The history of migrations in the Canary Islands have been unbalanced. There have been long periods of emigrations and lately of immigrations. But those that happened mainly in the past were the emigrations and Canary people normally went away to America

Emigration The emigration was mainly to Venezuela and Cuba. Also, the people emigrated to Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. Some of them emigrated to Europe too.

The emigration to Venezuela

From 1670 the emigration was massive. Whole families moved to Venezuela. In 1831 the Canary people moved to Venezuela to replace the slaves.

160 illegal Canary immigrants caught in Venezuela

Also, in the twentieth century the Canary people travelled to Venezuela because of the Spanish Civil War. At that time travelling was prohibited. So they left the islands, illegally, risking their own lives.

The emigration to Cuba It began in the seventeenth century, many Canarian families travelled to Cuba to be employed at the tabacco plantations. Mainly men emigrated in that century. The Cuban economy declined in 1921, so many people returned to the Canary Islands.

Immigration to the Canary Islands Thousands of people have come mainly to be employed at the tourist and construction industry. The building industry has lasted for the last 3 decades.

Internal Immigration: Many Spanish people began to emigrate to the Canary Islands in the 1970s when the tourist industry started on the islands. People from the mainland came to get well-paid jobs.

External Immigration: In the eighties people from Central and South America began to emigrate to Canary Islands because there was crisis in America. In the 1990s the phenomenon of the immigration from Africa started. Today many have returned home because of the global crisis.

Gorka Castaño Lorenzo Roberto Díaz Hernández Daniel Neira Galvis