An electrodeposition process is used to synthesize nanotubes of a lanthanum-containing phase, employing porous alumina membranes as templates. This method should lead to the formation of La(OH)(3) nanowires, according to the previous results presented by Bocchetta et al (2007 Electrochem. Commun. 9 683-8), which can be decomposed to La(2)O(3), as the latter shows more interest for different applications. The results obtained by means of different electron microscopy techniques indicate that this method leads to the formation of nanotubes of about 200 nm in diameter and 30-40 µm in length, instead of the nanowires proposed in the literature. Additionally, the chemical characterization demonstrates that the material synthesized is composed of lanthanum hydroxycarbonate. The presence of carbonates is found to be crucial in determining the conditions for the preparation of La(2)O(3) from the nanotubes here obtained.