Queues around the corner as Penneys opens first Lanzarote store

For all your beach bag and multipack knicker needs.

If you routinely find yourself in a frantic state at the airport because you've forgotten to pack something essential for holidays, like your fake tan mitt or novelty towel robe, you need worry no more. Penneys have officially opened their first store in Lanzarote, with a winding queue of shoppers welcoming the addition to the island. The branch opened on Thursday 22nd June, at the Open Mall in Arrecife, a port city on the east coast of Lanzarote. This is the first Penneys on the island of Lanzarote but the fourth in the Canary Islands - there are currently two in Gran Canaria and one in Tenerife. Lanzarote-based blogger TravelON.world shared clips of the opening on his TikTok account, with staff waving flags and cheering more enthusiastically than the band of dancers at the Penneys Tallaght opening last year, and excited shoppers swarming the store.

@travelon.world Primark in Lanzarote opened today June 22nd. Your full video to the Lanzarote Primark opening. #primark #primarklanzarote #penneys #openmalllanzarote #lanzarote #travelonworld #primarkhaul ♬ original sound - TravelON.world

Standing in the queue to enter the store, one woman said "I wanted to camp here in my popup tent but they wouldn’t allow it". Irish and British people living in Lanzarote have said the new Penneys is exactly what the island needs, with one woman commenting "it'll save me booking an extra case on to come home". Meanwhile, Irish comedian Rory O'Connor of Rory's Stories took to Facebook to make the controversial suggestion of heading to Lanzarote "with nothing but your passport, tea bags, and a bumbag" and stocking up on "disposable" socks, t-shirts and underwear to then "leave in your apartment on departure". The online personality was critiqued in the comments, with one person writing "What a great suggestion for our disposable society. More textiles in circulation and then binned". Header images via Canarian Weekly  READ NEXT:  - Furbies returning to the market to celebrate special anniversary