Granadilla de Abona

Communities

The municipality's main town is Granadilla de Abona; other towns include San Isidro, El Cabezo, Castro, Los Abrigos, Charco del Pino, El Médano, Montaña de Yaco, El Salto, and Los Llanos.

Historical population

History

Abona was the name of a Guanche menceyato, or kingdom, that existed in this region of the island at the time of Spanish conquest in the late fifteenth century. Founded around 1445, Abona was ruled by Adjona or Atguaxoña, son of Axerax and whose son after the conquest was baptised and named Alonso Gonzalez. It extended from the Río de Chasna to Adeje, from the Barranco de Herques, to Güímar. The Spanish toponym of Granadilla does not appear until the end of the sixteenth century, but the settlement of the area by Europeans began at the time of conquest.

The Bay of El Médano was the last stop for provisions for Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano during the circumnavigation of the world. The expedition's cartographer and translator, Antonio Pigafetta, left this description of the place: "On Tuesday, September 20, in the same year [1519] we departed from the place called Sanlúcar [de Barrameda], heading southwest, and before the end of the month, on the 26th, we arrived at an island that is called Tenerife, at 28 degrees longitude, to acquire meat, water, and firewood. We remained there for three days and a half; later we approached another port on the same island, Monte Rosso [Montaña Roja] by name, lingering there for two days…On Monday, October 3, at midnight, we departed southwards..."

Records indicate that a church existed in the municipality in 1575. A Franciscan convent was founded in February 1665. St. Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur (1626–1667), spent some time in a little cave situated near the present-day town of El Médano. The cave is now the site of a small shrine dedicated to the saint.

Granadilla de Abona acquired the status of a municipality in the nineteenth century, and a highway linking it to other parts of the island in the 1930s. Previously, travel to other parts of the island was only possibly by boat, which departed from the seaside towns of El Médano and Los Abrigos.

Notes

References

1. "Treinta Años del Puerto Industrial y Comercial de Granadilla de Abona - Ecoportal.net".
2. "Canarias".
3. [http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/p/pigafetta/relazione_del_primo_viaggio_intorno_al_mondo/relazion.zip pigafetta] {{webarchive. link. (2006-03-19)