A Forgotten Chapter of Lanzarote and Canary Islands History

A Forgotten Chapter of Lanzarote and Canary Islands History

Nolita James |
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Canary Islanders Were Sold as Enslaved People in Valencia and Seville: A Forgotten Chapter of Lanzarote and Canary Islands History


A new study is shedding light on a difficult and often overlooked part of Canary Islands history, revealing how Indigenous people from the archipelago were forcibly removed from their homes and taken into the wider European slave trade. Research published in 2026 by Rocío Jiménez Díaz, a researcher at the University of Teramo in Italy working within a doctoral programme co-supervised by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of La Laguna, examines the forced movement and sale of Indigenous Canarians in Valencia and Seville between 1450 and 1530. The research gives tourists and residents another reason to look beyond the beaches and volcanic landscapes of Lanzarote and understand the much deeper history of the Canary Islands.

Two major destinations: Valencia and Seville

The study identifies Valencia and Seville as the two most important Spanish centres documented for the sale and redistribution of people taken from the Canary Islands during the period surrounding the Castilian conquest of the islands. Valencia was particularly significant. The research indicates that most of the people leaving the Canary Islands in an enslaved condition were taken there, where the city acted as an important redistribution centre within the Mediterranean. Seville, meanwhile, was a major Atlantic-facing commercial centre and became increasingly important to Spain's expanding overseas networks. This was not an isolated local trade. The surviving records show that people of Canarian origin could be moved between different cities and regions, becoming part of wider commercial networks that connected the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and, later, the Americas.

Who were the people being taken from the Canary Islands?

The people at the centre of this research were Indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, described in the study as Amazigh Canarians. The term Guanche is often used in popular accounts for the Indigenous people of Tenerife, but the Indigenous populations of the whole archipelago were not one single group and had distinct island identities and communities. The forced removals occurred over a long period. Raiding and capture had already taken place before the final Castilian conquest, while the conquest of islands including Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife created further opportunities for the capture and export of Indigenous people. The study covers the period from the mid-15th century into the first decades of the 16th century and examines evidence from a wide range of historical records, including sales, temporary sales, wills, inventories, donations, escapes, debts, manumissions and other legal documents. Some of those records reveal the ages and backgrounds of the people involved. The research found that documented ages ranged from very young children to adults, with people in their teenage years and twenties particularly visible in the surviving evidence. Both women and men were among those forcibly moved and sold.

A human story hidden in historical records

One of the most important aspects of the research is its emphasis on the people themselves rather than simply treating slavery as an economic system. Jiménez Díaz argues that the phrase “enslaved person” is preferable to the traditional term “slave” because it keeps the focus on the fact that a person was subjected to enslavement rather than defining that person by an imposed condition. The surviving records also show how forced relocation affected identity. Indigenous names could disappear from the documentation after baptism, when Christian names were adopted. Living far from their home islands also meant that languages, customs and cultural identities could gradually be altered or lost. For modern visitors to Lanzarote, this is a reminder that the history of the Canary Islands is considerably more complex than the familiar story of volcanic landscapes, César Manrique, tourism and traditional island life.

Lanzarote's place in the wider story

Although the newly highlighted research focuses particularly on Valencia and Seville, its findings form part of a much larger history that affected the entire Canary Islands. Lanzarote was one of the islands involved in the earliest stages of European expansion into the Canaries. Archaeological sites such as El Bebedero near Tiagua provide important evidence for understanding the island's early history and its contact with Europeans. The wider Canary Islands became a strategic stepping stone in the development of Atlantic navigation. As European powers expanded their activities westwards and southwards, the islands became increasingly connected to maritime routes linking Europe, Africa and eventually the Americas. Research into Canarian enslavement therefore helps historians understand a transitional period between medieval Mediterranean slavery and the much larger Atlantic systems that developed in the following centuries.

The beginnings of a wider Atlantic system

The study is particularly significant because it places the Canary Islands within the early development of Atlantic commercial networks. The mechanisms used to capture, transport and commercialise Indigenous Canarians formed part of a changing system of European expansion. This does not mean that the later transatlantic slave trade can simply be reduced to what happened in the Canary Islands. The systems were different in scale and circumstance. However, the research shows that the Canary Islands were an important early setting in which methods of conquest, forced movement and commercial exploitation were developed within an emerging Atlantic world.

What the documents tell us

Historical research of this kind is challenging because the surviving documents were generally produced by authorities, merchants, owners and institutions rather than by the people who were being enslaved. That means historians have to piece together individual lives from fragments. The study's examination of Valencia and Seville is valuable precisely because both cities have unusually rich documentary collections. Sales and legal records allow researchers to identify individuals, trace movements and compare how people of Canarian origin were treated in different commercial environments. The research also shows that the value assigned to an enslaved person varied according to factors including age, sex, physical condition, origin and market conditions. The study found lower average recorded values in Valencia than in Seville, consistent with Valencia's role as a redistribution centre rather than simply a final destination.

Why this matters today

For anyone living in or visiting Lanzarote, history can sometimes feel very distant. Yet archaeological sites, place names, museums and landscapes across the island are part of a story that stretches back long before modern tourism. Understanding the history of the Indigenous people of the Canary Islands also helps visitors appreciate why the islands' heritage is so important. It encourages us to look beyond the postcard image and recognise the people and communities who lived here, resisted outside control, experienced forced displacement and, in many cases, disappeared from the historical record under new names and identities. The new research does not change Lanzarote's welcoming character or the reasons millions of people come to enjoy the island today. Instead, it adds another layer to the story of the Canary Islands — one that deserves to be remembered with care and respect.

A history worth discovering

Lanzarote is famous for its volcanoes, beaches, sunshine and unique culture, but its history reaches back many centuries. New research such as this study of Indigenous Canarian enslavement is helping historians reconstruct parts of that past that have received comparatively little attention. For residents and tourists interested in Canary Islands history, the message is simple: there is much more to discover beneath the surface of the island.
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