Destination Information - Canary Islands

AIR INFORMATION – GETTING THERE AND AWAY
Polar Star Expeditions is not able to arrange your air but here are some details that will help with your planning. The airport in Las Palmas is Las Palmas Airport De Gran Canaria (LPA), located approximately twenty minutes from downtown and served by Iberia Airlines (www.iberia.com), American Airlines (www.aa.com) and British Airways (www.britishairways.com). Most flights will connect in Madrid. 

CLIMATE
The Canary Islands enjoy spring like temperatures year-round averaging 73°F/23°C.  The climate is dry and windy with little precipitation.

CURRENCY
The unit of currency used in the Canary Islands is the Euro.

ECONOMY
Agriculture - bananas, potatoes
Industries – tourism, construction, beverages, tobacco

ELECTRICITY
The electrical current in the Canary Islands is 220 volts.

GEOGRAPHY
The Canaries are a group of 7 islands – Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro – located 100km west of Morocco. In total, they are 7,447km² in size. The largest island is Tenerife at 2034km² and the smallest is El Hierro at 278km².

GOVERNMENT
The Canary Islands are one of Spain’s autonomous communities and are divided into the provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz.  

HISTORY
There is some debate concerning when human’s discovered the Canary Islands but we do know that in 1330, Italian explorer Lancelloto Malocello landed on Lanzarote’s coast and in 1341, a Portuguese expedition which charted the islands correctly for the first time.
The 15th Century saw a 94 year long battle by the Spanish to defeat the native people and take ownership of the islands. This battle ended on July 25, 1496 when Tenerife was conquered and natives were driven to the mountains to protect themselves. In less than 100 years their culture and language was virtually destroyed. The Spanish began colonising the Canary Islands and to support the growing population, a new industry was needed – winemaking. Vineyards began to thrive from the late 16th Century, strengthening ties with England who had a great demand for Canarian wine. America’s emergence into the global marketplace spelled the end of the thriving Canarian wine industry, which simply couldn’t compete with the low prices of American wine. This combined with violent volcanic eruptions on Lanzarote and internal conflict between the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife resulted in a very turbulent 18th and 19th Century.  Economic hardship continued throughout the World War I and II years and it wasn’t until the 1960’s that the situation improved. This was mainly due to arrival of tourism which would become the backbone of the Canarian economy. In the 20th Century, the population in the Canaries quadrupled and the islands now enjoy a stable economy, largely thanks to the ten million tourists who visit the islands each year. 

LANGUAGE
The language spoken in the Canary Islands is Spanish with some variations in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

RELIGION
The vast majority of people from the Canary Islands are Roman Catholic.

PEOPLE
The population of the Canary Islands is approximately 1.6 million people. 

TIME
GMT

WILDLIFE
Bird sightings include the Blue Chaffinch, Lourel Pigeon, Meade-Waldo Stonechat, Canarian Chiffchaff and Houbara Bustad. Twenty-six species of whales and dolphins and five species of turtles have been spotted in waters around the Canary Islands.