On an island where every corner holds a story that blends conquest, beliefs, and Aboriginal roots, the name of San Bartolomé de Tirajana is no exception. Behind that long title—which has since generated postal errors due to its similarity to the municipality of Lanzarote, with which it shares its name—lies a piece of Gran Canaria's history.
The municipality, today the epicenter of tourism on the island thanks to enclaves like Maspalomas and San Agustín, owes its name to a blend of evangelization and Aboriginal heritage. On the one hand, "San Bartolomé" is a clear reference to the apostle Bartholomew, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, whose feast day is celebrated on August 24. This patron saint was adopted by the Castilian conquerors and evangelizers after Gran Canaria was incorporated into the Crown of Castile at the end of the XNUMXth century. As was customary, the patron saint was imposed on the former indigenous territory as a symbol of the new dominant faith.
Precisely about this part of the name of the municipality, the Instagram user @elenaa_marrero shared a video explaining Why the name of Saint Bartholomew is present in so many corners of the archipelago Canarian like San Bartolomé in Lanzarote or San Bartolomé de Geneto.
The historical popularizer asserts that according to the text "De Vitis Apostolorum," which narrates the lives of the apostles and records that Saint Bartholomew preached the Christian faith to some Indians known as the "fortunate ones." This name led ancient historians to associate this tribe with the archipelago in which the so-called "fortunate islands" were located, that is, the Canary Islands.
This recognition by ancient historians and the image that developed around the figure of Saint Bartholomew led many people to adopt him as their patron saint. However, Elena herself asserts that this theory may also be due to historians' lack of knowledge of the Greek language, since the Greeks used the word "macarón" (from which Macaronesia comes) to refer to the Canary Islands, so it could simply be a legend.
The second part of the name, "Tirajana," is much older. It comes from the aboriginal toponym used by pre-Hispanic Canarians to designate this southern part of the island. It is believed to come from the word tirájan, meaning "depressed place" or "depressed area." This meaning may make even more sense given the etymological evolution of the word to "depression," a geographical shape very similar to that of the Caldera de Tirajana due to erosion.
Tirajana belonged to the Guanartemato of Telde, and vestiges of this past still survive in the area in archaeological sites such as the Arteara necropolis or the El Pajar grain warehouses, which bear witness to life in the south before tourism and hammocks.
Historical documents related to land distribution after the conquest reveal the existence of three important aboriginal settlements in the area: Taidia, Tirajana, and Tunte. Of the three, Tirajana stood out for its size and importance, housing more than a hundred caves used as dwellings, as well as granaries and necropolises that demonstrate its role as the main nucleus of the territory.
The union of both names crystallized beginning in the 16th century, when stable population centers began to settle under Castilian rule. San Bartolomé was the name of the main parish, and Tirajana remained the traditional term used to identify the valley. Over time, it became the official name of the municipality, resulting in a name that combines evangelization and historical memory dating back centuries.
