Origin
The impetus for the emergence of the Canary Islands dates back to the Cretaceous Period, approximately a hundred million years ago. In this period, the first instance of volcanic activity in the seabed occurred. Proof of this has been found on Fuerteventura. Having originated about 20 million years ago, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are the two oldest islands. The western islands El Hierro and La Palma are younger.
Together with a few smaller islands, amongst which the Ilhas Selvagens and a number of undersea volcanoes, the Canary Islands form a volcanic belt off the west coast of Africa. The islands are in fact the peaks of big underwater volcanoes on the seabed of the Atlantic. The ocean between the islands is up to 3,500 metres deep.
The largest part of Fuerteventura was formed about 5 million years ago and has since been eroded by wind and rain. On the seabed off the west coast of the island rests an enormous slab of bedrock 22 km (14 miles) long and 11 km (7 miles) wide. It appears to have slid off the island largely intact at some point in prehistory.
The last volcanic activity on Fuerteventura occurred some 4000 to 5000 years ago.
Early history
The first settlers of Fuerteventura, the Phoenicians, were reported in the 10th century BC. Centuries later, around the 2nd century BC, Berbers from Northern Africa, the Guanches, settled on the island. The Guanches wore shoes made of goatskin, so-called ‘mahos’. This is where the name of the current inhabitants of Fuerteventura, Mahorero (or Majorero), comes from.
Following the decline of the Roman Empire, the islands were ignored by Europe for more than a thousand years. They were then newly discovered by sailors from the Mediterranean. In 1312 Captain Lanzarotto reached the most north-eastern island. Later, this island was named after him –Lanzarote.
Around 1340, various Spanish and Portuguese expeditions took place, followed by Moorish and European slave trade. Towards the end of this Iberian conquest, Fuerteventura was divided into two ‘kingdoms’. The territories belonging to these were called Maxorata (in the north) and Jandia (in the south). They were separated by a wall situated on the isthmus La Pared. A few remnants of this wall can still be seen. The old name of the island, Erbania, has been derived from the name of this wall (‘la pared’ is Spanish for ‘the wall’).
Gradually, people started to discover and appreciate what the islands had to offer. In 1402 Lanzarote saw the beginning of the conquest of the Guanches. Two years later, the ‘conquistadores’ Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle conquered the sparsely populated islands El Hierro and Fuerteventura, encountering little resistance as they did so. On Fuerteventura they founded Betancuria, the first settlement on the island. The Portuguese vied with the Spanish for ownership of the Canary Islands. This rivalry lasted till 1479, when it ended with an agreement assigning the Canary Islands to Spain. A few years later (1483 – 1496) the rest of the islands suffered a gory conquest. All of them —Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Tenerife and, finally, La Palma — fell into the hands of Spain.
Recent history
In 1852, the Canary Islands became part of a free trade area. The military occupation of Fuerteventura, which started in 1708, was dissolved in 1859. Puerto de Cabras (currently Puerto del Rosario) became the island’s capital city. It still is the seat of the government of Fuerteventura today.
In 1912 the Canary Islands became autonomous. In 1927 Fuerteventura and Lanzarote became part of the province of Gran Canaria. Nowadays, the Canary Islands’ capital city alternates between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Education, healthcare and transport are managed by local authorities. The Spanish government is responsible for defence, foreign politics and finance.