The Canary Islands’ history spans from early indigenous Berber settlement to their pivotal role as Spain’s Atlantic outpost. Today, the archipelago operates as an autonomous community of Spain, bridging Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Indigenous Roots (1st to 15th Century)
The Guanches: The original inhabitants were Amazigh (Berber) people who settled the islands between 500 BCE and the first few centuries CE. Living in isolation for nearly 2,000 years, they adapted to the volcanic terrain by raising goats, weaving, and living in caves.
Pre-Hispanic Architecture: The indigenous people left behind remarkable archaeological sites, such as the Cenobio de Valerón in Gran Canaria, a massive, multi-level communal granary carved into the volcanic rock.
European Conquest and Spanish Integration (1402–1496)
Early Explorations: Mediterranean sailors, including Romans and Genoese, visited the islands, but systematic conquests began in the early 15th century.
The Castilian Takeover: French explorer Jean de Béthencourt claimed several islands in the early 1400s. However, the fierce resistance of the native Guanches meant the full Spanish conquest of the archipelago wasn't finalized until 1496. The indigenous population largely assimilated into the conquering Spanish populace.
The Age of Discovery and Trade (Late 1400s–18th Century)
Gateway to the Americas: The islands became the ultimate resupply and staging point for Christopher Columbus’s westbound voyages across the Atlantic.
Cultural Crossroad: The Canaries became an indispensable hub for maritime trade, linking the Old and New Worlds. This left a deep imprint on the local culture, language, and agriculture.
The history of the Canary Islands spans millions of years of volcanic formation, ancient North African settlement, violent European conquest, and evolution into a global trade and tourism hub.
🏺 Pre-Colonial Era & The Guanches
Before European arrival, the islands were populated by indigenous peoples broadly known as the Guanches.
Origins: Genetic and linguistic evidence traces their roots to the Amazigh (Berber) populations of Northwest Africa. They likely settled the islands between the 5th century BCE and the 4th century CE.
Lifestyle: Living in near-total isolation for centuries, they lived primarily in natural caves. They survived on a hunter-gatherer and pastoral economy centered around goats and sheep.
Archaeological Legacy: Remarkable structures survive today, such as the Cenobio de Valerón—a massive collective granary carved into the cliffs of Gran Canaria.
Antiquity Contacts: The islands were known to the ancient world. Roman expeditions visited around the 1st century BCE, and Pliny the Elder recorded that the archipelago was named Canaria due to the massive wild dogs (canes) found there.
⚔️ The Spanish Conquest (1402–1496)
In the 14th century, European navigators rediscovered the islands. This initiated a century-long campaign of subjugation:
The Barons' Conquest: In 1402, French explorer Jean de Béthencourt began the conquest on behalf of the Crown of Castile, quickly taking the lesser-populated islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and El Hierro.
The Royal Conquest: Decades later, the Spanish Catholic Monarchs took direct control of the campaign to seize the most populous islands: Gran Canaria (conquered 1483), La Palma (1493), and Tenerife (1496).
Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479): Spain and Portugal officially settled their Atlantic rivalries; Portugal relinquished all claims to the Canaries in exchange for exclusive rights along the West African coast.
Fate of the Natives: The Guanches put up fierce resistance but were eventually devastated by superior military technology and European diseases. Those who survived were forcibly assimilated into Castilian society.
⚓ Staging Ground for the New World
Following the conquest, the archipelago became an indispensable naval and commercial outpost.
Christopher Columbus: In 1492, Columbus used the islands as a final replenishment stop before crossing the Atlantic. All his subsequent westbound fleets utilized the Canaries as a strategic springboard.
Global Target: The islands' wealthy trade routes, which exported sugar and local wines, attracted heavy attention from foreign empires and pirates. Notably, British Admiral Horatio Nelson attacked Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797, where he was famously defeated and lost his right arm.
Emigration Hub: Over the centuries, a massive Canarian diaspora migrated to the Americas, heavily shaping the culture and accents of regions like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and San Antonio, Texas.
🏨 Modern Era
Political Evolution: In 1936, General Francisco Franco used the Canary Islands as his initial launching base for the Nationalist revolt, sparking the Spanish Civil War.
Autonomy: In 1982, the archipelago became an Autonomous Community of Spain, divided into two joint capitals: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It officially entered the European Union alongside mainland Spain in 1986.
Economic Shift: From the 1950s onward, the traditional agricultural economy gave way to a massive boom in international tourism, making the islands one of Europe's premier holiday destinations.
If you would like to explore further, let me know if you are interested in a specific island's history, the mysterious whistled language of La Gomera, or more details on the indigenous Guanche mythology.
The Roman sailing ship was allegedly found in Ostia from the “Copenhagen sarcophagus,” 3rd century CE. Photo by GunPowderMa, 27 June 2008. Wikimedia Commons: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons.
The Canary Islands are now a popular holiday destination, with millions of visitors each year, especially from Northern Europe. The weather is comfortable, the scenery spectacular, the people friendly, and the food and wine excellent.
It was not always so. For centuries, these islands were sparsely populated and little known.
I’ve lived here for nearly ten years, first in El Hierro and now in La Gomera, and have visited all the others. Each is geographically and historically unique, so I’ve been writing each island's story.
I’ve previously covered the histories of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, and Gran Canaria. This story is about the early history of the Canary Islands before the Spanish conquest in the fifteenth century. Next, I’ll complete the set with Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
What we know and what we don’t
Fifteenth-century Spanish colonists were the first to write much about the Canary Islands, but people lived there for about two millennia before that. There are tantalizing hints that the islands were known to earlier European travelers, some of whom had sailed west long before Columbus.
It’s easy to forget how remote the islands were then. El Hierro, the most westerly island, was believed to be the world's edge—until the Americas were discovered.
Once people knew of the islands, legends grew. Facts and myths often merge in older stories, especially where material evidence is limited. The situation is further complicated because the first Canary Islanders also had their myths and legends.
There are many stories but little proof. Most of us know cases of partial truth or fiction assumed to be fact.
Some people still identify the Canary Islands as the remains of Atlantis, although they rose from the sea and didn’t disappear into it. Plato ( born around 425 BCE) wrote of this enormous island inhabited by wealthy warriors, which is pretty much the opposite of the Canaries. Such myths can be remarkably durable.
Another legend tells of an Irish monk, St Brendan (who died around 575 CE), sailing the Atlantic in a currach (leather boat) and visiting “San Borondon.” This mythical island even appears on medieval maps.
From geology, we know the approximate ages of the Canary Islands—rough dates when they emerged from the sea. We can’t be more precise because the volcanoes continued erupting for millions of years—many still do. The islands don’t just have volcanoes; they are made out of them—a continuous process.
Canary Islands map from Encyclopaedia Britannica, editor Hugh Chisholm, 1 January 1911. wikimedia commons, This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
Their geological ages are estimated as follows: Fuerteventura is the oldest at 22–23 million years old; Lanzarote is 15 million; Gran Canaria is 14.5–15 million; Tenerife is 12 million; La Gomera is 11 million; La Palma is 1.7–2 million; and El Hierro is the youngest at 1.1–1.2 million.
The first settlers
According to local historians, the earliest resident Canary Islanders were Amazigh Berbers, who arrived around 3,000 years ago. Others followed, probably fleeing conflict or drought. Inter-tribal conflicts were always common in the region, and sporadic migrations continued.
These North African people belonged to various tribes, some nomadic herders, others farmers or traders. Each island had its distinct population, with cultural and linguistic similarities and differences. Pintaderas, patterned clay shapes, probably used to paint the body, cloth, or walls, were found on Gran Canaria.
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Copy of a pintadera, from Las Palmas Museum. Photo by the author, June 2024
They also had different burial and funerary practices. In Tenerife, Guanches practiced mummification, as did some people in Gran Canaria. Others placed their dead in caves, built tombs, or used various methods at different times.
Migration has “push” factors, making people want to leave their homes, and “pull” factors, making them decide on a specific destination where they believe life will be better.
The three Punic Wars (264–241 BCE, 218–204 BCE, and 149–146 BCE) occurred while the Berbers were still migrating. These wars ended with the Romans brutally sacking Carthage.
Amazigh Berbers and their Numidian neighbors had participated in these wars and later revolted against Rome. Many Berbers had strong business and personal ties with Carthage but sometimes changed allegiance if it suited them.
People talk about their adventures, and others ask questions. The Berbers probably heard about the islands from Phoenicians, Carthaginians, or Romans and wanted to move here. Archaeologists are still searching for new evidence about the pre-colonial inhabitants. Fifteenth-century Spanish conquerors killed or enslaved those who opposed them. The rest blended into the new order. But the evidence is slowly emerging.
Their names for the islands were different from those we use now. For them, Tenerife was Achinet; Gran Canaria, Tamarán; La Palma, Benahoare; El Hierro, Esero; Fuerteventura, Ebani; and Lanzarote, Titeroygatra. Only La Gomera kept its old name after the Spanish conquest.
There is no evidence of inter-island travel. This suggests either they were brought to the islands or that later generations forgot how to navigate. (There is a theory that Romans used the islands as a prison colony, but our earliest evidence of Roman presence is from the first century CE when the Berbers were already here.)
We are a naturally curious species. From each island, you can see several others. It is puzzling that each group seems to have stayed on its island. The only possible evidence against this is a small obsidian tool found on La Gomera, which has no obsidian. Tenerife does, but so do some parts of Africa. Some inhabitants may have traveled, but we have no proof yet.
Travelers must have passed this way during ancient times. Other peoples ventured into the Atlantic, but only Phoenicians and Romans sailed as far south as the Canary Islands.
Phoenicians: Skilled mariners in search of trade
The Phoenicians hailed from the coasts of modern Lebanon and Syria. Their power bases were city-states, mainly Tyre, along the Levantine coast. They colonized Mediterranean islands and founded Gadir (Cádiz) in Spain (1104 BCE) and Carthage on the North African coast (814 BCE).
They sailed the Atlantic from at least 600 BCE in sturdy boats constructed with wood from the famous cedars of Lebanon, navigating by the stars and growing an extensive trading empire.
Phoenician Merchant Ship, depicted in National Maritime Museum, Haifa, Israel. Photo by Bukvoed, 4 May 2018. This file is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International license.
The first alphabet using letters was Phoenician. They built warships in kit form, using letters to locate where pieces joined, like ancient IKEA. If a ship was sunk in battle, they could replace it quickly. (The model pictured here is one of their smaller merchant ships.)
Gibraltar Museum has Phoenician oil lamps from the 6th and 8th centuries BCE and other artifacts found in nearby Gorham’s Cave. These lamps may have been offerings to gods as they sailed out through the Pillars of Hercules (now Gibraltar) into the Atlantic.
Phoenicians traded mainly by exchange; their merchandise included wine, oil, textiles, slaves, and manufactured goods (including glass, jewelry, and figurines) from their colonies. They were also skilled fishermen.
They first traded with Egyptians and Assyrians, then with Greeks, whose elites were especially keen on “Tyrian Purple,” a dye made from snails named after Tyre. Romans also valued it, and much later, Charlemagne’s shroud (814 CE) was made from Tyrian purple cloth.
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Linnaeus named these snails Murex brandaris, (now called Bolinus brandaris). They are native to Spain, Morocco, and the Mediterranean. You can learn more about Tyrian purple here.
Over 10,000 snails were needed to make one gram of dye. The snails were trapped and baked in the sun before being extracted. This labor-intensive process was done on the outskirts of towns, presumably due to the smell. There are shell deposits at many Mediterranean locations, including a 40-metre-high pile near Sidon. Unsurprisingly, the snails became scarce. The dye was 2–3 times the value of gold, so it would make sense for the Phoenicians to seek other sources.
The Canary Islands, off the coast of Morocco, were near their African routes. Winds, fog, and currents can also send ships off course. Phoenician and Punic (Carthaginian) objects dating to the 6th century BCE have been found near the Atlantic coast of Spain.
It would be no surprise if we found evidence of them visiting these islands looking for fish and those lucrative snails. But so far, there is no proof of direct contact. This is a map of their Mediterranean trade, but they may have traveled further:
Seeking raw materials for manufacturing, Phoenicians probably sailed to England and Ireland for tin and West Africa for gold. The Carthaginian Hanno the Navigator established a trading post on the Senegal River in the 5th century BCE.
Greek historian Herodotus (born 484 BCE) wrote about a Phoenician circumnavigation of the African coast between 610 and 595 BCE, traveling westward from the Red Sea. A stele in the temple of Baal at Palmyra depicts one of their African voyages.
Phoenicians certainly had the technology and experience for such ventures.
They dominated Mediterranean trade from 1500 BCE until Alexander the Great conquered Tyre in 332 BCE, and wealthy Tyrians fled to Carthage. Initially, Rome and Carthage co-existed, but as Roman power grew, competition between them increased.
In 264 BCE, the Romans captured a Carthaginian ship, which they used as a model to improve their navy. The three Punic Wars followed, ending in 146 BCE with Rome destroying Carthage.
Roman sailors who ventured into the Atlantic
The Romans were less enthusiastic and adventurous sailors than the Phoenicians and came relatively late to Atlantic travel. However, as their Empire grew, they needed to reach colonies in Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, and Britain.
They first learned about the Canary Islands from Juba II (25BCE-23CE), King of Mauretania and husband of Cleopatra’s daughter, Cleopatra Selene. The Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Ptolemy (100–170 CE) included the Canary Islands in his Mapamundi.
We know Romans as a conquering army, but they were traders and fishermen, too. After the fall of Carthage, they dominated the Mediterranean and shared the Greeks’ love of the prestigious Tyrian purple, so they needed Murex shells.
Whether or not they found the shells, the rich fishing around the Canary Islands likely attracted them. They had a favorite cooking ingredient, a fish sauce called Garum, which was also highly valued.
Making this sauce was another smelly job, starting with leaving ungutted fish in the sun to ferment. Roman cooks mix the sauce with wine, honey, and herbs. A similar sauce is still made today.
So far, Lanzarote and La Graciosa are the only islands with evidence of Roman presence. In 1964, a Roman amphora was found off the coast of Lanzarote; others were found later. The origins of these amphorae were initially questioned because 16th-century Spanish traders used similar vessels for American trade. But they were dated to the 1st–4th century CE.
How amphorae could be stacked for transport (these are not the ones from Lanzarote). By Ad Meskins, July 2008. wikimedia commons, This file is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
In the late 1990s, archaeologists digging at a site on Lanzarote called “El Bebedero” found potsherds, metal, and one piece of glass in strata dated from the first to fourth century CE. The potsherds were mainly from large amphorae used to transport wine, olive oil, or fish.
Mauretania (now northern Algeria and Morocco) was a client state of Rome from 49 BCE to 461 CE. They had plants for salting fish there, so the dates fit. Romans also processed Murex and fish on the Iberian Peninsula.
There is no record (so far) of the longer-term involvement of Romans in the islands.
Conclusion
Although we have scant proof, the Phoenicians likely knew of the Canary Islands and may have briefly traded here. We know for sure the Romans visited, leaving behind large amphorae.
Investigating the prehispanic history of the Canary Islands is a work in progress. Extensive archaeological work is slowly helping us learn more about the Berber aborigines. Each island now has its museum, with artifacts that tell the story.
Their sites, like the carved rocks of El Julán in El Hierro, the burial ground at Maipés in Gran Canaria, or the Cueva de los Guanches in Tenerife, are fascinating to visit.
We are also learning more about ancient travelers. One day, among all the legends and conjecture, I believe we will find the full story of all these people.
Kuelap, the Giant Fortress Built by the Chachapoya
In 146 BC, as the Romans conquered the vast Carthaginian Empire in North Africa, thousands of people fled their homeland. Now, science is suggesting some may have taken refuge thousands of miles away in South America. In addition to the scientific evidence, blonde, blue eyed indigenes suggest that contact with the West occurred long before Columbus arrived.
About the Episode
Did the Carthaginians flee the conquering Romans in 146 BC and take refuge thousands of miles away in South America? Professor Hans Giffhorns of Hildesheim University near Hanover, Germany believes they did.
In Secrets of the Dead, Carthage’s Lost Warriors, premiering Wednesday, April 2, 10 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), Giffhorns offers the proof he has meticulously collected to support his hypothesis. “Over the course of time, I have come across such a large amount of evidence, from a wide variety of areas, which all points towards one theory: that in ancient times people from the Old World reached Peru and joined forces with the Chachapoya,” says Giffhorns.
Did Carthaginian sailors, with possibly Celtic Iberians, journey to Peru 2,000 years ago? Convinced there were Carthaginians, who survived when Carthage fell at the end of the Third Punic War, Giffhorns begins his search for clues about their fate on the Balearic Island. What clues does he find and what do they reveal?
Why does Giffhorn think the dead at Kuelap, the mountain fortress in Peru, are actually the descendants of the Carthaginians and Celts? Do the similarities between the Celtic-Iberian settlement in Spain and the mountain fortress in the Andes support his theory?
Professor Schultz, a paleopathologist, featured in Carthage’s Lost Warriors, has identified cases of tuberculosis among the Chachapoya mummies, 1000 years before the Spanish invaders brought the disease to the new world. Does this prove that there was transatlantic contact with the Chachapoya before Columbus?
Also featured in the documentary is molecular-geneticist Professor Manfred Kayser, whose team of scientists have identfied a special marker for hair color in the human genome. Could, Kayser theorizes, certain blonde-haired, blue eyed indigenous people, be direct descendants of Celtic warriors?
Religious symbols and images of gods that are similar, a traditional slingshot from Mallorca practically identical to a reconstructed original Chachapoya slingshot from Peru – more than 6,000 mile away – as well as the same technique of skull holes for medicinal and ritual purposes used by the Celts and the Chachapoya also point to a connection between America and the Old World in ancient times.
The Petroglyphs on Pedra do Ingá
Examining the petroglyphs on the Rock of the Ingá
Kuelap, the Giant Fortress Built by the Chachapoya
Could the Celts and Carthaginians have made it as far Kuelap?
Behind the Scenes Gallery
See archival images and stills of individuals featured in Carthage's Lost Warriors.
This documentary rewrites the history of South America: Did Roman slaves escape to the "New World" 2000 years ago?
In 146 B.C., Rome attacked Carthage. The fate of the survivors: they became Roman slaves. This thrilling South America centric documentary poses a thought-provoking question: Could some of these Carthaginian refugees have fled their Roman captors, journeying across the Atlantic to seek refuge in the untamed landscapes of South America?
Unveiling for the first time, compelling evidence that sheds new light on this hypothesis, our documentary delves into fresh archaeological findings in the lush Amazon, employs cutting-edge genetic analyses of South Americas contemporary populace, and inspects the ancient secrets held by Chachapoya mummies. Assembling this historical jigsaw, the documentary uncovers an awe-inspiring possibility: Over 2000 years ago, Mediterranean seafarers – possibly escaping Roman dominance – might have populated the 'New World', thereby forming an unexpected link between the ancient Romans and the vibrant cultures of South America. Enjoy the documentary "Carthages Lost Warriors".
These minerals — including amethyst, sapphire (corundum), zircon, and nephrite jade — were all found in Newfoundland and Labrador. I’m at the Central MinEx Mining Conference talking with prospector Mark Stockley about real discoveries from the ground. There’s more out there here than most people realize.
