Lanzarote and the United States: shared roots and living history
A little-known episode in the history of Lanzarote dating back almost three centuries connects the island to the United States, especially Texas and Louisiana. It occurred when a group of families crossed the ocean in search of opportunities. With this in mind, we suggest a tour of the corners of the island where the cultural legacy carried by these islanders to the New World still remains intact.
Teguise: a city from the time of Columbus
The Canary Islands were the last known lands on the globe that Christopher Columbus set foot on before embarking for America in 1492. On that and subsequent voyages, the stopover on the islands served to stock up on seeds and animals and to recruit people from the population who would become the first settlers.
Towards the end of the 15th century, Teguise, the capital of Lanzarote until the 19th century, was the economic engine of the island, and this was reflected in its palatial and stately architecture. If you want to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of that time, we suggest you stroll through the historic centre of the town, with its cobbled streets, houses, and squares, which still preserve intact the layout of the period. Set aside some time to visit the 15th-century Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a colonial-style gem.
La Villa is always full of surprises, but if you’re looking for history, Teguise offers almost personalized journeys through time. For example, the Castle of Santa Bárbara, a watchtower against pirate raids, now houses the Museum of Piracy. This is a very special visit because of its direct connection to the history of the island and its location in the same fortress that witnessed the attacks that took place between the 15th and 18th centuries.
And if you want a realistic thrill, explore some of the stories in Piratas de Leyenda (Pirates of Legend) by María José Tabar (2015) and then set out to find the Callejón de la Sangre (Alley of Blood), named after the terrible massacre carried out by Morato Arráez in 1586: “Rivers of blood ran through the cobbled streets of Teguise, stained by the pain of a people who had no time to defend themselves,” the book recounts.
Crops brought to America
Have you ever wondered how the first expeditions that crossed the Atlantic managed to survive such long voyages? The answer is that they did it by loading the holds of the ships with local seeds and animals: wheat, barley, chickpeas, figs… products that did not exist on the new continent and were introduced in the so-called “Columbian exchange.” The ships, which stopped off in the archipelago, also stocked up on domestic animals, such as goats from Lanzarote, which were particularly valued for their resilience, adaptability, and milk production.
The good news for any foodies on this historical immersion tour is that the island has carefully preserved its agricultural biodiversity and traditional crops, as demonstrated by the resilience present in the wine-growing landscape of La Geria or the small miracle of the region of El Jable. With these treasures within reach in every corner of the island, it is impossible to resist the wonderful variety of artisan goat’s cheeses and other delicacies from our mineral-rich land.
If you choose a wine tour, don’t miss out on the Museum of the Bodegas El Grifo, the oldest winery in the Canary Islands. Or if hiking is your thing, don’t forget the landscapes of Famara or Timanfaya, from where you can observe the unique architecture of the island’s agriculture in all its splendour.
Founders of American cities
The migration of islanders to the new continent, driven by the Royal Decree of 1675 and its “blood tribute,” which stipulated that for every hundred tons of goods exported from the Canary Islands, five families had to embark for America, plays a fundamental role in the history of the ties between Lanzarote and the United States.
This colonial policy particularly affected Lanzarote and Tenerife and led to the populating of Louisiana and Puerto Rico and the founding of cities such as Montevideo and San Antonio de Béjar (now Texas), whose first mayor in 1731 was Juan Leal Goraz from Teguise.
This exciting epic has been recreated with extensive documentation, in the book Estadounidenses con Pasado Lanzaroteño (Americans with a Lanzarote Past) by José Juan Romero Cruz, which is the result of a research project that reconstructs Lanzarote’s participation in more than 40 historical milestones on the American continent.
The Lanzarote legacy in Texas is now preserved by associations such as the Canary Islands Descendants Association. In addition, Lanzarote and San Antonio have recently signed a twinning agreement to strengthen cultural, economic, and tourist ties.
Search for your origins in Lanzarote
We conclude this tribute to the island’s pioneer families by inviting their American descendants to visit us. We can guarantee that it will be exciting to discover the legacy of the ‘Indianos’ who returned to their homeland. For example, in villages such as Tabayesco, Haría, and San Bartolomé, it is still possible to find the colonial houses they built: elegant, with wooden balconies and gardens, evoking the colonial style and bearing witness to a Lanzarote that projected itself towards America.
Are you a descendant of a Lanzarote family? In the Historical Archive of Arrecife, you can search through emigration documents dating back to the 18th century. Take advantage of your stay in the island’s capital to visit its marina, full of monuments and fortresses, and step inside the Arrecife History Museum, located in the Castle of San Gabriel, where you can enjoy an immersive experience of the history of Lanzarote and Arrecife.
We would love to welcome you back to your island, because there is something about this volcanic land that turns it into home for anyone who adopts it out of love: “Lanzarote is not my land, but it is my land,” Nobel Prize winner José Saramago once said.
Welcome everyone to Lanzarote!