La Gomera

La Gomera is situated west of Tenerife, about 28 kilometres from its nearest point. The highest peak is the "Alto de Garajonay", which rises up to 1,487 m. La Gomera is a small island, yet it boasts a large variety of natural and man-made landscapes, a result of the complexity of its relief and of the notable capacity of its inhabitants for adapting to difficult terrain. Such efforts have succeeded in making the exploitation of it resources compatible with nature and environment, and have given rise to an indigenous rural culture, many of whose characteristics are still obvious today.

The scarcity of arable land has obliged the peasants to construct terraces, which have given rise to some of the most remarkable landscape of the island. They look like giant stairways and are fruit of the efforts of many generations of farmers.

Thanks to both orographic and historical factors, this search for agricultural space has been compatible with the conservation of an important natural legacy. Nowadays fully a third of the island is protected by series of environment laws and judicial dispositions. The most important of these protected areas is the Garajonay National Park, remarkable for its Laurisilva. The natural beauty of the island is complemented by impressive cliffs, rocks, and palmgroves which dot the farmland and form numerous oasis in the ravines.

The isolation of the island has ensured the preservation of numerous cultural traditions. Some of these, like the typical pottery, the peculiar "Silbo" a whistling language or the drum dance, originated with the aboriginal people. Others, like the native architecture and cuisine, skillfully combine external influences with indigenous elements. The rehabilitation of rural houses for turism give to the visitor a unique opportunity of proximity with this inheritage, while enjoying the wonderful surroundings.

The mild variation of subtropical climate associated with the trade winds, which correspond to the geographical position of the Canaries, experiments important local modifications due to the orography, the height of the mountains, and orientation in the case of La Gomera. This gives rise to a notable range in climate, which is reflected in the vegetation and which is influential in the distribution of the population, and the presence of numerous local climates, especially in the ravines.

Because of its orientation, the island has two climates, corresponding to the north and the south. The first of these, exposed to the flow of the trade winds, presents a noticeable stability in its temperatures, which are very mild especially in the valleys, an appreciable degree of humidity and tenuous sunshine. This zone has been historically the most populated. The second climate correspond to the leeward side of the island, sheltered from the trade winds, with temperatures slightly higher than those of the north, more sunshine and less humidity, reflected in the vegetation and in a smaller population.

Because of its orographic configuration, an important percentage of the land in La Gomera is over 800 m of altitude. This zone of high humidity and scarce population, is affected by the sea of clouds created by the trade winds, which cover the central area of the island almost continuously. This area is included in the Garajonay National Park and is home to the laurel forests, plant formation unique for their characteristics and degree of preservation.

La Gomera, there are spots envelopped in an aura of mystery, as occurs in La Laguna Grande. Popular legends and traditions have an important territorial component, as for gomeran whistling and astia, or the legend of Gara and Jonay, key to the name of the highest point of the island. There are many religious celebrations with processions in almost all the hermitage spreaded over the mountains, and they are opportunities for everyone to enjoy music, dance, and food. They happened either in the villages' centers, as in Agulo San Marco's bonfires, or in a valley's main church, such as San Isidro in La Palmita, or right in the middle of the mountain, as in the Cedro's forest , the procession for Nuestra Senora de Lurdes. In all of them, you will hear the traditional island's music : choirs, tambores y chákaras (drums and castanets), while the people, young and old as well, follow the statue of the saint dancing the drum's dance. These traditions, which were slowly disapearing, have taken a new rise over the last few years, and you can find regular courses of silbo, as well as traditional dance and music, in many villages.

The handicrafts, rooted in Guanches' traditions, make the best use of the natural products of the island. They range from gastronomy with palm honey (made with its sap), almogrote (goat cheese paté with garlic and hot red peppers), torta de cuajada (fresh cheese, eggs, sugar and aniseeds), wine (white or red), and much more. To useful or decorative objects, as traditional pottery (El Cercado and Chipude) made using the ancient wheel-less Guanche technic. The vegetals are used in the making of utilitarian objects as baskets, bags, hats, while wood is turned into traditional music instruments as chákaras and morteras.

The Guanches came to the island from the northwest of Africa. Judging from archeological remains, they were of a Cro-Magnon race, small and robust in stature, and with large craniums. They were mainly shepherds with flocks of goats and sheep, and gatherers of certain vegetable species and seafood on the coasts, although apparently they were also involved in some rudimentary farming. At the time of the conquest, the island was divided into four cantons or bands, whose centres were located in the four great valleys: Mulagua (the valley of Hermigua), Hipalán (the ravine of San Sebastián), Orone (Valle Gran Rey), and Agana (the ravine of Vallehermoso).

The conquest of La Gomera began in the early 15th with Juan de Bethancourt the norman, and was held quasi without fight. For this reason the aboriginal population continued to preserve its customs and socioeconomic peculiarities for a long time. On completion of the conquest of the Canary islands in 1494, La Gomera was incorporated into the Crown of Castile under the governance of the Peraza family who implemented an authoritative system wich was to last until the early 19th century.

La Gomera played an important role in the discovery of America, since this island was the last known stop for Columbus, where he abundantly provisioned his sheeps with foodstuffs, water, wood, etc., leaving the bay of San Sebastián on the 6th of September, 1492.

The maximum number of people was registered in 1940, with a census of 29,000. From this time on, La Gomera loses population census after census, given the emigration to the Americas (Cuba andVenezuela) and especially to Tenerife, where nowadays more native people live than on their own island. The cause of this exodus is found in the limitations of the possibilities of the agriculture.