipal theatre on Lanzarote actually does.
The running time of about an hour also makes the evening attractive for visitors who want to eat in Puerto del Carmen afterwards.
Start times for municipal culture programmes can change at short notice. Before setting off it is worth checking the channels of the Ayuntamiento de Tías or the Teatro Municipal de Tías.
Key facts
- Play: “El hotel de Mácher, a la orilla del mar”, a comedy produced in-house by the Grupo de Teatro de Mácher (Diario de Lanzarote, Living Lanzarote).
- Date: Sunday 6 September 2026, 8pm, Teatro Municipal de Tías; running time about one hour (Diario de Lanzarote, Living Lanzarote).
- Admission: free until capacity is reached, “entrada libre hasta completar aforo” (culture agenda of La Voz de Lanzarote).
- Participants: fourteen performers, directed by Jonathan Ramírez de Jong (Diario de Lanzarote, Living Lanzarote).
- Venue: Calle San Antonio 4, 35572 Tías; around 400 seats according to the venue listing of Tenique Cultural.
- Other programming in the same house: “Trompetissimo” on 5 September, “La verbena de la Paloma” on 19 September at 7pm (Lanzarote opera festival).
FAQ
- When and where is the performance?
- On Sunday 6 September 2026 at the Teatro Municipal de Tías, Calle San Antonio 4. Diario de Lanzarote and Living Lanzarote give 8pm as the start time.
- How much does it cost?
- According to the culture agenda of La Voz de Lanzarote entry is free until the hall is full. No ticket price or advance sale is mentioned anywhere.
- What is the play about?
- The reception desk of a small seaside hotel, where a receptionist has to cope with eccentric guests. Island media describe it as a comedy with a social undertone.
- Does the play tell a true story from Mácher?
- That is not established. The sources reviewed give no indication of a real hotel project in Mácher, of documentary theatre, or of any connection to César Manrique. Mácher is inland and has no coast of its own – the title is plainly ironic.
- Do I need to book?
- No official booking route has been published. Since access is free until capacity is reached, in practice it comes down to arriving in good time.
Read on
- Lanzarote: Ocean Film Tour ends 30 and 31 OctoberLanzarote · 21 October
- Lanzarote: Queer History Exhibition Runs Until 15 NovemberLanzarote · 21 October
- Lanzarote: Tuesday cabaret added, residents pay 13.50 eurosLanzarote · 21 October
- Lanzarote health infrastructure plan to 2044 requestedLanzarote · 21 October
- Lanzarote: man rescued after near-drowning at Playa DoradaLanzarote · 21 October
- All events on Lanzarote →