History of Los Gigantes and Tenerife

30,000,000 BC
The Canary islands are estimated to be around 30 million years old, relatively young by geological standards. The volcanoes that form the islands backbone saw the light of day at about the time the Atlas Mountains were formed. The highest volcano, Tenerife's Teide at 3718m (12,195ft) is Spain's tallest peak and the third tallest volcano in the world after the two in Hawaii. Where Tenerife now stands today, it is believed that there were 3 islands (what are now) the Anaga, Teno (where Santiago del Teide is now) and Valle San Lorenzo mountain ranges. In a tremendous volcanic process the old central volcano and the great mountain range (Cumbre Dorsal) melted together into what we know today as Tenerife. Presumably the top of the volcano did not explode but collapsed in it's own crater and is now one of the greatest collapsed craters of the world (Las Cañadas). This oval crater is at it's longest distance about 17Km long.

200 BC
Carbon dating has placed the earliest settlement at around 200 BC, although earlier settlement is possible. One clue, apart from the ancient skulls of the original inhabitants, are the conquering Europeans' 15th century descriptions of locals on Tenerife. According to the tales of the European conquerors, the Guanches were a "highly beautiful white race, tall, muscular, and with a great many blondes amongst their numbers" Their great height must be understood in relation to the average height of Europeans at that time. Guanche was the name by which the natives of Tenerife called themselves. Guan Chenech meant "Man from Chenech", or man from Tenerife. With the passage of time, the term Guanche became identified with all the native peoples of the Canaries. It would seem that the natives of La Palma, seeing the snow-covered peak of the Teide on the horizon, called that island Ten-er-efez, "White Mountain" (from Ten, teno, dun, duna= mountain, and er-efez= white). Suggestions for the origins of the Guanches have ranged from Celtic immigrants from mainland Spain or Portugal, to Norse invaders, supplying a possible explanation for the blonde hair and blue eyes. Berber immigrants from nearby Saharan Africa almost certainly inhabited some of the eastern islands, and place names bear a striking resemblance to Berber tribal languages. Occasionally blue eyes and fair hair crop up among the Berbers as well, so the Guanches' origin is still open to question. The Guanches relied on limited farming, herding, hunting and gathering, and the majority of them lived in caves.

120 AD
Around 120 AD, Marinus of Tyre wrote that the habitable world was bounded on the west by the Fortunate Islands. The status of the Fortunate Islands as the western edge of the known world was more formally established when Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90 - 168), following Marinus, adopted the Fortunate Islands as the prime meridian for his Geographia. This was the most famous classical map of the world, unsurpassed for almost 1500 years.

13th Century AD
By the time the Europeans began looking towards Tenerife it was divided into no fewer than nine tiny fiefdoms or Menceys. In Candelaria, the memory of the last nine Kings was kept alive by lava made statues at the beach in front of the Basílica, but the passage of time and erosion corroded and partially destroyed these statues. A few years ago the native artist 'José Abad' from 'La Laguna' made 7 bronze statues with royal scepters, stone weapons, wood spears, slings and other symbolic objects. The Canaries were rediscovered by a Genovese fleet under Lancelot Malocello.

3rd May 1494
Alonso Fernández de Lugo arrived from occupied Gran Canaria and landed at Añaza Beach (today's harbour of Santa Cruz), on the boundary between the kingdoms of Anaga and Güimar. He arrived with Spanish troops, but also with a considerable number of natives of Gran Canaria who had been converted to Christianity. Their island had been part of the Kingdom of Castile for the last 20 years. On the 3 May 1494 a solemn mass was said on the beach, and the "Adelantado" or military governor (official title of Fernández de Lugo), by erecting in a wooden cross, founded the Royal city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Holy Cross of Tenerife. His orders were to subdue the last bastion of resistance of the Canary natives - Tenerife. Prior to the landing, the Spaniards had established an agreement with four of the nine Menceys of the island: Güimar, Anaga, Abona and Adeje (which included where Los Gigantes now stands today). These four "kingdoms" submitted peaceably , not just because they had had contact with Spanish missionaries for some time; but more so , because there was no sense of 'common Nation' among the Guanches. There had always been frequent wars or skirmishes between the different tribes or "kingdoms". However, the Great Mencey of Taoro and Island's Main King, Bencomo, the king of Raoro (today La Orotava) refused to accept the occupation and allied with the kingdoms of Daute, Icod, Tacoronte and Tegueste, faced the invaders. Together they formed a plan to ambush the invader. Alonso Fernández de Lugo and his forces unsuspectingly pressed forward into the interior of the island, crossed the Aguere Valley and arrived at the North shore. The area was deserted. The indigenous population had "vanished". Still arrogantly believing there would be no resistance from these ignorant savages he pressed on to Taoro. (Picture=The foundation of Santa Cruz de Tenerife,Painting by Manuel González Méndez, Plenary Session Room, Parliament of the Canary Islands)

1495
Humiliated, Alonso Fernández de Lugo sold all his properties in order to fund a new expedition to Tenerife. In 1495 he landed again in Añaza, where he rebuilt the destroyed fort of Santa Cruz. More cautious after the previous experience, he advanced gradually and he built another fort on the way to the interior of the island: the fort of Gracia (Grace). The Guanches and Castilians met on the plain of Aguere. At the place where the University of La Laguna now stands a terrible battle took place. The Guanches were decimated. Their mistake had been to fight on the plain, where the cavalry - terrible and unknown to them, destroyed them. The Mencey Bencomo and Sigoñe -Military Chief- Tinguaro were killed. The Spaniards advanced along the North shore and the Guanches faced them again in Acentejo, near the place of the Slaughter - La Matanza. This time -thanks to past experience - the Spaniards won, and they founded there the town of "La Victoria de Acentejo" -The Victory of Acentejo. The conquerors finally arrived at the rich Arautava Valley (La Orotava), heartland of Taoro and here they met the real hardcore of resistance. Bencomo's son, Bentor, had been proclaimed Mencey. But the situation among the Guanches was catastrophic. An epidemic, called by the Spaniards "Guanche Drowsiness", broke out and decimated the population killing them in their hundreds in just a few weeks. It was probably a European sickness against which the immune system of the Guanches was unprepared, as the illness didn't affect the Spaniards.

1503
The area where Los Gigantes now stands had been part of the Kingdom of the Mencey (King) of Adeje, and of the "Archmencyato" (high chieftainship) of Tamaimo but after the Spanish conquest it came under the jurisdiction of don Alonso Fernández of Lugo who had been made military governor of the island, during the first subdivisions of the conquered territory. There is a record dated 1503 showing that 100 fanegas (an agricultural measurement roughly equivalent to an acre) of arable land in the valley of Santiago was conceded to Diego Mencey who came from Adeje. It is thought that before his conversion to Christianity Diego had been called Pelinor - and was likely one of the guanche kings who had co-operated with the invaders. A statue of his son Cherfe stands in Santiago del Teide town today.

April 1657
In April 1657 Admiral Robert Blake got word of a Spanish treasure fleet. He attacked the fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife - it was his greatest victory. His captains led the frigates inshore to attack the ships in the harbour. Blake and the larger ships stayed outside and fired upon the guns of the shore forts. The Spanish fleet was destroyed. The English ships were battered, but not one was lost.

1665-1668
Between 1665 and 1668 the "Casa del Patio", the property of the family of Hoyo Solózano, and perhaps the most historically and architecturally important building in the Valley of Santiago, was built. La Casa del Patio is found to the north of where the town of Santiago del Teide lies today, it stood in a finca (smallholding or farm) that was over 27,000 sq metres in area, which made up the manor of Valle Santiago. In February 2003 Work expected to cost some 5 and half million Euros has been started on restoring this building.

25 July 1797
Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson attacked Santa Cruz, the capital town of Tenerife and headquarters of the Capitan General (Military Commander and sort of Viceroy of the islands) on 25 July 1797 The battle took place in the harbour and in the town streets. Nelson was hit by gunfire during an attempt to disembark at Santa Cruz shore. He was defeated and lost his right arm. The declaration of Santa Cruz as an incorporated town was a direct consequence of the victory over the British in their attempts to occupy the site.

2nd half 18th century
Dutch maps of the period used the peak of El Teide on Tenerife as their prime meridian. Large areas of pine and laurel forest had been lost to the sugar industry by the 18th century. and when George Glas visited Orotava in 1764 he noted that few mature pines remained. In 1799, the famous German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (who founded the University at La Laguna) stayed in Tenerife and spoke enthusiastically of the beauty of the area, especially the Orotava valley. Was he the father of Tourism? (Picture=Alexander von Humboldt 1769-1859)

1812
The Municipality of the Valley of Santiago del Teide was Created in 1812, when the Parliament of Cadiz (forerunner to the modern day Spanish constitution) over-rode the feudal law of the "Lords of the manor". Its boundaries extended to the west of the island over an area of 2,25 km2. and including the areas of Casco (El Valle), Valle de Arriba, Las Manchas, Arguayo, El Molledo, El Retamar, Tamaimo, Puerto de Santiago and Los Gigantes, bordered on the North by the municipalities of Icod de Los Vinos, Garachico, el Tanque and Los Silos, to the East by Buenavista del Norte and to the south by Guía de Isora.

1890s
Until the end of the 19th century the Valley of Santiago enjoyed great prestige from the bull fights which were put on in honour of San Pedro.

1909
The last volcano eruption in Tenerife happened near the village of Santiago del Teide at Chinyero on the 18th November 1909. The traditional Romería of the volcano is still celebrated to the present day in May when the statues of Christ and the Virgin are transported from the church of San Fernando to the place where the lava flow from the last volcanic eruption was diverted away from harming the populace. Photo courtesy of Colectivo Arguayo shows some farmers watching the eruption from quite close by.

1914
Wolfgang Köhler assumed the directorship of the Anthropoid Research Station on the island of Tenerife. The station was financed by the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Kóhler was confined to the island for the duration of World War I because the British Navy controlled the seas around Tenerife and he carried out his famous studies of insightful problem solving in chimpanzees during this time. The WWI British maritime blockade also destroyed the banana trade, and after the war the Canarios voted with their feet and fled the poverty at home in droves for a new life in Latin America

circa 1928
The First car arrives in Santiago del Teide! There had been cars as near as Icod since 1887 but it took over 40 years for one to arrive in Santiago del Teide town. Antonio Modesto de los Silos (centre: probably the owner of the car) was visiting on a hunting trip photo courtesy of Colectivo Arguayo

1930
Outside the Casa del Patio (the family seat of the Lord's of the Manor of the Valley of Santiago) Their Lordships were not often in attendance, but this photo captures a family reunion in 1930. Present were María Teresa and Fernando del Hoyo Machado, Laura Salazar de Frias with Benítez de Lugo, Blanca del Hoyo y Machado, José Rodríguez de Azero y Salazar, Alberto del Hoyo y Machado, María Monteverde and Cullen and Margarita del Hoyo y Machado. Photo courtesy of Colectivo Arguayo

1930s
In the early 1930s the area of Santiago del Teide had experienced the beginning of an economic upswing with the arrival of a proper road. But the short period of hope that followed WWI was dashed when Spain fell into the chaos of civil war in 1936.

1936
A major factor in the development of 20th Century Tenerife was the Spanish Civil War and the rise to power of General Francisco Franco. Franco had been a very high ranking soldier in the Spanish Army but the Republican government, wary of Franco's right-wing political leanings, posted him (in effect a kind of exile) to Tenerife in March of1936. It was from there that the political coup was secretly planned and the Canaries were consequently first to fall to Franco's forces in July and the first to suffer mass executions of writers, trade unionists, socialists, anyone whom Franco's militia considered a threat, before Franco and his forces moved on to Morocco. The right-wing military uprising against the Spanish government was declared in Spanish Morocco from where the army was airlifted to the Spanish mainland by German planes. On the one hand, it's true to say that Franco did bring a new prosperity to Spain and to the Canaries, but local feeling is that the regime also imposed too many restrictions on Canarian autonomy, a feeling which many still express today.

1950s
The fifties were marked by a wave of emigration towards latin america, already started in the early years of the century with the trade and work in the Cuban plantations, now turned towards the economic rise of Venezuela. The Canaries suffered from the same post-war misery as Spain 16,000 fled the Canaries, and a third of those who attempted the journey perished in leaky boats.

1952
The first Taxi in the area, driven by Teodosio González Navarro of Tamaimo and registered in 1952.

1960s
By the early 60s, Franco decided to throw the country's doors open to sun-starved tourists. The latest and greatest boom - and the one that transformed the economy so miraculously and parts of the islands, well, less so - began. Millions of sun-seeking hedonists now flock to the islands annually. In August of 1960 Juan Manuel Capdevielle from Navarro in NE Spain discovered the potential for tourism in the Los Gigantes area. Central Los Gigantes in the early sixties, the foundations are laid for the cobbled courtyards which lead off from the then un built Plaza Bouganville.

1970s
The tourist village of Los Gigantes was created in the 1970s, in a previously deserted and barren area, predominately by British Nationals, and one can still see the predominately British influence there today. Los Gigantes is famous for the cliffs of the same same, which rise vertically from the sea to a dizzy 300 metres Playa de La Arena Beach Circa 1970, notice there is only a dirt track, the road had not been built at that time.

1973
Their majesties the King and Queen of Spain (then still prince and princess) officiate at the official opening ceremony of the Los Gigantes Hotel in 1973 (The hotel had been open to visitors since the late 60s)

1992
The crest of Santiago del Teide is adopted by Royal decree The nine triangles (nine "Mount Teides") represent the municipality's nine villages

May 2003
Pancracio Socas beloved mayor of Santiago del Teide for sixteen years passed away, due to a heart attack that he suffered during a political rally in Puerto Santiago on the eve of the elections that would surely have returned him as Mayor for a further term. He was transferred to the green hospital in Las Americas in the south of the island but they were unable to save him. Don Pancracio was replaced as mayor by Juan Gorrín, deputy candidate for the Coalición Canaria party An act passed by the local council dated 24 of May of 2003, declared Pancracio a "Favoured Son" of Santiago del Teide

Tuesday 5th October 2004

A touching ceremony held in the Plaza at Puerto Santiago - a posthumous tribute paid to ex mayor of Santiago del Teide Pancracio Socas García. The event which coincided with the 501st anniversary of the first recorded date of occupation of the village of Santiago del Teide was attended by Adán Martín, Lorenzo Olarte and other regional and municipal dignitaries as well as Don Pancracio's family and personal friend Pedro Rodriguez Zaragoza, Advisor of Agriculture and Fishing to the Government of the Canary Islands. Don Pancracio who served as Mayor from1988 to 2003 was remembered by the unveiling of a sculpture created by the sculptor Dácil Travieso. The monument consists of four figures made in bronze with the image of Pancracio Socas placed at the top and in the center. Around and below him are fashioned three figures- a woman, a man and a boy, representing the close contact that the mayor maintained with his constituents. After the unveiling of the statue to a huge round of applause, speeches were made by the sculptor Dácil Travieso, Juan Damián Gorrín Ramos, the current Mayor, Lorenzo Olarte, ex-President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Miguel Delgado, councilor for Culture in the Cabildo, and Adán Martín, President of the Government of the Canary Islands, who paid tribute to the personality and generosity of Pancracio Socas and said that he is sorely missed in his community. Oliver Socas, Don Pancracio's son and spokesman for the family, thanked all those that had made the statue possible. Lastly the widow of Pancracio, Josefina Plasencia, was presented with a framed copy of an act passed by the local council dated 24 of May of 2003, which declared Pancracio a "Favoured Son" of Santiago del Teide Adán Martín also took this opportunity to announce that Santiago del Teide had been awarded the title of Villa Histórica "Historical Town" by the Government of the Canary Islands.