Destination Information

Historical overview

7-5. million yrs BC. Huge volcanoes emerge from the sea - including 3 smaller volcanoes: the Teno and Anaga Mountains, and the south of today's island. 2 million BC Due to a huge eruption the 3 volcanoes merge into one island. ca. 3,000 yrs B.C. First settlers from North Africa settle, individual kingdoms emerge. ca. 500 yrs BC The islands are settled in further stages. The indigenous "Guanches" live in caves or in stone houses. 160 A.D. Chr. The Greek Herodotus thinks he has found the "Gardens of the Hesperides" on the Canaries. With the decline of Rome, the Canary Islands fall into oblivion, although in the first decades after Christ they received special attention from Greek and Roman scholars. They are the outermost part of their known world. 12th/14th century Southern European privateers are in search of slaves. The Canaries become more and more the focus of interest. Portuguese and Spaniards begin to establish trade relations and lay claim to possessions. 15th century The conquest of the archipelago by the envoys of the Castilian royal houses dominates the 15th century. The crown enfeoffed nobles and clergy with the islands and placed them directly under the Spanish crown. So-called "Caitanes Generales" grant rights of use and water. 1495 The last island, Tenerife, falls to the Spanish conquerors after fighting. The Canary Islands were now completely under the Spanish crown. The actual indigenous people, the Guanches (men from Tenerife), mixed with the conquerors and disappeared as a separate "tribe". La Laguna was chosen as the capital and the islands were an important base for shipping traffic with America. 1657 The English admiral Robert Blake fails in his attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife. 1822 Santa Cruz de Tenerife becomes the capital of all the Canary Islands. 1936 General Franco launched his military coup against the Republic from Tenerife. His dictatorship lasted until 1975 and involved extreme violence against the people. 1975 Tenerife and all the other Canary Islands are granted autonomous status. 1982 The Canary Islands finally become an autonomous region and can administer themselves independently. Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria alternate as the seat of government every 4 years. 2014 19 April 2014 Felipe VI (* 30 January 1968 in Madrid) becomes King of Spain and thus head of state of the country. He comes from the Bourbon-Anjou dynasty.