Canary Islands Day (in Spanish: Día de las Canarias) is a public holiday in the Canary Islands, an autonomous community belonging to Spain, which falls on May 30 each year.
This event celebrates the culture of the islands and people, and also marks the anniversary of the first meeting of the Parliament in the Canary Islands on May 30, 1983.
The Canary Islands are a group of seven inhabited islands that form an archipelago (also called the Canary Archipelago) in the Atlantic Ocean, near the southwestern coast of Morocco.
In the past, the islanders were the Guanchians who made their living from fishing, picking fruit, farming and raising sheep.
In 1402 the Spanish conquest began, and ships began to arrive in search of slaves and treasures. The Guanchians resisted the Spanish conquest, which lasted about 100 years and ended in 1496, when the natives surrendered and were annexed to the kingdom of Cecilia (Spain).
The conquest of the Canary Islands was characterized by the enslavement of the islanders, the destruction of their culture and the domination of Christianity. The inhabitants of the original islands had to assimilate into the Christian population or be killed. The islands were an excellent strategic place for traders to go to India, Africa and America, which brought prosperity to many of those who survived the occupation.
On August 10, 1982, the islands were granted the status of an autonomous community.
 |
| Canary Islands Flag |
Some elements of the original cultures have survived to this day. One interesting element is Silvu, a language in which instead of talking - whistling. Today the language is almost extinct and can be heard in a few places in the islands, for example on the island of La Gomera.
Today's Canary Islands live mainly from tourism. The islands are full of sunny and exotic beaches, and spectacular views. There are many volcanoes on the islands, some of which are active, nature reserves of needle forests and subtropical forests, the shores of dunes and streams.
 |
| Copyright: tonobalaguer / 123RF Stock Photo A beach on Lanserote Island |
The islands that make up the Canary archipelago are: La Palma, Tenerife, Lanserote, El Aero, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Puertaventura.
The largest island is Tenerife, which covers 2,059 square kilometers and has about 908,000 inhabitants.
 |
| A street in Santa Cruz on the island of La Palma, Copyright: tonobalaguer / 123RF Stock Photo |