The Flemish Islands of Canary

The Canary Islands. A somewhat old-fashioned, but still very popular holiday destination for many Belgians. Sun, sea and beach, what more do you want? What many travellers do not know is that a large Flemish community lived on the islands during the 16th century.

It is hard to spot traces of the Flemings who settled on the Spanish archipelago at the time. Only a handful of names refer to their presence. For example, the Caldera de Bandama, a breathtaking volcano crater on the island of Gran Canaria, is named after the Flemish Vandamme family. Similarly, there are street names such as Vandale Plaza and Westerling Street. And those who visit the Tazacorte valley on the island of La Palma should consider that once some Flemish families had vast sugarcane plantations here.

The Canary Islands are located off the coast of Morocco, but are still a part of Spain.  Despite their remoteness, evidence has been found suggesting that the Romans set foot there. The Portuguese made a few reluctant attempts to occupy the islands in the 14th century, but without success.

The Spaniards finally succeeded a century later, but not without a fight. The islands were already inhabited, home to the Guanchos, a people related to the Berbers on the African continent. The Guanchos offered fierce resistance against Spanish colonisation, but eventually lost the battle. Most died of new diseases, and the rest were enslaved. (A harbinger of what would happen later during the colonisation of America.)

Soon, the islands were an important final stop for Spanish ships making the crossing to America. Large plantations were established on the islands to grow sugar cane, grapes and orchilla, a lichen used to make dye. Trade between the outlying islands and mainland Europe flourished. And trade attracts people.

It was Italian merchants from Genoa who established the trade route between Flanders and the Canaries. Via Cadiz, the first ships carrying sugar and Canary orchilla reached the port of Antwerp in 1508. Antwerp had grown spectacularly after the decline of Bruges and at that time was part of the Spanish empire. It became Europe’s main port of entry for sugar in the decades to come.

So it did not take long before traders from Antwerp sailed off themselves in the direction of the Canary Islands, not only to sell goods but to set up sugar plantations.

By the middle of the 16th century, a large Flemish community lived in the Canary Islands, not only from Antwerp, but also from Bruges and the rest of Flanders, which was then called the Southern Netherlands. Most were sugar growers or traders, but there were also craftsmen who made the crossing, especially barrel makers.

Sugar production in the Canary Islands was dominated by two Flemish families: The Van Dales and the Groenberghs. Both families would give their names a Spanish touch, changing them to Van Dalle and Monteverdes.

Suspect Flemings

Meanwhile, unrest spread over Europe. Protestants and Catholics massacred each other, including in the lowlands. There was a revolt against Spanish rule, and during the Beeldenstorm (Iconoclastic Fury), many churches and abbeys were destroyed. Spanish King Philip II sent the Duke of Alva to restore order, and he brought with him the Inquisition. That worked out only partially. The Northern Netherlands were lost forever.

The events in Europe seeped through to the Canary Islands. The Inquisition was already, from the beginning of colonisation, active on the islands, but strengthened its grip. And every “Flamenco” was already a suspect in any case. Many Flemings were tried, often based on questionable evidence, though there were devout Protestants among them. Some of them were burned at the stake.

The zeal by which the Inquisition persecuted possible heretics had to do not only with faith; the Spaniards had prohibited all trade between the islands and the rebellious Northern Netherlands. But trade is trade, and soon a lively smuggling network developed. The Inquisition checked all vessels that docked on the Islands for nationality and religious purity.

But through the use of brokers and false documents, trade flourished as before. The fact that the Inquisition could confiscate the assets of convicted heretics must have been an extra motivation.

Eventually the Spanish empire collapsed and lost its overseas colonies. The Canary Islands remained Spanish, and the Flemings, already well assimilated, dissolved into the Spanish population. The islands became a sleepy, distant corner of Spain, until mass tourism took off in the mid-20th century.

Again, hordes of Belgians were drawn to the little islands, this time not for work or colonisation, but in search of sun and sea. The few traces of their predecessors 400 years earlier will likely have eluded them.

This article was first published in Flanders Today