History

El Real de las Tres Palmas

On June 24, 1478, an army sent by the Crown of Castile set up a military camp at the mouth of the Guiniguada ravine. Around this settlement was built the foundational neighborhood, Vegueta, the germ of what today is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Real de las Tres Palmas was the first overseas urban center in Europe.

The foundational neighborhood

Vegueta still preserves the historical traces of the city. The construction of the Plaza de Santa Ana at the beginning of the 16th century marked the urban development of the neighborhood. Conceived as an administrative and religious nucleus, the location of the Cathedral and the Casas Consistoriales facing each other was a model that was repeated in the settlements in America, leaving the capital of Gran Canaria as a foretaste of that urban development. And also as a city with a unique historic center in the Spanish territory.

The footprint of Columbus

In 1492 Christopher Columbus set out on an expedition in search of a new route to the East Indies heading west across the Atlantic. During this voyage he landed on the coast of Gran Canaria to repair the rudder of one of his ships. In this way, Columbus linked the history of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to America. On three of his four voyages, the sailor made a stopover on the island. Since then, the Americanist vocation of the city has been one of the keys that have determined its development.

Against corsairs and pirates

The Canary Islands have always been a favorite destination for pirates, especially corsairs. These attacks by sea led to the construction, shortly after the foundation of the city, of defensive fortifications. In 1494, the Castillo de La Luz. In 1577, the Torreón de San Pedro Mártir, the Castillo de Mata and the walls. John Hawkins and Francis Drake tried to land, unsuccessfully, in 1595. Pieter van der Does succeeded in 1599. It was the largest pirate raid, and in their flight they burned and looted the city and took the bells of the Cathedral.

The British legacy

The Puerto de La Luz, the Santa Catalina Hotel, the Elder and Miller buildings, the English Club, the Queen Victoria Hospital, the Anglican Church, the English Cemetery, the Royal Golf Club… are some of the tangible examples of the British footprint. The first English families began to settle in the capital of Gran Canaria at the beginning of the 19th century, attracted by its role as an intermediate enclave to their African colonies, a place to trade and negotiate and also to enjoy the climate, beaches and landscapes.

The port, engine of the city

The history of the capital of Gran Canaria is linked to its status as a port city. Columbus placed it on the map as a stopover and provisioning base for ships passing through the mid-Atlantic. The first pier, inaugurated in 1811, was located in the area of San Telmo, in the old city. On February 26, 1883, the British company Swanston began the construction of the Port of La Luz (today, Port of Las Palmas) in the bay of La Isleta, an ideal location due to its natural disposition for port activity. Thus began the economic, social and cultural transformation of the city.

Cultural and scientific development

In the middle of the 19th century, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria lived a period of splendor and progress. At that time, three entities were born, by the hand of illustrious citizens, which survive to this day and became fundamental pillars for the promotion of the cultural life of the city and for the promotion of social and scientific development: the Sociedad Filarmónica de Las Palmas, the Museo Canario and the Gabinete Literario (Literary Cabinet).

Tourist attraction

The writer and “queen of mystery” Agatha Christie was a tourist in the Canary Islands in the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century and stayed at the Hotel Metropole, one of the first hotels in the city along with the Hotel Santa Catalina. The British were the first to recognize the goodness and beauty of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and from their hand came the first establishments and tourism to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the rest of the island. Today, tourism is the main engine of the Canary Islands economy.

From the island to the world

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the main international port of the mid-Atlantic and a great generator of economy and employment. Through the port, the city has absorbed diverse cultural influences: the Italians marked it as a strategic link in their commercial transits; it has served as a stopover for great artists in their travels between continents; it was the base for the international fishing fleet that fished in North Africa, and today, in the 21st century, it is the base for large companies in the offshore sector with operations in the Gulf of Guinea. It receives and dismisses cruise ships regularly and maintains its privileged position for the approach between continents.

Today, the city is the main urban destination in the Canary Islands. With 380,000 inhabitants, it is the ninth most populated capital of Spain and the administrative, economic, cultural and commercial center of the archipelago.