Canarian people
Encyclopedia
The Canarians are an ethnic group
living in the archipelago
of the Canary Islands
(an autonomous community
of Spain), near the coast of Western Africa. The variety of the Spanish language
spoken in the region is the Habla Canaria (Canary speech) or the Dialecto Canario (Canarian dialect
), a distinctive dialect of Spanish spoken in the islands.
ns and some Castilians
at the beginnings of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue the native Guanche
population and the Guanches were initially enslaved and gradually absorbed by the Spanish colonizers.
After subsequent settlement by Spaniards and other European peoples
, mainly Portuguese
, the remaining Guanches were gradually diluted by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo
, conqueror of Tenerife
and La Palma
, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Galicians, Castilians
, Portuguese
, Italians
, Catalans
, Basques
, and Flemings
. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese
and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians.
Today some of the traditional sports such as Lucha Canaria, Juego del Palo
or Salto del Pastor
, among others, have their roots in Guanche culture. Additionally, other traditions include Canarian pottery, words of Guanche origin in the habla canaria and the rural consumption of guarapo gomero
and gofio
.
Modern day Canarian culture is Spanish with some Guanche roots. The strong influence of Latin America is due to the constant emigration and return over the centuries of Canarians to that continent, chiefly to Cuba
, Venezuela
, Puerto Rico
and Nuevo León
in Northeastern Mexico.
The inhabitants of the Canary Islands hold a gene pool that is mostly of Berber
extract (native population) and partly of European (in the last 25 years, the population of Europeans has increased significantly, due to migration politics within the European Union), the Guanches
(a proto-Berber
population). Guanche genetic markers have also been found, recently in Puerto Rico and at low frequencies, in peninsular Spain, probably as a result of slavery and/or later emigration from the Canary Islands.
(37.6%), followed by U6
(14.0%), T
(12.7%), U
(except U6) (10.3%) and J
(7.0%). Two haplogroups, H and U6 alone account for more than 50% of the individuals. Significant frequencies of sub-Saharan L haplogroups
(6.6%) is also consistent with the historical records on introduction of sub-Saharan slave labour in Canary Islands. However some Sub-Saharan lineages are also found in North African populations, and as a result, some of these L lineages could have been introduced to the Islands from North Africa. A 2009 study of DNA extracted from the remains of aboriginal inhabitants found that 7% of lineages were Haplogroup L. This leaves open the possibility that these L lineages were part of the founding population of the Canary Islands.
A 2003 genetics research article by Nicole Maca-Meyer et al. published in the European Journal of Human Genetics
compared aboriginal Guanche mtDNA (collected from Canarian archaeological sites) to that of today's Canarians and concluded that, "despite the continuous changes suffered by the population (Spanish colonization, slave trade), aboriginal mtDNA [direct maternal] lineages constitute a considerable proportion [42 – 73%] of the Canarian gene pool.
Although the Berbers
are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements [e.g., the Islamic-Arabic conquest of the Berbers] have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands" and the "results support, from a maternal perspective, the supposition that since the end of the 16th century, at least, two-thirds of the Canarian population had an indigenous substrate, as was previously inferred from historical and anthropological data." mtDNA haplogroup U subclade U6b1
is Canarian-specific and is the most common mtDNA haplogroup found in aboriginal Guanche archaeological burial sites.
Y-DNA, or Y-chromosomal, (direct paternal) lineages were not analyzed in this study; however, an earlier study giving the aboriginal y-DNA contribution at 6% was cited by Maca-Meyer et al., but the results were criticized as possibly flawed due to the widespread phylogeography of y-DNA haplogroup E1b1b1b, which may skew determination of the aboriginality versus coloniality of contemporary y-DNA lineages in the Canaries. Regardless, Maca-Meyer et al. states that historical evidence does support the explanation of "strong sexual asymmetry...as a result of a strong bias favoring matings between European males and aboriginal females, and to the important aboriginal male mortality during the Conquest." The genetics thus suggests the native men were sharply reduced in numbers due to the war, large numbers of Spanish men stayed in the islands and married the local women, the Canarians adopted Spanish names, language, and religion, and in this way, the Canarians were Hispanicized
.
According to a recent study by Fregel et al. 2009, in spite of the geographic nearness between the Canary Islands and Morocco
, the genetic heritage of the Canary islands male lineages, is mainly from European origin. Indeed, nearly 67% of the haplogroups resulting from are Euro–Eurasian (R1a
(2.76%), R1b
(50.62%), I
(9.66%) and G
(3.99%)). Unsurprisingly the Spanish conquest brought the genetic base of the current male population of the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, the second most important Haplogroup family is from Northern Africa, Near and Middle East. E1b1b (14% including 8.30% of the typical berber
haplogroup E-M81), E1b1a and E1a (1.50%), J
(14%) and T
(3%) Haplogroups are present at a rate of 33%. Even if a part of these "eastern" haplogroups were introduced by the Spanish too, we can suppose that a good portion of this rate was already there at the time of the conquest. According to the same study, the presence of autochthonous North African E-M81 lineages, and also other relatively abundant markers (E-M78 and J-M267) from the same region in the indigenous Guanche population, "strongly points to that area [North Africa] as the most probable origin of the Guanche ancestors". In this study, Fregel et al. estimated that, based on Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the relative female and male indigenous Guanche contributions to the present-day Canary Islands populations were respectively of 41.8% and 16.1%.
An autosomal
study in 2011 found an average Northwest African influence of about 17% in Canary Islanders with a wide interindividual variation ranging from 0% to 96%. According to the authors, the substantial Northwest African ancestry found for Canary Islanders supports that, despite the aggressive conquest by the Spanish in the 15th century and the subsequent immigration, genetic footprints of the first settlers of the Canary Islands persist in the current inhabitants. Paralleling mtDNA findings, the largest average Northwest African contribution was found for the samples from La Gomera
.
The Guanches
are related to the indigenous Berbers
of neighboring Morocco. Guanche language
is firmly in the Afro-Asiatic family of languages, and is a dialect of the Berber subfamily
therein.
They were left isolated on the islands, until the Spanish arrived in the 15th century, allowing no contact and mixing with other ethnic groups.
Canary Islanders may descend from the Guanches as much as the Spanish.
The Canarian population includes long-tenured and new waves of Spanish immigrants, including Galicians, Castilians, Catalans, Basques and Asturian
s of Spain; and Portuguese
, Italians, the Dutch people
or Flemings, and French people
. As of 2008, the total Canarian population is 2,075,968. Over 1,541,381 people are native Canarian-born, and another 178,613 people from the Spanish mainland with a total 1,792,121 Spanish population. Most of the 283,847 foreign-born citizens are Europeans with 155,415, such as Germans
(39,505), British
(37,937) and Italians (24,177).
There are 86,287 from the Americas, with Colombian
s (21,798), Venezuelan
s (11,958), Cubans
(11,098) and Argentines (10,159) being the most numerous.
beliefs such as Protestants from northern Europe and Africans following Islam
.
as early as the 15th century, mainly in, Cuba
, Puerto Rico
, Venezuela
and Uruguay
.
The Canarians were known as Isleños
("islanders") to peninsular Spanish, and they also went by that name during emigration to the Americas. In the United States, they settled in two places: Louisiana
and Texas
, both then parts of the Spanish Empire
, with Louisiana being the premier settlement. When referring to the Isleños in the United States, it usually applies to the Canarian descendants of Louisiana. There were four places in southeast Louisiana settled by Isleños, with the main settlement being St. Bernard Parish.
The Isleños still speak the Canarian dialect of Spanish. Their Spanish has some borrowed words from neighboring cultures. The Isleños are proud of their heritage and have annual festivals in Louisiana to celebrate their culture
. There is a museum as well as an exclusive Isleño cemetery
and a church in St. Bernard Parish. The Isleños have dominated the fishing and farming industries, especially sugarcane
.
In Texas, in earlier times, there was a small community of Isleños that founded San Antonio in 1731, one hundred years before the first English-speaking immigrants arrived in the region.
As far as Latin America
is concerned, Canarian emigration to Cuba
and Puerto Rico
has been there for centuries as well. Canarian people greatly influenced the Cuban culture, even those typical Cuba
n industries such as tobacco
and sugar
have the signature of Canarian people. In Puerto Rico, whole villages were founded by Canarian settlers. In addition, several towns across the Northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León were founded by Canarian settlers, the most recognized Canarian settlement, took place in 1604, which was led by Canarian settler Bernabé de las Casas in the Salinas Valley region of the former New Kingdom of León
, this was a crucial event for the subsequent expansion of Canarian settlements in Texas.
}.
consisting of seven islands of volcanic
origin in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
living in the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
(an autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Spain), near the coast of Western Africa. The variety of the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
spoken in the region is the Habla Canaria (Canary speech) or the Dialecto Canario (Canarian dialect
Canarian Spanish
Canarian Spanish is a variant of standard Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands by the Canarian people, and in the southeastern section of Louisiana in Isleño communities that emigrated to the Americas as early as the 18th century...
), a distinctive dialect of Spanish spoken in the islands.
History
The islands were conquered by mostly AndalusiaAndalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
ns and some Castilians
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
at the beginnings of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue the native Guanche
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
population and the Guanches were initially enslaved and gradually absorbed by the Spanish colonizers.
After subsequent settlement by Spaniards and other European peoples
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
, mainly Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, the remaining Guanches were gradually diluted by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo
Alonso Fernández de Lugo
Javier Alonso Luis Fernández de Lugo was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma and Tenerife for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the Canary Islands to be conquered by Europeans. He was also the founder of the towns...
, conqueror of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
and La Palma
La Palma
La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...
, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Galicians, Castilians
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Italians
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Catalans
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
, Basques
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
, and Flemings
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians.
Today some of the traditional sports such as Lucha Canaria, Juego del Palo
Juego del Palo
Juego del Palo is a traditional martial art/folk sport of stick fighting practiced in the Canary Islands. It involves the combative use of a slender stick from long, wielded in both hands, and characterised by fluid motion in attacks and defences.-History:...
or Salto del Pastor
Salto del pastor
The shepherd's leap is a spectacular folk sport practised throughout the Canary Islands.-History:The origins of salto del pastor may date back to the Guanches, the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands prior to the Castilian conquest period of the early 15th century...
, among others, have their roots in Guanche culture. Additionally, other traditions include Canarian pottery, words of Guanche origin in the habla canaria and the rural consumption of guarapo gomero
Garapa
Garapa or Caldo de cana is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the juice of raw sugar cane. Sugar cane juice is consumed as a beverage worldwide, and especially in regions where sugarcane is commercially grown such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America...
and gofio
Gofio
Gofio is the Canary Islands name for flour made from roasted grains or other starchy plants , some varieties containing a little added salt...
.
Modern day Canarian culture is Spanish with some Guanche roots. The strong influence of Latin America is due to the constant emigration and return over the centuries of Canarians to that continent, chiefly to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
in Northeastern Mexico.
Ancestry
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
extract (native population) and partly of European (in the last 25 years, the population of Europeans has increased significantly, due to migration politics within the European Union), the Guanches
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
(a proto-Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
population). Guanche genetic markers have also been found, recently in Puerto Rico and at low frequencies, in peninsular Spain, probably as a result of slavery and/or later emigration from the Canary Islands.
Population genetics
The most frequent mtDNA haplogroup in Canary Islands is HHaplogroup H (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup H is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup that likely originated in Southwest Asia 25,000-30,000 YBP.-Origin:...
(37.6%), followed by U6
Haplogroup U (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup U descends from a woman in the Haplogroup R branch of the phylogenetic tree, who lived around 55,000 years ago...
(14.0%), T
Haplogroup T (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup T is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Known Origins:Mitochondrial Haplogroup T derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to haplogroup J...
(12.7%), U
Haplogroup U (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup U descends from a woman in the Haplogroup R branch of the phylogenetic tree, who lived around 55,000 years ago...
(except U6) (10.3%) and J
Haplogroup J (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup J is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.Haplogroup J derives from the haplogroup JT, which also gave rise to Haplogroup T. In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes named the originator of this mtDNA haplogroup Jasmine...
(7.0%). Two haplogroups, H and U6 alone account for more than 50% of the individuals. Significant frequencies of sub-Saharan L haplogroups
Haplogroup L1 (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup L1 is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup common in Central and West Africa.-Origin:Haplogroup L1 is believed to have appeared approximately 110,000 to 170,000 years ago...
(6.6%) is also consistent with the historical records on introduction of sub-Saharan slave labour in Canary Islands. However some Sub-Saharan lineages are also found in North African populations, and as a result, some of these L lineages could have been introduced to the Islands from North Africa. A 2009 study of DNA extracted from the remains of aboriginal inhabitants found that 7% of lineages were Haplogroup L. This leaves open the possibility that these L lineages were part of the founding population of the Canary Islands.
A 2003 genetics research article by Nicole Maca-Meyer et al. published in the European Journal of Human Genetics
European Journal of Human Genetics
The European Journal of Human Genetics is the official journal of the European Society of Human Genetics. It focuses on human genetics, and is published monthly by the Nature Publishing Group...
compared aboriginal Guanche mtDNA (collected from Canarian archaeological sites) to that of today's Canarians and concluded that, "despite the continuous changes suffered by the population (Spanish colonization, slave trade), aboriginal mtDNA [direct maternal] lineages constitute a considerable proportion [42 – 73%] of the Canarian gene pool.
Although the Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements [e.g., the Islamic-Arabic conquest of the Berbers] have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands" and the "results support, from a maternal perspective, the supposition that since the end of the 16th century, at least, two-thirds of the Canarian population had an indigenous substrate, as was previously inferred from historical and anthropological data." mtDNA haplogroup U subclade U6b1
Haplogroup U (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup U descends from a woman in the Haplogroup R branch of the phylogenetic tree, who lived around 55,000 years ago...
is Canarian-specific and is the most common mtDNA haplogroup found in aboriginal Guanche archaeological burial sites.
Y-DNA, or Y-chromosomal, (direct paternal) lineages were not analyzed in this study; however, an earlier study giving the aboriginal y-DNA contribution at 6% was cited by Maca-Meyer et al., but the results were criticized as possibly flawed due to the widespread phylogeography of y-DNA haplogroup E1b1b1b, which may skew determination of the aboriginality versus coloniality of contemporary y-DNA lineages in the Canaries. Regardless, Maca-Meyer et al. states that historical evidence does support the explanation of "strong sexual asymmetry...as a result of a strong bias favoring matings between European males and aboriginal females, and to the important aboriginal male mortality during the Conquest." The genetics thus suggests the native men were sharply reduced in numbers due to the war, large numbers of Spanish men stayed in the islands and married the local women, the Canarians adopted Spanish names, language, and religion, and in this way, the Canarians were Hispanicized
Hispanicization
Hispanicisation or Hispanisation refers to the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Hispanic culture or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-Hispanic becomes Hispanic...
.
According to a recent study by Fregel et al. 2009, in spite of the geographic nearness between the Canary Islands and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, the genetic heritage of the Canary islands male lineages, is mainly from European origin. Indeed, nearly 67% of the haplogroups resulting from are Euro–Eurasian (R1a
Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup R1a is the phylogenetic name of a major clade of Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups. In other words, it is a way of grouping a significant part of all modern men according to a shared male-line ancestor. It is common in many parts of Eurasia and is frequently discussed in human...
(2.76%), R1b
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. T. Karafet et al. estimated the age of R1, the parent of R1b, as 18,500 years before present....
(50.62%), I
Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup I is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup IJ, itself a derivative of Haplogroup IJK....
(9.66%) and G
Haplogroup G (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup G is a Y-chromosome haplogroup. It is a branch of Haplogroup F . Haplogroup G has an overall low frequency in most populations but is widely distributed within many ethnic groups of the Old World in Europe, northern and western Asia, northern Africa, the Middle East,...
(3.99%)). Unsurprisingly the Spanish conquest brought the genetic base of the current male population of the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, the second most important Haplogroup family is from Northern Africa, Near and Middle East. E1b1b (14% including 8.30% of the typical berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
haplogroup E-M81), E1b1a and E1a (1.50%), J
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup J is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is one of the major male lines of all living men...
(14%) and T
Haplogroup T (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup T is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. From 2002 to 2008, it was known as Haplogroup K2. It should not be confused with the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup T, of the same name....
(3%) Haplogroups are present at a rate of 33%. Even if a part of these "eastern" haplogroups were introduced by the Spanish too, we can suppose that a good portion of this rate was already there at the time of the conquest. According to the same study, the presence of autochthonous North African E-M81 lineages, and also other relatively abundant markers (E-M78 and J-M267) from the same region in the indigenous Guanche population, "strongly points to that area [North Africa] as the most probable origin of the Guanche ancestors". In this study, Fregel et al. estimated that, based on Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the relative female and male indigenous Guanche contributions to the present-day Canary Islands populations were respectively of 41.8% and 16.1%.
An autosomal
Autosome
An autosome is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, or allosome; that is to say, there is an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. For example, in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. In addition to autosomes, there are sex chromosomes, to be specific: X and Y...
study in 2011 found an average Northwest African influence of about 17% in Canary Islanders with a wide interindividual variation ranging from 0% to 96%. According to the authors, the substantial Northwest African ancestry found for Canary Islanders supports that, despite the aggressive conquest by the Spanish in the 15th century and the subsequent immigration, genetic footprints of the first settlers of the Canary Islands persist in the current inhabitants. Paralleling mtDNA findings, the largest average Northwest African contribution was found for the samples from La Gomera
La Gomera
La Gomera is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. In area, it is the second-smallest of the seven main islands of this group.- Political organization :...
.
| Island | N | Average NW African ancestry |
| La Gomera | 7 | 42.50% |
| Fuerteventura | 10 | 21.60% |
| La Palma | 7 | 21.00% |
| El Hierro | 7 | 19.80% |
| Lanzarote | 13 | 16.40% |
| Tenerife | 30 | 14.30% |
| Gran Canaria | 30 | 12.40% |
| Total Canary Islanders | 104 | 17.40% |
| Island/NW African mtDna | N | %U6 | %L | Total | Study |
| La Gomera | 46 | 50.01% | 10.86% | 60.87% | Fregel 2009 |
| El Hierro | 32 | 21.88% | 12.49% | 34.37% | Fregel 2009 |
| Lanzarote | 49 | 20.40% | 8.16% | 28.56% | Fregel 2009 |
| Gran Canaria | 80 | 11.25% | 10% | 21.25% | Fregel 2009 |
| Tenerife | 174 | 12.09% | 7.45% | 19.54% | Fregel 2009 |
| La Palma | 68 | 17.65% | 1.47% | 19.12% | Fregel 2009 |
| Fuerteventura | 42 | 16.66% | 2.38% | 19.04% | Fregel 2009 |
Modern Canarians
| Population history | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | |
| 1768 | 155,763 | |
| 1787 | 168,928 | |
| 1797 | 173,865 | |
| 1842 | 241,266 | |
| 1860 | 237,036 | |
| 1887 | 301,983 | |
| 1900 | 364,408 | |
| 1920 | 488,483 | |
| 1940 | 687,937 | |
| 1960 | 966,177 | |
| 1981 | 1,367,646 | |
| 1990 | 1,589,403 | |
| 2000 | 1,716,276 | |
| 2008 | 2,075,968 | |
| Figures between 1768-2008. | ||
The Guanches
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
are related to the indigenous Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
of neighboring Morocco. Guanche language
Guanche language
Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It is only known today through a few sentences and individual words recorded by early travellers, supplemented by several placenames, as well as some words assimilated into the...
is firmly in the Afro-Asiatic family of languages, and is a dialect of the Berber subfamily
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
therein.
They were left isolated on the islands, until the Spanish arrived in the 15th century, allowing no contact and mixing with other ethnic groups.
Canary Islanders may descend from the Guanches as much as the Spanish.
Demographics
| Demographics of the Canary Islands (2009) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Population | Percent |
| Canarian | 1,547,611 | 73.7% |
| Mainland Spanish Spanish people The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history.... (Peninsulares Peninsulares In the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas or Philippines... ) |
178,613 | 12.0% |
| Spanish total | 1,799,373 | 85.7% |
| Foreign-born nationals | 299,220 | 14.3% |
| Total | 2,098,593 | 100% |
The Canarian population includes long-tenured and new waves of Spanish immigrants, including Galicians, Castilians, Catalans, Basques and Asturian
Asturian people
The Asturians are one of the nationalisms of Spain, issuing from the historical country of the Principality of Asturias. They have Celtiberian heritage, related to its historical and cultural links with neighbouring Galicia, as well as Visigothic cultural influences most notably found in the...
s of Spain; and Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, Italians, the Dutch people
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
or Flemings, and French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
. As of 2008, the total Canarian population is 2,075,968. Over 1,541,381 people are native Canarian-born, and another 178,613 people from the Spanish mainland with a total 1,792,121 Spanish population. Most of the 283,847 foreign-born citizens are Europeans with 155,415, such as Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
(39,505), British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
(37,937) and Italians (24,177).
There are 86,287 from the Americas, with Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
s (21,798), Venezuelan
Venezuelan people
Venezuelan people are from a multiethnic nation in South America called Venezuela. Venezuelans are predominantly Roman Catholic and speak Spanish, and a majority of them are the result of a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
s (11,958), Cubans
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
(11,098) and Argentines (10,159) being the most numerous.
Religion
The overwhelming majority of native Canarians are Roman Catholic with various smaller foreign born populations of other ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
beliefs such as Protestants from northern Europe and Africans following Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Canarians abroad: the Isleño community
Historically, the Canary Islands have served as a hub between Spain and the Americas, and therefore large groups of Canary islanders have emigrated and settled all over the New WorldNew World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
as early as the 15th century, mainly in, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
.
Los Isleños
Isleños
Isleño is the Spanish word meaning "islander." The Isleños are the descendants of Canary Island immigrants to Louisiana, Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and other parts of the Americas....
("islanders") to peninsular Spanish, and they also went by that name during emigration to the Americas. In the United States, they settled in two places: Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, both then parts of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, with Louisiana being the premier settlement. When referring to the Isleños in the United States, it usually applies to the Canarian descendants of Louisiana. There were four places in southeast Louisiana settled by Isleños, with the main settlement being St. Bernard Parish.
The Isleños still speak the Canarian dialect of Spanish. Their Spanish has some borrowed words from neighboring cultures. The Isleños are proud of their heritage and have annual festivals in Louisiana to celebrate their culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. There is a museum as well as an exclusive Isleño cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
and a church in St. Bernard Parish. The Isleños have dominated the fishing and farming industries, especially sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
.
In Texas, in earlier times, there was a small community of Isleños that founded San Antonio in 1731, one hundred years before the first English-speaking immigrants arrived in the region.
As far as Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
is concerned, Canarian emigration to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
has been there for centuries as well. Canarian people greatly influenced the Cuban culture, even those typical Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n industries such as tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
have the signature of Canarian people. In Puerto Rico, whole villages were founded by Canarian settlers. In addition, several towns across the Northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León were founded by Canarian settlers, the most recognized Canarian settlement, took place in 1604, which was led by Canarian settler Bernabé de las Casas in the Salinas Valley region of the former New Kingdom of León
New Kingdom of León
The New Kingdom of León , was an administrative territory of the Spanish Empire, politically ruled by the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was located in an area corresponding generally to the present-day northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León.-Origins:...
, this was a crucial event for the subsequent expansion of Canarian settlements in Texas.
}.
Canary Islands
Canary Islands (Spanish Islas Canarias ˈislas kaˈnaɾjas) (28° 06'N, 15° 24'W) are an archipelago of the Kingdom of SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
consisting of seven islands of volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
origin in the Atlantic Ocean.
Notable Canarians
- Ángel GuimeráÀngel GuimeràÀngel Guimerà i Jorge was a Spanish Canarian writer, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, to a Catalan father and a Canary islander mother...
, Writer - José de AnchietaJosé de AnchietaJosé de Anchieta was a Canarian Jesuit missionary to Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's history in the 1st century after its discovery on April 22, 1500 by a Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, Anchieta was one of the founders of...
, Jesuit priest and missionary - Francisco de MirandaFrancisco de MirandaSebastián Francisco de Miranda Ravelo y Rodríguez de Espinoza , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda , was a Venezuelan revolutionary...
- Carla AntonelliCarla AntonelliCarla Delgado Gómez is a Canarian-Spanish actress who uses the stage name Carla Antonelli...
, LGBT rights activist and actress - Rosana Arbelo, singer
- Rafael ArozarenaRafael ArozarenaRafael Arozarena was a Spanish poet and novelist who was born in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. He studied medicine and after that he started writing books, because writing is what he likes most and what he usually does. He spent his youth under the influence of the Spanish Civil War and the...
, writer - Javier BardemJavier BardemJavier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
, Academy Awarded actor - BencomoBencomoBencomo was mencey or king of Taoro, a Guanche menceyato on the island of Tenerife. He fought in the First Battle of Acentejo, a victory for the Guanches against the invading Castilians, after having refused the terms of Alonso Fernández de Lugo, but may have perished on the heights of San Roque...
, pre-Hispanic King - BeneharoBeneharoBeneharo was a leader-king Guanche of Menceyato de Anaga on the island of Tenerife. Beneharo was the first to oppose Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, and joined the war camp, in conjunction with other menceyes, faced Lugo in the First Battle of Acentejo in the Battle of Aguere and the Second Battle of...
, pre-Hispanic King - Agustín de Betancourt y Molina, engineer, Russian General
- Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur
- Manolo BlahnikManolo BlahnikManuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez CBE, , is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand.-Biography:Born to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and born and raised in the Canary Islands , Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva in 1965 and studied art in Paris...
, fashion designer - Olga Cerpa, singer
- José Comas QuesadaJosé Comas QuesadaJosé Comas Quesada was a Canarian painter born in the Puerto de la Luz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He is considered one of the greatest exponents of watercolour painting, both in the Canaries and Spain, of the last quarter of the 20th century.- Artistic beginnings :Comas started in the art of...
, painter - Óscar DomínguezÓscar DomínguezOscar M. Domínguez was a Spanish surrealist painter.Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, Domínguez spent his youth with his grandmother in Tacoronte and devoted himself to painting at a young age after suffering a serious illness which affected his growth and caused a...
, painter - DoramasDoramasDoramas was an indigenous warrior of the Canary Islands who was a member of the resistance on the island of Grand Canary...
, pre-Hispanic warrior - David SilvaDavid SilvaDavid Josué Jiménez Silva is a Spanish footballer who plays for Manchester City and the Spanish national team. Silva is capable of playing on the wing, as a traditional number 10 and sometimes as a supporting striker...
, football player - José DoresteJosé DoresteJosé Luis Doreste Blanco is a Spanish sailor and olympic champion. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he won a gold medal in the finn class....
, sailor, yacht racer and olympic champion - Luis DoresteLuis DoresteLuis Doreste Blanco is a Spanish sailor who won gold medal both in the 1984 Summer Olympics , and in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona ....
, sailor, yacht racer and world champion and olympic champion - Ruslan ElaRuslan ElaRuslan Elá Ayana Eyene , known as Ruslan Elá, is a former naturalized Equatoguinean football defender.-International:Ruslan Elá played for the Equatoguinean national team.-Clubs:...
, soccer player - Nicolás EstévanezNicolás EstévanezNicolás Estévanez was a Spanish military officer, politician and poet.Born in Las Palmas on 17 February 1838 the son of captain Francisco Estévanez and of Isabel Murphy...
, politician - José Franchy y Roca, journalist and politician, Minister of Industry in the Second Spanish RepublicSecond Spanish RepublicThe Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
- Juan Carlos FresnadilloJuan Carlos FresnadilloJuan Carlos Fresnadillo is a Spanish film director, script writer, and producer. He directed Intacto and 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. His film Esposados was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1996.-Early life:Fresnadillo was born in...
, filmmaker - Pedro García CabreraPedro García CabreraPedro García Cabrera was a Spanish writer and poet. A member of the Generation of '27, he is considered one of the greatest poets of the Canary Islands.-Early life:...
, poet - Antonio González y González, scientist, chemist
- Fernando GuanartemeFernando GuanartemeFernando Guanarteme was a Guanche ally of the Spaniards who assisted them in their conquest of the Canary Islands during the late fifteenth century. He was originally from Gran Canaria...
, pre-Hispanic king - Pedro GuerraPedro GuerraPedro Manuel Guerra Mansito is a Spanish singer-songwriter.- Biography :Guerra is the son of Pedro Guerra Cabrera the first President of the Canarian parliament....
, music composer and singer - Emeterio Gutiérrez AlbeloEmeterio Gutiérrez AlbeloEmeterio Gutiérrez Albelo was a Spanish poet and participated in the Generación del 27....
, poet - Nancy Fabiola HerreraNancy Fabiola HerreraNancy Fabiola Herrera is a mezzo-soprano opera singer. Born in Venezuela to Canarian parents, Herrera is the recipient of the "Best Zarzuela Singer of 2007" award presented by the Fundación Premios Liricos Teatro Campoamor, for her performance in Ruperto Chapí's La Bruja.In the summer of 2006,...
, mezzo-soprano opera singer - Manolo Hussein, professional basketball coach
- K-NariasK-NariasK-Narias is a music group reggaeton formed by Gara and Loida, twin sisters born on the 12th of January 1985 and raised in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.K-Narias identify themselves with the urban genre, music that comes from the “street”...
, reggaetonReggaetonReggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
pop duo - Alfredo KrausAlfredo KrausAlfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
, opera singer - Carolina BangCarolina BangCarolina Herrera Bang , professionally known as Carolina Bang, is a Spanish actress. She is the best known to wider audience for her role in 2010 film A Sad Trumpet Ballad by Álex de la Iglesia, for which she earned a Goya Award for Best New Actress nomination.- Career :In 2005, Bang began her...
, actress - Juan NegrínJuan NegrínJuan Negrín y López was a Spanish politician and physician.-Early years:Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Negrín came from a religious middle-class family...
, politician - Fernando León y CastilloFernando León y CastilloFernando León y Castillo was a Spanish politician and a diplomat, he decided on an intervention of Spain and North Africa....
, politician - Juan Fernando López AguilarJuan Fernando López AguilarJuan Fernando López Aguilar is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politician, and former Minister of Justice in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He also represented Las Palmas in the congress between 2000 and 2004....
, politician and jurist, former Minister of Justice - Domingo López TorresDomingo López TorresDomingo López Torres was a Canary painter, writer, and poet. Born to a very poor family in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he became an autodidact and convinced Marxist, playing a large role in the development of revolutionary intellectualism in the Canary Islands...
, painter, writer, poet and marxist revolutionary - ManinidraManinidraManinidra was a Guanche from Gran Canaria, brother of the Guanarteme Tenesor Semidan, later known as Fernando Guanarteme. Maninidra was the mastermind and executor of the destruction of the Spanish fort at Gando...
, pre-Hispanic warrior - César ManriqueCésar ManriqueCésar Manrique was an artist and an architect.-Biography:Manrique grew up in the area of San Ginés lagoon. At age 23, he participated in his first exhibition in Arrecife. He attended the University of La Laguna. In 1945, Manrique attended the art school San Fernando in Madrid for five years...
, artist - Cristo Marrero HenríquezCristo Marrero HenríquezCristo Marrero Henríquez , simply Cristo, is a Spanish footballer who plays for UD Las Zocas in the Spanish fourth division, as a forward.-Football career:...
, professional footballer - Manolo MillaresManolo MillaresManolo Millares was a Spanish painter. Self-taught as an artist, Millares was introduced to Surrealism in 1948. In 1953, he moved to Madrid and became an abstract painter. In 1957, Millares along with Antonio Saura and Pablo Serrano founded the avant-garde group El Paso in Madrid...
, painter - José María Millares Sall, poet
- María MontezMaría MontezMaría Montez was a Dominican-born motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s as an exotic beauty starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume adventure films. Her screen image was that of a hot-blooded Latin seductress, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling...
, actress, Hollywood Queen of Technicolor - Manuel Mora MoralesManuel Mora MoralesManuel Mora Morales , is a Canarian writer, filmmaker and editor. He completed his studies at the University of La Laguna on the island of Tenerife. He is the president of the Asociación de Editores de Canarias Manuel Mora Morales (born 1952 in San Sebastián de La Gomera on La Gomera, Canary...
writer and filmmaker - Narciso RodriguezNarciso RodriguezNarciso Rodriguez III is an American fashion designer.Rodriguez is the first child and only son of Cuban parents Narciso Rodríguez II, a longshoreman, and Rawedia María Rodríguez who are of Canarian descent. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey. His parents were against Narciso entering fashion: "They...
, American fashion designer born to Cuban parents with Canarian origins - Tomás Morales, poet
- Pily Nieblas, singer-songwriter and painter
- Leopoldo O'Donnell, General and statesman
- Frances OndivielaFrances OndivielaFrances Ondiviela is a Spanish actress. One of her best known roles was in Acorralada.Ondiviela was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She studied theatre and acting in Spain and Mexico...
, telenovelaTelenovelaA telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
s actress, former Miss SpainMiss SpainMiss España is the main annual beauty pageant of Spain that selects the official representative to the Miss Universe pageant. Runners-up go to Miss World, Miss International and Miss Earth.-History:...
and model - Benito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
, writer - Domingo Pérez MinikDomingo Pérez MinikDomingo Pérez Minik , was a Spanish writer.He was one of the personalities in Spanish critical literature of the 20th century. He initiated his literary activity on Tenerife's review Hespérides and confounded in 1932, in the direction of Eduardo Westerdahl, Gaceta do Arte, one of the periodical...
, writer - Alonso Quesada, writer
- Aythami RuanoAythami RuanoAythami Ruano is a canarian judoka.-Achievements:-References:* on JudoInside.com...
, judoka - Daida Ruano, six time WindsurfingWindsurfingWindsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
world champion, twin sister of Iballa Ruano - Iballa ruano, professional windsurfer, twin sister of Daida Ruano
- Pedro Rodríguez LedesmaPedro Rodríguez LedesmaPedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma , commonly known as Pedro or Pedrito, is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, as a forward or winger....
, professional footballer - Sergio RodríguezSergio RodríguezSergio Rodriguez Gomez is a Spanish professional basketball player. He is currently playing for Real Madrid...
, NBA basketball player - Jerónimo SaavedraJerónimo SaavedraJerónimo Saavedra Acevedo is a Spanish politician. He served as President of the Canary Islands from 1983 to 1987, and again from 1991 to 1993....
, politician, mayor of Las PalmasLas Palmas de Gran CanariaLas Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
and two times president of CanariesPresident of the Canary IslandsThe President of the Canary Islands is the head of government of the Canary Islands, one of the 17 Autonomous communities of Spain while the monarch Juan Carlos I remains the head of state as King of the Canary Islands.... - Mary Sánchez, Grammy nominated folk and bolero singer
- Sara Da Pin Up, hip hop artist
- Caco Senante, salsa singer and actor
- Carla Suárez NavarroCarla Suarez NavarroCarla Suárez Navarro is a Spanish tennis player. She began playing for Spain in the 2008 Fed Cup. On May 18, 2009, she reached her career high ranking at World No. 22.-2008:...
, tennis player - TanausuTanausuTanausu was the Guanche ruler of Aceró, on the island of La Palma , whose defeat by the Castilians marked the final conquest of that island. The island of Tenerife, conquered in 1495, was the last of the Canary Islands to fall under European control...
, pre-Hispanic King of Aceró - TinguaroTinguaroTinguaro was a Guanche sigoñe of Tenerife, also known as Achimenchia Tinguaro. He was the in charge of the area known as Acentejo. Half-brother of the mencey Bencomo, Tinguaro led the Guanche forces to victory against the invading Castilians in the First Battle of Acentejo...
, pre-Hispanic warrior General - Goya ToledoGoya ToledoGoya Toledo is a Spanish film and television actress and model.Born at Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, on the 24 September 1969, Toledo started out as a model before venturing into acting. Her most well-known role to date has been playing the model Valeria in the...
, actress and model - Jose Toledo, model and tv host
- Danny Vain, Professional Photographer & Lyricist
- Juan Carlos ValerónJuan Carlos ValerónJuan Carlos Valerón Santana is a Spanish footballer who plays for Deportivo de La Coruña as an attacking midfielder.Valerón is known for his technical abilities, especially passing skills and ball control...
, football player - Alberto Vázquez-FigueroaAlberto Vázquez-FigueroaAlberto Vázquez-Figueroa is a Spanish novelist. His novels have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.-Biography:...
, writer - José VélezJosé VélezJosé Vélez is a Canarian singer.In the late 1960s, a music teacher from the Organización Juvenil Española had the idea to create the music group Grupo Marabilla with some of his students, among them José Velásquez. When the group was dissolved, he began his solo career...
, singer - José Viera y Clavijo, historian
- Rosanna WallsRosanna WallsRosanna Walls is a Spanish actress and model.- Biography :Walls is of Cuban and Arab and English descent. Her career started at the age of 13, when she was selected for a Fast Ferry commercial with Fred Olsen...
, actress - Eduardo WesterdahlEduardo WesterdahlEduardo Westerdahl was a Spanish painter, art critic and writer, and a member of the Surrealist Movement...
, painter, art critic and writer, and a member of the Surrealist MovementSurrealismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members.... - Pedro ZeroloPedro ZeroloPedro González Zerolo is a Spanish lawyer and politician, currently a town councilman of the city of Madrid, and a member of the Federal Executive Committee of the PSOE where he holds the position of Secretary for Social Movements and Relations with NGOs...
, LGBT rights activist, lawyer and politician
See also
- White Cuban
- Nationalities in Spain
- Guanche languageGuanche languageGuanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It is only known today through a few sentences and individual words recorded by early travellers, supplemented by several placenames, as well as some words assimilated into the...
- IsleñosIsleñosIsleño is the Spanish word meaning "islander." The Isleños are the descendants of Canary Island immigrants to Louisiana, Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and other parts of the Americas....
- Canarian dialect
- Gran CanariaGran CanariaGran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...
- Las Palmas de Gran CanariaLas Palmas de Gran CanariaLas Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
, the city