Canary Islands

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About the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are an archipelago of the Kingdom of Spain consisting of seven islands of volcanic origin in the Atlantic Ocean. They are located off the north-western coast of Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara). The name derives probably from a north African tribe (the Canarii) or possibly the Latin term Insularia Canaria meaning Island of the Dogs, a name applied originally only to the island of Gran Canaria. It is thought that the dense population of an endemic breed of large and fierce dogs was the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with the islands by the sea.

The islands and their capitals are:

• Gran Canaria (capital Las Palmas deGran Canaria)
• Tenerife (capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
• Lanzarote (capital Arrecife)
• La Palma (capital Santa Cruz de La Palma)
• La Gomera (capital SanSabastian de La Gomera)
• El Hierro (capital Valverde)
• Fuerteventura (capital Puerto de Rosario)

The nearest island is 108 km from the northwest African coast.

The islands form the Macaronesia Ecoregion with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Iles. The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third largest volcano on Earth. According to the position of the islands with respect to the trade winds, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species are laurisilva forests.

Four of Spain's 13 national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community:

• Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma,
• Garajonay National park on La Gomera,
• Teide National Park on Tenerife,
• Timanfaya National Park on Lanzarote.

The economy is based primarily on tourism, which makes up 32% of the GDP. The Canaries receive about 10 million tourists per year. Construction makes up nearly 20% of the GDP and tropical agriculture, primarily bananas and tobacco, are grown for export to Europe and the Americas. Ecologists are concerned that the resources, especially in the more arid islands, are being overexploited but there are still many agricultural resources like tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cochineal, sugarcane, grapes, vines, dates, oranges, lemons, figs, wheat, barley, corn, apricots, peaches and almonds.

The economy is E 25 billion (2001 Gross Domestic product figures). This is two times the size of Costa Rica’s economy and one-third that of Venezuela. The islands experienced continuous growth during a 20 year period, up until 2001, at a rate of approximately 5% annually. This growth was fuelled mainly by huge amounts of Foreign Direct Investment, mostly to develop tourism real estate (hotels and apartments), and European Funds (near 11 billion euro in the period from 2000 to 2007), since the Canary Islands are labeled Region Objective 1 (eligible for euro structural funds).

The combination of high mountains, proximity to Europe, and clean air has made the Roque de los Muchachos peak (on La Palma island) a leading location for telescopes like the Grantecan.

The islands are outside European Union customs territory, though politically within the EU. The currency is the euro.

Canarian time is one hour behind that of mainland Spain and the same as that of London.

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