Send Gift Baskets to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

As a result of Juan Rejón’s founding of the city on June 24, 1478, it is known as ‘Real de Las Palmas.’ It was Rejón who was in charge of the invading Castilian army, which engaged the locals in war.

The war began at the mouth of the Guiniguada ravine, where he settled with his 30 soldiers, El Real de Las Palmas, today’s Vegueta district.

Over the course of five years, the Aboriginal side suffered many losses, especially since they lacked the means to defend themselves from the armies sent by the Catholic monarchs. It was still a fierce battle despite the resistance. Conquest ended in 1483 when Pedro de Vera, the conqueror who had subjugated the natives of Gáldar on the northwest of the island, incorporated the island into the Crown of Castile.

Real de Las Palmas became the diocese of El Rubicón (Lanzarote) on November 20, 1485. With the establishment of the Bishopric of the Canary Islands, the first Court of the Holy Inquisition, the Royal Court of the Canary Islands, and the residence of the Captains General of the Canary Islands, the city gradually grew in importance. Although the capital, as understood from the 19th century onwards, did not exist in the archipelago, given that the Captain General’s Residence was in Las Palmas, we can consider this to have been the capital of the Canary Islands during part of the 16th and 17th centuries. It remained the honorary capital of the Canary Archipelago even though it had no legal or real significance after that.

On his first trip to the Americas, Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón) anchored in Las Palmas to repair the rudder of his ship Pinta and spent some time on the neighboring island. In addition, he stopped there on the way back to Spain. Named after him is the Colón House, a museum in the Vegueta district.

The Battle of Las Palmas was fought in 1595 when Francis Drake tried to plunder the town. The Dutch raid under Vice-admiral Pieter van der Does in 1599 was slightly more successful; some towns were destroyed, but the raiders were beaten back.

The closure of the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis greatly benefited Las Palmas’ seaport, Puerto de la Luz (internationally known as La Luz port). During this time, many foreign workers moved to the city.

In 1718, about 25 Canary Islanders founded Las Palmas, a sister city of San Antonio, Texas, in the United States.