Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands

Located on an archipelago of the North Atlantic Ocean just 110 km off the west coast of Morocco, the Canary Islands (Islas Canarias)are geographically part of Africa, politically part of Spain, but notably more Spanish than African.

Alas, during the high season of the European holidays, these islands are more European than Spanish.

Most of the islands are quite rugged as they are of volcanic origin and mostly originate from fissure vents. Geologists reckon that much of the islands were formed during the Miocene period between 14 and 9 million years ago. This period was followed by one of erosion, which lasted some 4 million years.

From the oldest to the youngest, the islands are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. In fact, La Palma and El Hierro, the youngest of the island chain, are still above the oceanic hot spot of slow-moving, thick oceanic plates and thus still in their shield building phase.

Many more recent volcanic activities have reshaped, expanded and destroyed the islands. For example, at El Hierro island intense earthquake activity since July 2011 resulted in a new submarine eruption which started on October 2011 at a vent just off the southern tip of the island.

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Globerovers Magazine July 2015

This article appears in the July 2015 issue of Globerovers Magazine.

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