In the first quarter of the 18th century, the military organization of Gran Canaria already considered Tirajana a strategic point for retreat and reinforcement. While the Telde Regiment was structured into fourteen companies, there was a vital reserve of 400 men who could be mobilized and concentrated specifically in the Tirajana area. This reserve force not only acted as a demographic buffer but also as a guarantee of defense for the southern regions, where the "hunger for land" and land occupations fueled population growth that swelled the ranks of the militia.
The epic of coastal defense in the south was solidified through military architecture. In 1741, designed by engineers La Riviere and La Pierre, the Torre de Gando was erected, a key structure for monitoring the intense maritime traffic and deterring the corsairs who prowled the waters in search of prey. This fortification complemented the Santa Cruz del Romeral fortified house, whose construction was authorized by Charles II in 1677 to Antonio Lorenzo Béthencourt to protect the area's valuable salt flats. These walls represented the islanders' response to a long and treacherous coastline, which, under the Regiment's jurisdiction, stretched from the Jinámar heights to Veneguera.
At the end of October 1757, a young officer of barely nineteen years old, Don Pedro Nava Grimón, rigorously assumed command of the Telde Regiment. Despite his youth and the fact that his stay on the island lasted barely six months, Nava Grimón dedicated himself to the task of disciplining his men, patrolling the extensive beaches and ports such as Melenara and Gando Bay, places described as the most suitable for enemy landings and plunder. In his letters to the Secretary of War, Sebastián Eslava, the colonel highlighted the exceptional stature and daring of the Gran Canarian militiamen, describing them as "people very well suited for war" due to their great capacity for enduring the most arduous tasks.
The defense of the south depended not only on the troops, but also on a command structure linked to the island's most powerful families. In the 1757 review, Don Antonio de la Rocha Béthencourt, the leading figure of a lineage vying for island hegemony, was listed as Lieutenant Colonel. Alongside him, as Sergeant Major, was Don Jerónimo Falcón, who also served as the royal mayor. These officers led an army of 2.374 militiamen who, without receiving any pay and often armed with their own supplies—or even with stones and brush cutters—ensured that the southern beaches remained under the control of the Catholic faith and the crown against any attempted invasion.
Ultimately, the story of the Telde Regiment is the chronicle of an identity forged in vigilance. From the dunes of Maspalomas to the cliffs of Tirajana, the militia was the fabric that kept the islands integrated into the Atlantic trade networks, in exchange for privileges and a military jurisdiction that protected the peasant from ordinary justice and the loss of their property due to debt. Those militiamen, who, according to Nava Grimón himself, possessed "boldness and great endurance," not only defended beaches and salt flats; they defended the very existence of the Canary Islands in a modern age where the enemy lurked around every turn of the sailing ships off their coasts.
