History & Guanches

The Guanches (from "Guan Chinet" — "Person of Tenerife") settled the island at least 2,500 years ago. They originated from Berber peoples of North Africa and likely reached the Canaries with simple boats — but then lost the seafaring technology and lived isolated on their respective islands for millennia, without contact with each other or the outside world.

Culture and Lifestyle

• Society: The Guanches of Tenerife were divided into nine Menceyatos (kingdoms), each ruled by a Mencey (king). The most important: Taoro (present-day Orotava Valley), Güímar, Anaga, Tegueste, and Adeje. The society was strictly hierarchical — nobles, warriors, priests, farmers.
• Lifestyle: The Guanches were shepherds and farmers who kept goats, sheep, and pigs. They lived in caves (especially in the Anaga mountains and near Güímar) and simple stone houses. Gofio — roasted barley and wheat flour — was their staple food and remains so in the Canaries to this day.
• Mummification: The Guanches practiced a mummification technique similar to the Egyptian one — unique in Europe. The mummies (Xaxos) were buried in hard-to-reach caves. Several mummies are displayed in the MUNA in Santa Cruz.
• Language: The Guanches spoke a Berber language, which was lost with the extinction of the last Guanches in the 17th century. Place names (Tenerife, Taoro, Güímar, Icod, Adeje), plant names, and individual words have been preserved.
• Religion: The Guanches worshipped Achamán (supreme god) and Magec (sun god). The Teide was considered the seat of the evil spirit Guayota, who held the sun god captive in the volcano. Volcanic eruptions were seen by the Guanches as the battle between good and evil.

Ninety Years of Resistance (1402–1496)

The conquest of the Canary Islands was not a swift campaign — it was an almost hundred-year war. While the eastern islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) fell relatively quickly, the Guanches on the western islands put up fierce resistance.

Tenerife was the last island to fall. The conquistador Alonso Fernández de Lugo landed in 1494 with 2,000 soldiers — and suffered a devastating defeat in the Primera Batalla de Acentejo (1494): The Guanches under Mencey Bencomo killed over 1,000 Spaniards in an ambush in a narrow gorge. It was one of the worst defeats of the Spanish colonial forces.

Fernández de Lugo returned in 1495 with reinforcements. In the Battle of Aguere (November 1495) and the Segunda Batalla de Acentejo (December 1495), the Spaniards finally defeated the Guanches — aided by firearms, cavalry, and especially by epidemics (plague, flu) that had decimated the Guanche population. On July 25, 1496, the last Mencey surrendered — Tenerife became Spanish.

Colonial Period (16th–18th Century)

After the conquest, Tenerife quickly became an important trade hub between Europe, Africa, and the New World. The island benefited from the triangular trade:

• Sugarcane (16th century): First export crop, cultivated with slaves from Africa.
• Wine (16th–17th century): Tenerife's Malvasía wine was exported to England, Flanders, and the New World. Shakespeare mentions it several times.
• Cochineal (19th century): Red dye obtained from scale insects became the most important export — until synthetic dyes destroyed the market.
• Bananas (from 1880): Still the island's most important agricultural product today.

From Agricultural Land to Tourism Giant

The transformation of Tenerife in the 20th century is breathtaking. As late as the 1950s, the south was a barren, waterless semi-desert where hardly anyone lived. The few tourists who came visited Puerto de la Cruz in the north. Then came mass tourism:

• 1960s: Construction of the Reina Sofía Airport in the south (opened in 1978, but development began earlier). The first hotels were built in Playa de las Américas.
• 1970s–80s: Tourism boom. In just two decades, the south was transformed from a desert into a tourism metropolis. Hotels, apartment complexes, roads, water pipelines — everything was built from scratch. Tourism overtook agriculture as the most important economic sector.
• 1990s: Quality initiative. Tenerife tried to move away from the image of cheap holidays. Costa Adeje was developed as a high-end alternative to Playa de las Américas. The Teide became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
• 2000s–today: Tenerife welcomes over 6 million tourists annually — more than any other Canary Island. Tourism accounts for directly and indirectly over 35% of GDP. The island balances between economic dependence on tourism and the desire to preserve nature and identity.

Challenges Today

Tenerife faces a dilemma familiar to many Mediterranean and Atlantic islands: overtourism. Rental prices in Santa Cruz and La Laguna have exploded due to vacation rentals, young Canarians can hardly afford apartments, and some natural areas (Masca, Teide) have reached their capacity limits. At the same time, tourism is the most important employer. The discussion about what sustainable tourism might look like shapes the political debate on the island.