The Conquest of the Canary Islands: Spain's First Colonial Laboratory

Before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, Spain had already perfected its model of conquest and colonization in the Canary Islands. This episode follows the century-long campaign that pitted Castilian nobles and Portuguese rivals against the indigenous Guanches — a Neolithic people who fought with stones and wooden spears against steel and cannon. We explore the brutal tactics of Jean de Béthencourt, the legal controversies over enslaving free people that foreshadowed the Valladolid debates, and how the Canaries became the blueprint for everything that followed in the Americas. We also look at the enduring legacy: the Silbo Gomero whistled language, the cultivation of sugarcane and wine, and the islands' role as the last stop before the New World. A story of conquest, adaptation, and the birth of Spanish colonialism. #CanaryIslands #Guanches #SpanishColonialism #JeanDeBethencourt #SilboGomero #15thCentury #Conquest #Sugarcane #AtlanticHistory #IndigenousResistance #Slavery #ValladolidDebate #Tenerife #GranCanaria #LaPalma #Reconquista #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo