Tenerife History

The recent volcanic eruption on La Palma got me thinking about the possibilities of an eruption here on Tenerife. I live a mere 300 meters from Monañia Taoro, one of the two very obvious volcanic cones in the Orotava Valley and right in the path of any future eruption lava flow from the crater downhill to Puerto de la Cruz and the sea below. Having read many accounts on various blogs about historic eruptions on…

On the 12th of September 1793, a post captain age 35 meets Emma Hamilton, who was 28 years old. Emma was married to Sir William Hamilton.Viscount Nelson fell completely in love with the beautiful elegant and glamorous Emma. The hero of Trafalgar makes a remarkable historic story, with a very public affair included. There is also a connection between Nelson and the Canary Island Tenerife. On the 22nd July 1797 Admiral Horatio Nelson launched an attack…

Ever since the Spanish conquest of Tenerife there have been extensive periods of emigration from the island, usually coinciding with economic downturns. Ships have always used the Canaries as a stopover on voyages between Europe and the Americas, making it easy to book a one way passage.The most popular destination was Latin America where Spanish is widely spoken. Cuba was one of the earliest destinations of the Canarian emigrants, where they played an important part…

In April 1657, The Royal Navy, under the command of General at Sea Robert Blake, won a devastating victory over the Spanish at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands during the Anglo Spanish War of 1654-1660. This defeat for the Spanish, the biggest since the loss of the armada in 1588, left the countries finances in ruins and forced her to abandon plans to invade Portugal.The British had been at war with the…

Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer and discoverer of the New World, had many connections with the Canary Islands.In August 1492, Columbus set sail from southern Spain to find a western route to the Indies, and also to prove the world was round, as many Catholic Theologians at the time were still insisting it was flat. Most educated Europeans however, had realised the world was in fact round since Aristotle’s work in the 4th century.He first…

Historical Events of Tenerife 3000BC –AD1500There is archaeological evidence from skulls found suggest that the island was inhabited by Cro Magnon Man.1100BCIt is believed that Carthaginians and Phoenicians visited the Canary Islands.1312Lanzarotto Malocello the Genoese explorer occupies Lazarotte and names the islands after him self.1340Ships from Spain and Portugal sent to investigate find the islands are inhabited by the Guanches, a people still living in the Stone Age.1401Jean de Bethancourt lands on Lazarote beginning the…

At the end of the 18th century controlling the seas was the key to world power. Great Britain was fighting the combined forces of Spain and France who were allies at the time and would fight over any port, bay or sea. In February 1797 the British defeated a Spanish squadron off the coast of Cape St Vincent, this event signalled the beginning of significant British domination of the sea. A few months later, Horatio…

Agatha Christie a writer of Murder Mystery books was known as the Mystery Lady. It was during the year 1927 that she herself disappeared for a while. This was a difficult time for Agatha. Her husband had an affair, and divorced her. Also Agatha had got into debt. Due to these circumstances she had an emotional breakdown, and could not be found for ten days. She then reappeared in a Hotel in Harrogate, claiming she…

Jubo Jubogha was a merchant prince, and founder of Opobo state which is in the Southern area of Nigeria. At the age of twelve he was sold as a slave. Jubo had good business sense at an early age, and worked his way out of slavery. Jubo became known as Ja- Ja for his dealings with the Europeans and British. He arrived in Opobo in 1870.   Jubo became involved in palm oil trading. He…

The town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife in the Canary Islands was founded in 1497 by Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and gets its name from the shallow lake that was there and was subsequently drained in 1837.   The town has two historical centres, the original upper town (Villa de Arriba) of 1497, and the lower town (Villa de Abajo) of 1502. These areas were laid out according to philosophical principles of…