The national holiday at October 12. where Spain is celebrating Christopher Columbus and his 1492 expedition to America, is also the historical turning point for the Archipelago of the Canary Islands and especially for La Palma.
Map of La Palma
Since Spanish seafarers made there way through the strait of Gibraltar into Atlantic ocean, the conquest of the Archipelago of Canary Islands was just a matter of time.
In the beginning of 14th century, in early 1300, Genoa businessman Lancaroto Malocello, commanded his trade vessel on the way to London for business. Coming out of Gibraltar into the ocean, weather conditions and poor skills of seamanship have brought the sailing vessel into a strong drift and far south, until at one of the eastern Canary Islands the ship dropped anchor. Malocello obviously liked the island very much, because he stayed there the next two decades and named the island after him, Lancarote.
When he returned to European mainland and the island Lancarote first time was part of nautical charts, adventurers, pirates and slave hunters made their way south, expecting rich raids. Even more ships made their way to Lancarote now, inhabitants did not subjugate those ‘robber barons’ for the next 150 years. The moment slave hunters ships approached the coastline, islanders where hiding on secret places over the island.
The real conquest of the Archipelago started with Jean de Bethencourt (1359-1425) when he sailed on behalf of the King of Castilian and about 80 vassals to take over the island of Lancarote for Spain. Indeed, fast and easy the island was taken and people baptized and christianized. Also fast and easy de Bethencourt’s purse was at the end and he sailed back to Cadiz, Spains seaport on main lands south coast, to collect money for another expedition. When de Bethencourt sailed south again, he also took with Hiero and Fuertvenura two islands, where local Kings of the Guanches got baptized and churches were build all over the islands. In only 4 years he ruled half of the Canary Archipelago, just Gran Canaria and La Palma energetically defended themselves, which made a Spanish conquest on de Bethencourts small budget, impossible at this time.
Jean de Bethencourt
1492, the same year Christopher Columbus started his expedition, to show that the world is not a disk but a globe, and India could be reached also by sailing west, the same year Alonso Fernandez de Lugo was sent from catholic Queen Isabella from Castilian and King Ferdinand from Aragon to conquer La Palma for the crown of Spain. He was promised the administrative and judicative power over La Palma, also part of the war booty and a reward, having the victory over the island inside a year. And, he was experienced, being the deciding commander before at the subjugation of the much bigger island on the Archipelago, Gran Canaria.
Alonso Fernandez de Lugo sailed to La Palma with 900 soldiers and anchored the ships in a bay of the west side La Palmas, today’s Puerto de Tazacorte.
Lugo’s men did not met a lot of islanders who could be fight them, because folks were hiding on the order of powerful Prince Tanausu and ruler of La Palma at this time, into the huge crater of the volcano Caldera de Taburiente.
It was absolutely impossible that Lugo’s men could get into the crater because of the invincible and rough natural walls of the volcano crater, where strong mountaineering qualities were required. The only access was through the Barranco de las Angustias (ravine of mortal fear) and easy to control by Tanausu’s men. A try of Lugo’s soldiers to attack through the Barranco into the crater, ended fast because of hopelessness.
Caldera de Taburiente
Lugo’s fighter instead besieged the ravine now and after some time Prince Tanausu was willing to negotiate, but only after Lugo’s men would back up into the Aridane-Valley, where negotiations should take place too. Long story short, Lugo’s men have been backed up but were waiting for Tanausu in an ambush, attacked and overpowered him and sailed him to Spain as the “trophy of victory” over La Palma and to show him to the kings and to the folks. Tanausu did not wanted to take this humiliation and hungered himself to death before the ship arrived Spanish soil.
Prince Tanausu, the powerful prince caught and deported, his folks were discouraged and gave up. After the conquest of La Palma, which took about 100 years, where good equipped soldiers were fighting islanders with weapons from stone age, La Palmas ground was divided and shared by the conquerors.
Lugo was the first governor of La Palma and Tenerife and established Santa Cruz de La Palma on the east side, as trading center and capital of the island.
The rest of inhabitants got quickly mixed up with the conquerors after getting a Spanish name and in the beginning of the 16th century, Canary islanders have been legally equalized with people from Spanish mainland.
The conquest of La Palma and the Canary Islands have been the springboard into the “New World” for the crown of Spain. The Canary Islands became the turnstile for seafarers on their way to and from South America, where fantastic sagas came from, about unspeakable treasures of silver and gold from the big empires of Aztecs and Incas.
La Palmas rising capital Santa Cruz, was with Sevilla and Antwerpen the most important seaport of the Spanish Empire. Shipyards, the export of sugar and wine brought a modest prosperity to La Palma. Rich of course, got only big landowners and the owners of bid trading companies. Simple farmers for instance, were still living in poor wooden houses with thatched roofs. Also periodical swarms of grasshoppers destroyed the harvests and brought misery and poverty to the farmers again.
Nevertheless, La Palma and the other islands seemed to be rich enough to attract pirates, thieves and other crooks from all over European countries.
In 1553, French pirate Le Clerc was plundering the capital Santa Cruz and burned down the entire city to the ground. Next was British Sir Francis Drake in 1585, but he was forced to give up his plans, because of good positioned and big cannons on the city wall now, which made a raid impossible to him. Not only pirates, also European countries with naval power tried to penetrate and to invade the Archipelago, which still was under sovereignty of the Spanish crown.
Together with Netherlands, Portugal and France, British ships showed up big time to chase the Canary Islands down and overtake the Archipelagos of Canary Islands. Mid of 17th century Admiral Robert Blake came to conquer with no result. 150 years later, Lord Nelson came, who got famous in the battle of Trafalgar, but on the try to conquer the island of Tenerife, he lost hundreds of soldiers and his right arm, before he sailed back to the British Island.
The city walls at capitals and seaports on the Canary Islands have been crucial, to defend all these intruders. The Spanish crown ordered them by Italian master builder and architect Leonardo Torreani, who was a specialist for building city walls, forts and towers to fight back attackers most successful.
In the 18th century, when political climate calmed down and better technology for bigger cannons, which could fight enemies earlier on a longer distance and more exact now, were brought in position, islands administrations, trading companies and society have been relocated to the coast, where business was much more efficient.
During the 16th and 18th century, Spanish governors tried to establish a successful economy on the Archipelago, by planting sugar cane and wine, and also started the Cochenille breed, which is a louse with a red liquid inside the body. This red liquid was taken to dye fabrics but was uneconomical when chemical dye processes started in early 19th century. At this time banana plantations started to make their way all over the island as a substitute for the lost Cochenille breed and are still the islands main income today, together with wine, fruits and vegetables.
On the way into 20th century the Canary Islands and La Palma made headlines once again in 1936 when Spanish civil war were going on for about 3 years, because of General Franco, who was transferred from Madrid to Tenerife for disciplinary reasons. Franco was suspicious to putsch himself into power in Madrid and now deported to Tenerife.
Madrid’s government was sure about, that Franco now is far away enough and would not try, to get into power anymore. Big mistake. Franco escaped to northern Africa’s, Spanish Marokko and organized with the help of Spanish troops, which stayed in Marokko and foreign legions the march into Andalusia in 1936. The Spanish civil war involved entire Europe into this conflict, where Hitler and Mussolini supported Franco later on, to establish a military dictatorship in Madrid.
Even the Canary Islands have not been involved directly into this civil war, the cut off from trading ways brought poverty and misery to the islanders again. After the civil war, second world war came and even the Archipelago was far away from mainland, all resolutions and measures made in Madrid, were valid for the Canaries too.
After Franco’s death in 1975, King Juan Carlos established a constitutional monarchy and reformed Spain into a democracy which was vested right in the new constitution from 1978. 1982 socialist Felipe Gonzales became political power and for a long period. 1986 Spain got a member of the European Union and became a full membership in 1993. 2010 Spain got soccer world champion in South Africa for the first time and made forget all the problems, are still present for this country for a couple of days of celebration.
