It was November 1755, XNUMX, when a tsunami from Lisbon devoured the south of Gran Canaria to the point that in Fataga there were marine archaeological remains of crustaceans. An earthquake generated by the Azores fault devastated Lisbon, seriously affected Spain, Morocco and was felt in places as far away as Norway and Greenland. This generated the jewel of the Maspalomas Dunes, now the object of hatred by the owners of houses that were located in nearby areas. The Maspalomas Dunes want to return with the deeds under their arms and the municipal tractors are unable to stop the passage of time.
With that tsunami of 1755, the Maspalomas Dunes were formed since before it was a trough and that is why Christopher Columbus and the pirate Francis Drake were able to use the south of the island between 1492 and 1595 to refuel and have fresh water. On All Saints' Day 1755, some 100.000 people lost their lives in the Lisbon earthquake. A cataclysm that could also be the cause of the Maspalomas dunes.
This 2024 there are owners of vacation homes on Airbnb and Booking who regret that the sand generated by that tsunami gets into their businesses, a business activity that hoteliers and apartment complexes denounce because originally those lands were for regulated tourist exploitation, that is that is, under the same organizational command. Social networks in the Canary Islands have exploded against the permanent presence of neighbors in these areas. The large waves it generated reached the coasts of the American continent and along the way swept the coastline of the Atlantic islands, including the Canary Islands. In Gran Canaria, they dragged sand and deposited it in the area of the Maspalomas tip.
