Islands known to the Romans: Insulae Fortunatae (Fortunate Islands)
1402
Jean de Béthencourt (Norman) conquers Lanzarote for Castile
1479
Islands awarded to the Catholic Monarchs
1492
Christopher Columbus makes a stopover in La Gomera before crossing the Atlantic
1494
Bencomo inflicts humiliating defeat at Acentejo → "La Matanza"
1496
Tenerife falls, last island, after 94 years of cumulative resistance
La Laguna (founded ~1497):
- 1st colonial city without fortifications
- Model for South America
- Today classified as UNESCO World Heritage
Canarian sugar and wine shipped to America duty-free → crucial commercial advantage
- Nelson attempts to capture Santa Cruz
- Repelled by local defenses
- Loses his right arm (amputation)
- Emblematic example of Canarian resistance
La Laguna, UNESCO-listed historic district, 10 minutes from Santa Cruz by tram. Pedestrian center with 16th-century colonial architecture. Free entry.
La Matanza de Acentejo, Village whose name ("the massacre") commemorates the Spanish defeat of 1494. 20 minutes north of Santa Cruz on the TF-5.
Museo de Historia y Antropología (La Laguna), History of the Guanche people and colonization in a 16th-century colonial house. ~5€