The Paradise of El Hierro: Maria Khan by Xavi Gordo for Bazaar Spain
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Harper’s Bazaar Spain [IG] May 2025 devotes an issue to the theme of water, with model Maria Khan lensed by Xavi Gordo [IG] in ‘Acqua’. Carola Bianchi styles Khan in Akris, Giorgio Armani, Hèrmes, Missoni, Miu Miu, Prada and more in a fashion story where nature reminds us of who is blessed with the most extraordinary beauty.
The island of El Hierro embraces and awes, like the crystal-clear, dark-bottomed water that surrounds it. Among its volcanoes and extraordinary natural sculptures, model María Khan finds peace in this swimwear story, an ode to the power of nature in the most sustainable corner of the Canary Islands.
El Hierro: A Stunning Jewel of Sustainable Living
El Hierro, the smallest and most remote of Spain's Canary Islands, has become an exemplary model of sustainability and innovation. Over the past few decades, this island has embraced a pioneering approach to sustainability, driven by a commitment to renewable energy and environmental conservation and its UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. El Hierro's unique geography and isolated location have necessitated self-sufficiency, fostering a spirit of resilience and adaptability that permeates its sustainability efforts.
This isolated island, with its rugged volcanic terrain and diverse ecosystems — very evident in these images — provides a stunning backdrop to its groundbreaking environmental initiatives.
The driving force behind El Hierro's sustainable transformation is its ambitious energy strategy aimed at eliminating fossil fuel dependence. El Hierro embarked on its ambitious journey in the early 2000s with a commitment to reduce its reliance on imported diesel fuel. Recognizing the island's unique geographical position and natural assets, local authorities and stakeholders saw an opportunity to harness renewable energy sources.
At the heart of this initiative is the island's renowned Gorona del Viento power plant, inaugurated in 2014. This innovative hybrid system cleverly combines wind power with pumped-storage hydroelectricity, effectively harnessing the island's abundant natural resources to generate clean and renewable energy.
Providing 60% of the island’s needs, the power plant has dramatically reduced the island's carbon footprint and serves as a benchmark for renewable energy solutions worldwide.
Collaboration among local government, the community of about 12,000 people, and private enterprises was instrumental in initiating this renewable energy project. One of the key figures behind this initiative was the island's council, which sought to set a precedent for sustainable development by becoming the first island worldwide to be fully powered by renewable energy.
The project gained momentum with support from the Spanish government and European Union funding, which recognized El Hierro as a testbed for innovative energy solutions. Reading about the island, it’s important to understand how much progress has happened in baby steps.
The Goal of 100% Renewable Energy
The first milestone was when the island used 100% renewable energy for the first time — a period of 4 hours, on August 9, 2015. On January 25, 2018 and for 18 consecutive days, the El Hierro power plant managed to supply all of the island's demand for electricity.
By using excess wind energy, the system pumps water to a reservoir at a higher elevation, creating a stored, potential energy source. This pumped water can be released to generate electricity during periods of low wind, ensuring that pumping and storage of desalinated water remains energy efficient.
El Hierro has also invested in advanced desalination plants, also powered by Gorona del Viento, to convert abundant seawater into potable water. The integration of renewable energy with these desalination processes reduces the carbon footprint and makes them more sustainable. Rainwater harvesting is also encouraged at individual household levels, capturing and storing rainwater to supplement supply. The confluence of these systems not only secures the island’s water needs but also sets an example of sustainable water management for other regions facing similar challenges.
Biodiversity Conservation Efforts In El Hierro
El Hierro’s conservation efforts have also made the island into a notable example of biodiversity conservation efforts. Its unique environment, characterized by volcanic landscapes and varied microclimates, supports a diverse range of flora and fauna, some of which are endemic to the island. Conservationists and local authorities have prioritized preserving these unique ecosystems in the face of environmental challenges and human impact.
This has involved the establishment of protected areas, such as the La Dehesa Biosphere Reserve, which play a crucial role in maintaining the island's ecological balance. These zones representing almost 60 of the island’s land, are carefully managed to ensure that human activities do not disrupt sensitive habitats.
The Outside World in Africa Once Again Knocks on El Hierro’s Door
As a student of the Atlantic slave trade, I learned previously that shackled humans destined for the Americas and the Caribbean didn’t board ships in El Hierro. However, the island was the major restocking station for those ships embarking on treacherous journeys that would create devastating ancestral human memories, ones impossible to fully erase generations later.
In an article published on Politico yesterday, we learn that 24,000 migrants arrived on El Hierro — twice the entire local population — last year alone. The situation is growing worse in 2025. Once again, a new world is knocking on El Hierro’s door.
As Politico notes, it’s the shortest route out of Africa into Europe, a journey eliminating thousands of miles of travel — including through the desert — to reach the North African coast. Boats are departing from Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal and Gambia and arriving in El Hierro harbor with increasingly obvious and alarming violence having occurred onboard, including among the migrants themselves.
Wheel chairs already are waiting for the refugees as boats appear on the horizon, but now the women are signaling that they have been raped and men, too, are exhibiting serious, fresh wounds. The result is a massive new problem in international law.
Anne will end there, so as not to pour sadness on this beautiful fashion story for Harper’s Bazaar Spain. It is the Spanish government that is trying to handle this growing humanitarian crisis and I will be reading more about the situation.
Having unintentionally stumbled into this story — written June 16th — I’m not the type of person to ignore it. My apologies if I offend any of my dear readers, but it wouldn’t be AOC if I didn’t add this tragic discovery also happening in the ecological jewel of El Hierro. I was looking for the best hotel, which sounds like Hotel Puntagrande. ~ Anne
Update: 6/21/25: As Trump shuts out migrants, Spain opens its doors and fuels economic growth. Washington Post
When night falls on the other side of the Atlantic, her 32-year-old cousin, a house cleaner in New York, huddles inside a dim basement apartment, terrified of ICE raids. But in a burgeoning quarter of the Spanish capital, where immigrant-staffed restaurants tempt newcomers with Dominican chicharrones and Venezuelan empanadas, Edith Chimbo sat in the sunlight, musing about the Spanish Dream.
