The Las Salinas Coast, possibly the most important historical coastline in the Canary Islands

On the map of the Archaeological Chart of Gran Canaria that we attach, we see the Las Salinas Coast marked in the southeast of San Bme. of Tirajana, as the most important coastline of the island in terms of archaeological values, which in turn also points out the rich history of this territory, which we believe to be one of the most important in the Canary Islands in this regard.

 

 

One of the first times that this coast appears in sources is on May 11, 1537, when Francisco Pérez Calvillo requested land for the construction of the “Salinas de Amoxo” in the place today known as Juncalillo del Sur (formerly El Juncal). , currently called “Salinas de Abajo”. This is why the toponym could be "Amajo" or "Amago", which together with "Umiaga" was the name given to the sacred mountain of Tirajana in ethnohistorical texts, with the remains located throughout the area of ​​the salt flats. of a large town of the ancient Canarians, where we can still see about a dozen cruciform houses, in serious danger of disappearance. The salt flats were located between Aldea Blanca, where Canarian houses have also been documented, and a place name, possibly from the old Canarian: "Varvega", and Pozo del Lentisco, indicating, therefore, three important places in the South at that time, 55 years after the conquest. On the map of Gran Canaria by the engineer Torriani from 1590, the following are also indicated as important places in the South: Punta de Tenefént, Las Salinas, Pozo del Lentisco and Maspalomas.

 

This coast was located in a geostrategic area of ​​the island for sailing. The place was a point of obligatory passage for ships, due to the NNE trade wind that runs parallel to the coast in this region, and also a place of transit from winds to calms, and therefore, a refuge for the fragile vessels of the time of strong wind storms. Here begin the famous "Calmas de Maspalomas", and also "Maspalomas", a place name that today is limited to the area of ​​El Faro, but that formerly began from Castillo del Romeral, this coast being where many of the events that probably took place. They are traditionally located in the Oasis and El Faro area.

 

In fact, Sebastián Jiménez Sanchéz, provincial commissioner of archeology in the middle of the last century, thought that the region around Tarajalillo (Pozo del Lentisco) was very important and had a strong use of the territory for the primitive Canarians. Thus, in 1954, he brought to light the majority of archaeological remains known from the area.

 

In a work that summarized 10 years of research, we presented the hypothesis that Montaña de Las Tabaibas, which is located right next to Las Salinas and Pozo del Lentisco, was the sacred mountain of Tirajana, the Umiaga or Amago/Amajo of the chronicles , which together with Tirma were the two important religious centers of the Canarians where they made massive pilgrimages to perform the so-called "rain prayers" in times of hardship. And around these mountains, there was a sanctuary of about 11 km around, where canaries and livestock took refuge in times of war. As reflected in a lawsuit from the beginning of the 37th century, the sanctuaries were delimited by means of stone cairns, which we find throughout Amurga and in a spectacular way in the site of El Coronadero, next to Montaña de las Tabaibas with XNUMX cairns, many of them. crowned by a driven slab. There we can observe an impressive phenomenon on the winter solstice, similar to what happens in Risco Caído and on very clear days and standing in the arch, we can see Jandía behind the site, which must have been a very special moment for the Canarians. , which according to the tradition that has come down to us, was a harbinger of rain. We believe that both phenomena must have been very important for the ancient Canary Islands and that is why we call this site the Stonehenge of the Canary Islands.                                                                                       

 

And later, Tarajalillo became a very important place at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. XVI, since the Pozo del Lentisco appears in those times, located in the vicinity of the current Bahía Feliz, a watering place for navigation, through which we believe the first navigators who made the route to America passed and with many similarities with the Pozos del Rubicon in Lanzarote. We also know the place for two other aspects, for being a place for shipping wood and for finishing the Amurga adventures at that point.

 

Despite it seeming incredible to us, in Amurga there was a pine forest, now completely gone, that could have reached the lowest levels of the massif. Thus Manuel Lobo tells us that firewood and wood were shipped in Pozo del Lentisco in those times. We thought that the Pinar de Amurga extended to the last foothills of the massif, close to the coast, like the Tauro pine forest, as occurs today in the south of El Hierro. We have the place name "Los Arrastraderos", next to the Canarian town of Amajo in Las Salinas, an area where the beasts dragged the logs to the so-called "Camino de la Madera", located at the foot of Amurga, between the massif and the tabaibal of the flat, where you can still see sections, which we believe could reach from Telde to Las Burras, where we have the place name "El Aserradero", where other possible logging roads that came from Ayagaures and from Bco also ended. of Fataga.

 

If wood was important in this territory, livestock farming was no less important, in a region eminently prominent in this activity, where according to the references that have come down to us, in the plain at the foot of Amurga there was a dense tabaibal forest (specimens the size of fig trees), classified as a jungle due to its inaccessibility, where abundant and quality vegetation grew for goats and sheep, some of the best on the island. According to sources, in Pedro de Vera's first incursions into Tirajana, which we think refers to the coastal area in this region, the Castilians captured "a fairly large cavalgada of cattle" in 1480 and 1.000 heads of cattle in 1482, between Tirajana. ,  and “Acayro” or “Cayra”, for us located in the vicinity of Sardina.

 

In the Barranquillo of La Cazuela (Tarajalillo) the Amurga adventures culminated, which we believe must also have been the custom of the Canarians, as it was their primary activity. And there was a corral next to some buildings, which stood until 1987, which is where we believe the old Pozo del Lentisco was located. Pastor Domingo Guedes tells us that the last apañadas took place here, around 1959 and that other apañadas ended at the mouth of Bco. Hondo, next to the Canarian town of Amajo, where there was also a corral set up for this purpose.

 

The last time we know the place name of Pozo del Lentisco, it was due to the lawsuits of the Agüimes Mutiny, in 1718 (250 years after the first time), since because the Amoreto family, predecessors of the future Counts of The Vega Grande, usurps the royal lands of the "Lentisco", a fact that the residents of Agüimes denounce, a demarcation of the lands must be made, indicating the location of the well: "the well of the Barranco del Lentisco, which was found in the bottom of said ravine [current Barranquillo de La Cazuela] near the sea and higher up a mastic tree, unique because no other has been found in said place, which seems to have given its name to said ravine, and in a morrete nearby [Morrete de de Las Jackets , in Bahía Feliz] a cave that they call Cruzuela. Over time, and with the disappearance of the mastic, we think that "La Cruzuela" became "La Cazuela", giving its name to the ravine.

 

And first the Amoretos in the s. XVII and later their descendants the Castillos, holders of the County of Vega Grande, from the XVIII, established their ancestral home in Juan Grande, the "Casa Condal", from where they directed all their possessions in the South, becoming the most powerful family of Gran Canaria, and one of the most influential in the Canary Islands, being the largest landowners on the island, owning 30% of the territory of S. Bme. of Tirajana in the s. XX.

 

Next to Pozo del Lentisco, and where the town of Amajo used to be, the Salinas de Abajo or Amajo were built (1537), the oldest in Gran Canaria and the second in the Canary Islands, eventually belonging to the County. At the end of the XNUMXth century, the Rocha salt mines were built in Castillo del Romeral and the Casa Fuerte to defend ships from piracy, and at the end of the XNUMXth century, the Matorral salt mines were built, where the Thermal Power Plant is located today, which made the region, the main industry of the Canary Islands for centuries.

 

All the aspects mentioned made this coast a geostrategic place, being the most prominent, traveled and communicated point of the depopulated South, for more than 400 years. An average of between 15 and 20 brigs came periodically to load salt to head to the fisheries on "The Coast" of Africa and return through the same area on their return. Ships heading to the Atlantic crossing, making water here, and those that in the early days came to load wood also passed through here. And for this fact the place was also frequented by pirates in search and capture of prey, on this coast of obligatory passage and reason for the construction of the Strong House of Santa Cruz del Romeral at the end of the XNUMXth century, where ships took refuge. persecuted.

 

All these circumstances gave rise to the large number of historical events that took place in this region, among which we can highlight during the Conquest: the Battle of Sardina (c. 1471) and the Battle of Tirajana (1479) on Saint Bartholomew's Day, for the which the municipality is named after, both ended with serious Castilian defeats; as well as the first incursions of Pedro de Vera to Tirajana (1480-82). A few years later, we think that it must have been in Pozo del Lentisco where La Pinta de Colón (1492) was "mounted", which was being repaired on a beach in the south of Gran Canaria for more than fifteen days due to the breakdowns suffered in the trip from the Peninsula. Already experts in naval history and Columbus's voyages, such as Captains Carlos Etayo and Luis Ayesta and Admiral Cristobal Colón de Carvajal (a descendant of Columbus), pointed out that it was on a beach in the south of the island, where the Pinta was lost for more of half a month. We think that the most convenient beach for a beaching of this boat, in the entire south, is the one at the mouth of the Barranco de Berriel, next to Pozo del Lentisco, due to its physical characteristics and because it has the necessary supplies, which we have detailed. After that, Columbus also passed through "Maspalomas" on his fourth voyage (1502) and Juan de La Cosa (1504), and Hernán Cortés (1504) and we believe that many of the expeditions that made the first trips to America.

 

Later, the fleets of the Englishman Francis Drake (1595), who later anchored in Arguineguín, and that of the Dutchman Van der Does (1599), passed through here to anchor on a beach in Mogán. Piracy began here in the times of the Canarians, with these being the main prey with the purpose of being sold as slaves. It was first carried out by Castilians, Portuguese, Aragonese and Basques, and later, from the 1622th century onwards, with the same objectives, it was carried out by Moors, French, English and Dutch. Thus, we know of the stay in Las Salinas of Jant Jantz (1685), a Moorish pirate, a Flemish renegade, with a history worthy of the best pirates in the Caribbean; of French with the death of Aguimenses in "Maspalomas" (XNUMX), as well as of Moors and English in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, ending at the end of this century with ships taking refuge under the cannons of the Casa Fuerte, in the face of English attacks. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the so-called "Agüimes Mutiny" also originated in this region, when Francisco Amoreto attempted to take over the communal lands, including those that bordered the Casa Fuerte de Santa Cruz, which the Agüimenses used as agricultural and agricultural lands. grazing, essential for their subsistence.

 

And we do not have to go back so many centuries to know about the latest weapons development developed in this region, because in 1943, in the middle of World War II, the German submarine U167 was torpedoed in front of Castillo del Romeral by British RAF planes. It was finally sunk by its own crew off Las Burras beach and its crew members were rescued by local fishermen.

 

PABLO GUEDES GONZÁLEZ

Bachelor of Science in Physical Activity and Sports

Researcher of the History of the South of Gran Canaria

Creator of the blog  historiacastilloromeral.blogspot.com