The Canary Islands are a wonderful tourist destination in the Atlantic Ocean. All year round, the temperature on the island does not drop below 10 ° C, but there is no unbearable heat of 45-50 ° C.
Geographical position
The Canary Islands belong to Spain, but they are an autonomous region. The Canary Islands have 2 capitals, which transfer their titles to each other every 4 years. These are the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The Canary Islands consist of 20 islands of volcanic origin. The largest of them - Tenerife is famous all over the world for its beaches, hotels and nature; 6 more fairly large islands adjoin it. But the remaining 13 islands are too small and therefore they are still uninhabited. The total area of the islands is slightly less than 7, 5 thousand square kilometers.
Tourists from different countries come to the Canary Islands to enjoy surfing, diving and mountain climbing. Beautiful nature and inviting waves are waiting for everyone.
The closest neighbors of the Canary Islands by sea are Morocco and Western Sahara in Africa, Cape Verde to the southwest and the Portuguese island of Madeira to the north.
The smallest island in the Canary Islands, Montaña Clara, covers an area of only 1 square km.
Geographically, the Canary Islands are located in the Macaronesia group of islands, together with the Azores and Cape Verde islands, Madeira and Selvagens. The Canary Islands are located near the northwestern coast of Africa. Because of this position of the islands, the wind from the Sahara Desert - sirocco often blows on them, bringing with it heat and sand. But the cool air currents blowing from the northeast soften the effect of the desert winds.
The smallest hotel in the world called Punta Grande has opened on the island of Yero in the Canary archipelago, although it is difficult to stay in it - the rooms are scheduled several months in advance.
History of the conquest of the islands
Since ancient times, the Canary Islands belonged to Spain. But the Canary Islands were open to Europe by Christopher Columbus. After that, such beautiful they became the dream of many countries, they were attacked by both the Dutch and British flotillas, but the islands have always remained under the influence of Spain. They speak on the islands mainly in Spanish, because more than 80% of the population are native Spaniards. The rest are foreigners, usually Africans, trying to escape to the New World.
There are hypotheses that the Canary Islands are part of Atlantis that has sunk under the water. Therefore, the islands are constantly looking for confirmation of the existence of the island. Scientists are interested in the still unsolved ritual structures on the islands of Tenerife and Guimar.
