La Gomera (Canary Islands)
La Gomera is one of the 7 main Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. After El Hierro, however, isLa Gomerathe smallest of the archipelago. According to Allcitycodes, Mainland Spain is around 1,000 kilometers away. The total area of La Gomera is only 369.76 square kilometers. There are currently 22,622 people living there.
Flora and fauna on La Gomera
Typical of the Canaries, there are also different vegetation zones on La Gomera. The only thing that is special is that there are so many different ones in this small space. La Gomera is quite high and so from 500 meters you can find lush laurel forests and evergreen ferns. Another 500 meters higher, they are replaced by Fayal-Brezal formations. This is a mixed heather forest. There are mainly different types of shrubs and Phoenician juniper trees. The canary palm can also be found here. In the coastal region, on the other hand, there are predominantly plants that can tolerate salty water.
The National Park Garajonay is located in the heart of La Gomera. This takes up about 10 percent of the entire island area. This unique ecosystem has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1986, which has made it a World Heritage Site.
Since there was no ice age on El Gomera, there are still laurel forests here, which are protected by the park. The evergreen cloud forest forms the center of the park area. The ferns have grown meters high and long lichen hang down from the trees. It looks like something out of a fairy tale book. There are also some waterfalls in the park.
The fauna on the island, on the other hand, is typical of the region. It mainly consists of marine life and a variety of reptile and bird species.
The history of La Gomera
It is believed that the Phoenicians knew the island of La Gomera. The Guanches, who are considered indigenous people, are said to have descended from the Berbian North Africans. They communicated using a kind of whistling language.
The name Gomera probably derives from the old Berber tribe Ghomara away. However, this has not been proven. The Ghomara belonged to the South Moroccan Berber Federation. These were founded at the time of the Islamization of Morocco and later became the starting point of the ethnic-cultural dynasty.
When the Spaniards reached La Gomera in 1404, the Guanches surrendered, but later reacted to the occupying regime with uprisings. Christopher Columbus came here on
September 6, 1492 and made a stopover. Then he went on his famous search for India. As is known, however, he “discovered” America. Many of the locals were slaves to the Spaniards
sold and shipped to the mainland. Most of the indigenous people left on the island adapted to the Spanish and even learned their language and culture. As early as 1514, the indigenous people received the same rights as the Spaniards. With that they had grown together legally into one people. They also worked together. The export of wine and sugar cane was an important economic factor for La Gomera in the 16th century.
For many years, the cochineal scale insects provided red coloring agents. These lice were specially grown here on the prickly pear cacti and the red color was then sold. However, when a process was developed to make this paint synthetically, that industry suddenly collapsed and disbanded one Economic crisis on La Gomera. Many of the people living there emigrated in droves towards the end of the 19th century.
La Palma (Canary Islands)
La Palma is a beautiful island with fantastic Landscapes. It belongs to the Canaries and therefore to the Spanish Autonomous Communities. La Palma is located in the northwest of the Canary Archipelago. La Palma’s full name is San Miguel de la Palma. The total area of the island is 708 square kilometers, making it the fifth largest island in theCanary Islands. The capital of La Palma is Santa Cruz de Palma, it is located on the east side of the island. However, the largest city of La Palma is Los Llanos de Aridane on the western side. The official language on La Palma is Spanish.
La Palma has received two flattering surnames: the beautiful island and the green island. This is of course not by chance, because La Palma is a wonderful spot with lush vegetation.
The island is only 400 kilometers from Morocco and 1,500 kilometers from mainland Spain.
A special feature distinguishes La Palma from the other islands, here there are g annual flowing waters.
Flora and fauna of La Palma
La Palma is one of the most beautiful and lush islands in the Canaries. Here you can find an enormous variety of plants. For botanists, the island is a paradise. The diversity of the plant species comes from the fact that here all year round rain falls over the island and fog fields are held back by the mountains. So the plants standing there can absorb the moisture. The different vegetation zones contribute to the fact that there is such a large number of species here.
The lava fields, the Mediterranean dry zones and the magnificent pine forests on the high altitudes illustrate the different living conditions. The laurel forests are even reminiscent of rainforests. There are around 170 endemics of the Canary Islands (species that only occur here), for example the Canary Islands dragon trees.
Visually, the entire landscape makes a green impression. The water is led from the mountains into the sea in the form of streams. The traces of volcanic eruptions are also still visible here. Ash rain and lava flows shaped the landscape.
The laurel forest deserves a special honor. It has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1983. It was recognized early on that the island had to be placed under special protection, but it wasn’t until November 2002 that it finally became Entire area of La Palma has been designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
The animal kingdom on La Palma is also very species-rich. The geckos can of course be found here, as well as in the rest of Spain. However, there is a species (or better subspecies) that only occurs on La Palma. The Graja, a subspecies of the Alpine crow.
Numerous sea creatures live in the coastal regions. Every now and then you can see stranded jellyfish or sea urchins lying on the beaches. If this is the case, the beaches will be marked with different colored flags. So you can know what is going on. Because if you touch these jellyfish or sea urchins or come into contact with them, this can have painful consequences.
In general, there are many species of butterflies, including larger ones, on La Palma. The blue wanderer, a butterfly, is said to be at home here. This butterfly is actually widespread in southern Europe.