The Soft Journey

When I went on my Gran Canaria holiday, I was expecting to find canaries. After all, it is the Canary Islands. Looking back, I feel a little silly thinking that I could have saved me a lot of embarrassment if I had just done some research. Truth is, Canarias has nothing to do with birds, it has to do with dogs. The Latin word for “dog” is “canis” and the Romans called the island “canaari” or “island of the dogs”. This is said to be because of one of two things. Some say it’s because the islands were densely populated by seals, also known as “sea dogs” to the Romans.  Unfortunately, the seal population dwindled and now we can’t find any specimens in the islands. The other reason is a little more obscure, and definitely more creepy, but it’s probably the most accurate one. The natives of the islands were dog worshippers. Greek historians refer to a people that had dogs heads and worshipped dogs that lived in an island, which is now linked to the Canary Islands. Romans came in contact with the natives of the island themselves, and documented the fact that they saw dogs as deities, worshipping and mummifying them after they were dead. This is linked with the cult of Anubis, the dog-headed god of ancient Egypt, although there is no evidence of who influenced who. The word “canaari” can also be applied to people, meaning “those who have dogs” or “those who worship dogs”. The coat of arms of the Canary Islands still shows this influence, with two dogs standing next to the shield in the official flag.

So when you go on Canary Islands holidays, remember this little piece of history, and you won’t be laughed at when you ask where all the canaries are. If you’re curious, here’s a little more history on the islands.

The natives, the Canaari, were colonizers themselves, arriving at was apparently a deserted archipelago around 500BC. The natives were pretty much left alone in the island during Greek and Roman times, but when the conquest of the New World began, French, Portuguese and finally Spanish attempted to conquer the islands. For a while the Portuguese had a claim to the archipelago, but gave it up to the Spanish, who finally completed the pacification of all the islands. From then on they became an important port on the way to the West Indies and, although often invaded or attacked, they remained faithful to the Spanish crown.

Tags: Canary Islands