MOMENTS IN HISTORY
1. Volcanic Origins
Like all of the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria is volcanic in origin and first emerged from the ocean 15 million years ago. A second spurt of volcanic activity created the northeast of the island 11 million years later. Happily, the volcanoes have been extinct for 3,000 years.
Illustration of mummified Guanches
2. Arrival of the First Inhabitants
It’s generally agreed by historians that the Canarii were descended from the Berber tribes of Africa, but how they arrived in the Canary Islands is a mystery, as they did not have boat-building skills. The most plausible theory is that they arrived as slaves on Roman ships and then either escaped or were abandoned.
3. Early Exploration
Mallorcan friars had already successfully petitioned Rome to recognize Telde as the first Canarian municipality, by the time Jean de Béthencourt landed in 1405. Though he had taken Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, he could not overcome the Canarii. Juan Rejón had better luck in 1478, and managed to set up Real de Las Palmas, the island’s future capital.
The 1599 Dutch assault on Las Palmas
4. Baptism and Defeat
The indigenous Canarii proved no match for the Spanish invaders. The northern chief, Tenesor Semidan, was captured, baptized, and enlisted in the Spanish cause. Final defeat came in 1483, when many of the remaining fighters jumped into a deep ravine rather than live in slavery.
5. Pirates Attack
The archipelago’s position on the major trade routes brought fortune, but also trouble. The defensive wall surrounding Las Palmas did not protect it when Sir Francis Drake attacked in 1595, though he failed to defeat the locals. A 10-day assault by Dutch corsair Pieter van der Does devastated the capital in 1599. Scores of churches and other historical buildings were sacked and burnt.
6. Mass Emigration
After Columbus’s discovery of the New World, thousands of islanders headed across the ocean, settling throughout the Americas from Texas to Argentina. Most, however, made for the Caribbean islands and Venezuela. Venezuela is still known as the “eighth island” because of its strong family links with the Canarian archipelago.
7. Boom and Bust
Contact with Latin America led to fierce competition, and Gran Canaria’s sugar cane industry was ruined by tumbling prices. The wine and cochineal (food colouring) trades went the same way, and, by the end of the 19th century, things were looking desperate, rekindling the mass exodus to Latin America.
8. Getting Connected
The development of Puerto de la Luz in 1881 was to change the island’s fortunes forever. It soon became the archipelago’s principal port and today it is one of Europe’s largest. The Canary Islands’ first airport was built halfway down Gran Canaria’s east coast in 1930.
9. Franco Launches his Military Coup
When Spanish officials got wind of a rebellious general in March 1936, they quickly shipped him off to the Canary Islands. However, in July, General Francisco Franco and his followers launched an uprising from their headquarters in Las Palmas. It was the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, Franco came to power and established Fascist rule.
10. Tourism Takes Hold
After the failed industries of earlier centuries, the islands needed a more stable source of income. Salvation arrived in the 1960s in the form of mass construction, and tomato plantations were soon giving way to hotels. Tourism is now the pillar of the islands’ economy and Gran Canaria has become a favoured destination for visitors.
TOP 10 FIGURES IN GRAN CANARIA’S HISTORY
1. Benito Pérez Galdós
Considered second only to Cervantes, this novelist has a museum (see Casa Museo Pérez Galdós) dedicated to his life in his family home.
Writer Benito Pérez Galdós
2. Alfredo Kraus Trujillo
An auditorium was opened as a sign of respect for the island’s only tenor and most famous opera singer.
3. Christopher Columbus
In 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus was forced to dock in Las Palmas. It is likely that he stayed at the Casa de Colon during this period.
4. Doramas
A part of the late 15th-century Canarii resistance, this warrior died in the Battle of Arucas in 1481.
5. Juan Rejón
An Aragonese captain in the employ of the Catholic Monarchs, Rejón founded Las Palmas in 1478.
6. Tomás Morales Castellano
The father of Canarian poetry was born in Moya which is home to the Casa-Museo Tomás Morales.
7. Pedro de Vera
Vera was appointed governor of Las Palmas in 1480, and led the final conquest of La Gomera.
8. Sir Alfred Lewis Jones
An entrepreneur, Jones encouraged tourism in Gran Canaria and donated to complete the façade of the capital’s Santa Ana cathedral.
9. Néstor Martín-Fernández de la Torre
This painter and designer has his works on display at the Museo Néstor.
10. Arminda
Learn about this Canarii princess, in Gáldar’s Cueva Pintada. Forced into slavery, she returned as noblewoman Catalina de Guzman.
