Islas Canarias - Home Page
About Islas Canarias
The Canary Islands (Islas Canarias) are a Spanish archipelago and the southernmost autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean, 62 miles west of Morocco at the closest point.
The seven main islands are (from largest to smallest in area) Tenerife, La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets. In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as “Las Afortunadas” (the Fortunate Isles.) Historically, the Canary Islands have been considered a bridge between four continents: Africa, North America, South America, and Europe. During the time of the Spanish Empire, the Canaries were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the Americas, which came south to catch the prevailing northeasterly trade winds.
In 1927, the Province of Canary Islands was split into two provinces: the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Province of Las Palmas. The autonomous community of the Canary Islands was established in 1982. Its capital is shared by the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which in turn are the capitals of the provinces. Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present.
The third-largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (a World Heritage Site) on the island of Tenerife.
Many Cubans have ancestors that migrated from the Canary Islands to Cuba.
IMPORTANT: Please contact, and credit, the CGC if you use any part of this collection by sending an email to secretary@cubangenclub.org.
Archivo General de Indias
Edificio de la Lonja
Av. de la Constitución, 3
Edificio de La Cilla
C/ Santo Tomás, 5
41071 Sevilla
The Archivo General de Indias (General Archive of the Indies) is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines. It is accessible through The Spanish Archives Portal (PARES) and was created by the Ministry of Culture of Spain as a platform for the dissemination of archival information prepared by the network of eleven state-owned archives.
The Canarias Participation in the Formation and Recruitment of the Louisiana Battalion
The following files are lists of recruits (including family members) and the ships on which they sailed from Gran Canaria to La Habana or New Orleans between July 1778 to May 1780. These lists were originally published in the article “La Participación Canaria en la Formación y Reclutamiento del Batallón de Luisiana” by Miguel Molina Martinez for the “IV Coloquio de Historia Canario-Americana” in Gran Canaria.
These lists are available through PARES. The “call number” for each file is noted.
Vessels
Paquebot = Mailboat
Polacra = Type of schooner
Fragata = Frigate
Bergantín = Brigantine
10 Jul 1778 – La Habana – paquebot “Santísimo Sacramento” – AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
22 Oct 1778 – New Orleans – Spanish polacra “La Victoria” – AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
29 Oct 1778 – New Orleans – fragata “San Ignacio de Loyola”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
9 Dec 1778 – New Orleans – paquebot “San Juan Nepomuceno”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
17 Feb 1779 – New Orleans – fragata “La Santa Paz”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
5 Jun 1779 – New Orleans – fragata “Sagrado Corazón de Jesús”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661
8 May 1780 – La Habana – bergantín “San Pedro”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2662
8 May 1780 – La Habana – bergantín “San Carlos”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2662
8 May 1780 – New Orleans – bergantín “Nuestra Señora de los Dolores”- AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2662
Sources: AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2661 and AGI, SANTO_DOMINGO,2662
Ebooks and Periodicals
MAGAZINES
Canarias en Cuba – Revista Mensual Ilustrada
Monthly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1946 – January, February, June and July editions
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Archivo de Prensa Digital
Las Afortunadas – Revista Mensual Ilustrada
Monthly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1922 – July 15th and August 30th editions
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Archivo de Prensa Digital
Biblioteca – Universidad de La Laguna
Click here – Once the page opens, type in the name of one of the periodicals noted below.
Cuba y Canarias – Revista Semanal Ilustrada
Weekly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1912 – Sept. 8th, Sept 15th, and Sept 29th editions
Cuba y Canarias – Revista Ilustrada de Intereses Generales Cubanos – Canarios
Weekly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1907 – October 30th edition only
Canarias – Revista Semanal Ilustrada
Weekly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1919 – December 13th edition only
Patria Isleña – Revista Semanal Ilustrada
Weekly magazine published in Havana
Availability: 1927 – September edition only
La Palma
La Tajea – Revista Digital
(2010-2016)
Ayuntamiento de San Miguel de Abona
ARTICLES
La fundación de Santiago de las Vegas (1745-1771) (Inmigrantes canarios en Cuba y cultivo tabacalero)
Source: Coloquio de Historia Canario-Americana Website
Article Published on the Genealogia Canarias Blog
Una Relacion Bibliografica para Genealogias en Canarias
Autores: Eugenio Egea Molina, Cristina Lopez-Trejo Diaz (2018)
NEWSPAPERS
Diario de Tenerife : periódico de intereses generales, noticias y anuncios
Available years: 1886 – 1917
Biblioteca Virtual de Prensa Historica
Soldados Repatriados de Cuba (Downloadable PDF)
Transcription of lists published on 17 Feb 1899, 6 Mar 1899,
and 21 Mar 1899
EBOOKS
Genealogías Laguneras
Jose Antonio Gonzalez Marrero, Coordinator
Secretary – Society for Genealogical and Heraldic Studies of the Canary Islands
Publisher – Department of Historical Heritage of the San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Available as a download on their blog.
Notas Sobre los Reyes de Tenerife y Sus Familias
Available through Memoria Digital Canaria (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
Author: Leopoldo de La Rosa Olivera (1956). La Laguna.
Colección: Revistas – Revista de Historia
Guia Genealogica de Araya, Las Cuevitas y Malpais
Available through the Gen de Candelaria Blog
Los Ranchos de Ánimas en Canarias – Aspectos Historicos en la Cumbre y Suroeste de Gran Canaria
Author: Francisco Suarez Moreno
Available as a download using the link above.
Origen de la Familia Machado (Estudio Histórico de la Familia Machado nº 1)
José Luis Machado Carilla
ISBN-13: 978-1090600172
ISBN-10: 1090600178
(As of March 2021, available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book)
Biblioteca Virtual Viera y Clavijo
Noticias para la historia de La Palma Vol. I (1975)
Author: Juan B. Lorenzo Rodríguez
Editorial: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, 1997 (La Laguna, Santa Cruz de La Palma: Cabildo Insular, 1975-2000).
Colección: Fontes Rerum Canariarum
Noticias para la historia de La Palma Vol.II (1997)
Author: Juan B. Lorenzo Rodríguez
Editorial: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, 1997 (La Laguna, Santa Cruz de La Palma : Cabildo Insular, 1975-2000).
Colección: Fontes Rerum Canariarum
Noticias para la historia de La Palma Vol.III (2000)
Author: Juan B. Lorenzo Rodríguez
Editorial: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, 2000 (La Laguna, Santa Cruz de La Palma : Cabildo Insular, 1975-2000).
Colección: Fontes Rerum Canariarum
Testamentos de Guanches (1501-1550)
Authors: Leopoldo Tabares de Nava y Marín, y Lorenzo Santana Rodríguez
Editorial: La Laguna: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, 2017
Colección: Fontes Rerum Canariarum
Testamentos de Canarios, Gomeros y Herreños (1506-1550)
Authors: Leopoldo Tabares de Nava y Marín, y Lorenzo Santana Rodríguez
Editorial: La Laguna: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, 2018
Colección: Fontes Rerum Canariarum
Digital Library of Castilla and Leon
Nobiliario y blasón de Canarias : diccionario histórico, biográfico, genealógico y heráldico de la provincia
by Francisco Fernández Béthencourt
Volumes I – VII are available digitally.
Tomo I – 1878
Surnames: Benitez de Lugo, Benitez de las Cuevas, Cologan-Franchi
Tomo II – 1878
Surnames: Castillo, Leon, Lercaro-Justiniani, Molina, Valcarcel
Tomo III – 1879
Surnames: Casabuena, Mendez de Lugo, Mesa, Nava, Tolosa
Tomo IV – 1880
Surnames: Marique de Lara, Massieu, Sotomayor
Tomo V – 1882
Surnames: Castro, Leon-Huerta, Roman, Tabares, Verdugo
Tomo VI – 1885
Surnames: Ascanio, Quintana, Van de Walle, Guisla-Ghiselin, Fierro
Tomo VII – 1886
Surnames: Del Campo, Guezala, Power, Ponte
The following titles are not available online – Use WorldCat to search for the nearest library.
Tomo I – 1951 edition – J. Regulo, Editor – La Laguna de Tenerife
Surnames: Benitez de Lugo, Benitez de las Cuevas, Cologan-Franchi, Castillo, Leon, Lercaro-Justiniani
Molina, Valcarcel, Casabuena, Mendez de Lugo, Mesa, Nava, Tolosa
Tomo II – 1954 edition – J. Regulo, Editor – La Laguna de Tenerife
Surnames: Manrique de Lara, Massieu, Sotomayor, Castro, Leon-Huerta, Roman, Tabares, Verdugo, Ascanio
Quintana, Falcon, Can de Walle, Guisla-Boot, Fierro, del Campo, Guezala, Power
Tomo III – 1959 – J. Regulo, Editor – La Laguna de Tenerife
Surnames: Ponte, Condes de la Gomera, Peraza de Ayala, Alvarez, Miranda, Muxica-Lazcano, Porlier,
Montemayor, Espinosa de la Puerta, Monteverde, Bethencourt, Fuentes, Matos, Poggio, Hoyo-Solorzano
Tomo IV – 1967 – J. Regulo, Editor – La Laguna de Tenerife
Surnames: Salazar de Frias, Castilla, Zarate, Cullen, Bravo de Laguna, Espinosa-Ayala, Machado,
Garcia de Aguiar, Chirino, Lecuona, Anchieta, Lorenzo-Caceres, Brier, Velez de Ontanilla, LLarena
Addiciones y rectificaciones a: Ascanio, Bethencourt-Ayala, Castro-Ayala, Falcon, Garcia de Aguiar,
Manrique de Lara, Mesa, Riverol, Verdugo