At one time the most westerly point of the known world to Europeans, these islands are shrouded in mystery as their early history remains unclear. Discovered and visited sporadically throughout history, concrete records begin with the Spanish conquest in the 15th century, which saw the defeat of the native Gaunche people who had come to the islands from North Africa in the 10th century BC. Tenerife and La Palma were the last islands in the Canaries to fall to the Spanish. Although little physical evidence of the Guanches remains, their language is immortalized in Tenerife’s name itself, which comes from a Guanche word meaning “snowy mountain”. Following the Spanish conquest, the colonists planted vines in Tenerife’s fertile volcanic soil, and the island was soon awash with vineyards, producing dry wines which became the island’s main export.

After the conquest, all seven of the main Canary Islands were considered a single province of Spain, resulting in a tug-of-war for dominance between Gran Canaria and Tenerife, the two largest and most economically important islands. This would continue until 1927, when the current political distinction between east and west was established.