Canary Islands: Encyclopedia - Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are an archipelago of seven islands of volcanic origin in the Atlantic Ocean. They are located off the northwestern coast of Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara). They form an autonomous community of Spain. The name comes from the Berber Canarii, tribe from the Atlas ( Morocco ) who occupied the island of Gran Canaria.

Canary Islands - History

The Canary Islands have been known since antiquity. The peak of Teide on Tenerife can be seen on clear days from the African coast. It is possible that the islands were among those discovered by the Carthaginian captain Hanno the Navigator in his voyage of exploration along the African coast. It is barely possible that the islands were visited by the Phoenicians seeking the precious red dye extracted from the orchilla, if the Canaries are considered to be The Purple Isles, or alternatively identified with the Hesperides. Legendary islands in the Western Ocean that recur in European traditions are often linked with the Canaries, even the legendary voyage of Saint Brendan.

During the Middle Ages, the islands were visited by the Arabs for commercial purposes. From the 14th century onward numerous visits were made by sailors from Mallorca, Portugal, and Genoa. Lancelotto Malocello settled on the island of Lanzarote in 1312. The Mayorcans established a mission with a bishop in the islands that lasted from 1350 to 1400. It is from this mission that the various paintings and statues of the Virgin Mary that are currently venerated in the island were preserved.

At the time of their discovery by Europeans, the Canary Islands were inhabited by the Guanches, an indigenous people thought to be related to the Berbers of North Africa. The currently accepted theory of their origin is that the Guanches were brought to the islands by the Phoenicians or the Romans. The most probable hypothesis claims succesive waves of migration from the mainland of Northern Africa. The steady westward trade winds prohibited repeated connection with the African coast

The principal economic activities of the Guanches were shepherding, agriculture, inshore fishing, and gathering wild fruits. However, the conquest of the islands by the Spaniards resulted in the extinction of the Gaunches as a separate race by the 1600's. However, many Guaches intermarried with the Spaniards, creating a mestizo race on the island. Guanche traits can still be seen among many present day Canarians who tend to have slightly darker complexions than most Spaniards, but who are otherwise indistinguishable.

In 1402, the conquest of the islands began, with the expedition of Juan de Bethencourt and Gadifer de la Salle to the island of Lanzarote, Norman nobles who were vassals of Henry III of Castile. From there, he conquered Fuerteventura and Hierro. Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands, but recognized King Henry III as his overlord.

Béthencourt also established a base on the island of Gomera, but it would be many years before the island was truly conquered. The people of Gomera, as well as the Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma people, resisted the Spanish invaders for almost a century.

The conquest of the Canaries, which took almost 100 years, set a precedent for the conquest of the New World, with complete annhilation of the native culture and rapid assimilation to Christianity. Due to the topology and the resistance of the native Guanches, the conquest was not completed until 1496, when the conquest of Tenerife was completed and the Canaries were incorporated into the Castilian kingdom. Between 1448 and 1459, there was a crisis between Castile and Portugal over the control of the islands, when Maciot de Bethencourt sold the lordship of Lanzarote to Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator, an action that was not accepted by the natives or the Castilian residents of the island, who initiated a revolt and expelled the Portuguese.

After the conquest, the Spanish imposed a new economic model based on single-crop cultivation— first, sugar cane, then wine, an important trade item with England. In this era, the first institutions of government were founded.

The islands became a stopping point in the trade routes with America, Africa, and India, and the port of Las Palmas became one of the most important ports of the Spanish Empire. The towns of Santa Cruz and Las Palmas, became a stopping point for the Spanish conquerors, traders, and missionaries on their way to the New World. This trade route brought great prosperity to some of the social sectors of the islands. The islands became quite wealthy and soon were attracting merchants and adventurers from all over Europe. Magnificent palaces and churches were built on the island of La Palma during this busy, prosperous period. Of particular interest to visitors is the Church of El Salvador, one of the island's finest examples of the architecture of the 1500s.

However, because of the crises of single-crop cultivation in the 18th century and onward, the independence of Spain's American colonies in the 19th century caused severe recessions on the islands. A new cash crop, the cochinilla, came into cultivation during this time, saving the island's economy. .

During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, owing to economic crises in the archipelago, a series of emigrations took place, primarily for the Americas.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the English introduced a new cash-crop, the banana, the export of which was controlled by companies such as Fyffes.

The rivalry between the elites of the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas for the capital-ship of the islands would lead to the division of the archipelago in two provinces in 1927, though this has not laid to rest the rivalry between the two cities, which continues to this day.

During the time of the Second Spanish Republic, workers' movements with marxist and anarchist ideologies began to develop, led by figures such as Jose Miguel Perez and Guillermo Ascanio. However, outside of a few municipalities, these organizations were a minority.

In 1936, Francisco Franco traveled to the Canaries as General Commandant. From the Canaries, he launched the military uprising of July 17. He quickly took control of the archipelago, with the exception of a few focal points of resistance on the island of La Palma and in the town of Vallehermoso, on Gomera island. Despite the fact that there was never a proper war in the islands, they were one of the places where the post-war repression was most severe.

Opposition to Franco's regime did not begin to organize until the late 1950s, which saw the formation of groups such as the Communist Party of Spain and various nationalist, leftist, and independence-terrorist movements, such as the Free Canaries Movement and the MPAIAC.

After Franco's death and the installation of a democratic constitutional monarchy, a bill of autonomy was put forth for the Canaries, which was approved in 1982. In 1983, the first autonomous elections were held, and were won by the Spanish socialist party, PSOE. The current ruling party is the Canarian Coalition.

During the second world war, Churchill prepared plans for the British seizure of the Canary Islands as a naval base, in the event of Gibraltar being invaded from the Spanish mainland.

Canary Islands - Physical geography

The islands and their capitals are:

• Gran Canaria (capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria);
• Tenerife (capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife);
• Lanzarote (capital Arrecife);
• La Palma (capital Santa Cruz de La Palma);
• La Gomera (capital San Sebastián de La Gomera);
• El Hierro (capital Valverde);
• Fuerteventura (capital Puerto del Rosario).

The nearest island is 108 km from the northwest African coast.

The islands form the Macaronesia ecoregion with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Isles. The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third largest volcano on Earth. According to the position of the islands with respect to the trade winds, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species are conserved, like the dragon tree Dracaena draco and the Laurisilva forests.

Four of Spain's 13 national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community:

• Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma,
• Garajonay National Park on La Gomera,
• Teide National Park on Tenerife,
• Timanfaya National Park on Lanzarote.

Canary Islands - Political geography

The Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands consists of two provinces, Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, whose capitals (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife) are co-capitals of the autonomous community. Each of the seven major islands is ruled by an assembly named cabildo insular.

The international boundary of the Canaries are the subject of dispute between Spain and Morocco. Morocco does not agree that the laws regarding territorial limits allow Spain to claim for itself sea-bed boundaries based on the territory of the Canaries, because the Canary Islands are autonomous. The boundary is relevant for possible seabed oil deposits and other ocean resource exploitation. Morocco therefore does not formally agree to the territorial boundary; it rejected a 2002 unilateral Spanish proposal. Reference: CIA World Factbook

Morocco has also made some vague historical claims to the Canary Islands themselves, but these claims have not been formally pursued.

Canary Islands - Economy

The economy is based on primarily on tourism, which makes up 32% of the GDP. The Canaries receive about 10 million tourists per year. Construction makes up nearly 20% of the GDP and tropical agriculture, primarily bananas and tobacco, are grown for exportation to Europe and the Americas. Ecologists are concerned that the resources, especially in the more arid islands, are being overexploited.

Their economy size is (measured as Gross Domestic Product 2001 figures) 25 billion euro. Two times the size of Costa Rica and one-third the size of Venezuela. A remarkable fact if you take into account their population and surface size. The Canary Islands are also one of the most powerful economies of the Central Atlantic region, including the zone known as "Macaronesian" (which includes Cape Verde, Madeira, Azores and the Canary Islands). The islands experienced continued growth during a consecutive 20 year period, up until 2001, at a rate of approximately 5% annualy. This growth was fueled mainly by huge amounts of Foreign Direct Investment, mostly to develop tourism real estate (hotels and apartments) and European Funds (near 11 billion euro in 2000-2007 period) since the Canary Islands is labeled Region Objective 1 (ellegible to euro structural funds).

The combination of high mountains, being a part of Europe, and clean air has made the Roque de los Muchachos (in La Palma island) peak as a leading location for telescopes like the Grantecan.

The islands are outside European Union customs territory, though politically within the EU. The ISO 3166-1 α-2 code IC is reserved for representing them in customs affairs. Goods subject to Spanish customs and excise duties and VAT, such as tobacco or electronic goods, are therefore significantly cheaper in the Canaries. The islands do not have a separate Internet country code from the rest of Spain. The currency is the euro.

Canarian time is WET, one hour less than that of mainland Spain and the same as that of London.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Canary Islands", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki