Misterious Guanches
The natives of Tenerife where known as the bravest and most feared from the canary inhabitants. They were cavern men and they balsamated their deceased people in caves and prayed for their peaceful rest.
From the rests of mummies we can afirm the northwest african origin. Likewise from some vestiges from spoken and written language which made the conquest of the spaniards over the Guanches much more difficult. A few years ago a stone was found. It has the symbols 'Z(a)N(a)T(a)' engraved on it, which suposedly has some sort of a connection to the same name with a bereber origin. No definitive explication has been given until yet.
Likewise there are only theories and speculations of the way the Guanches even arrived the first time to the islands. European reports affirm that the natives did not have any knowledge about seecraft. It is also very peculiar that there were not even connections between the very near island of La Gomera and Tenerife. Another mistery is why the Guanches did not make any evolution in time despite the many visits from the Fenician, Punician and Romans.
The Spanish conquest
500 years ago the spanish conqueror Alonso Fernández de Lugo arrived at the bay of Añaza (todays harbour of Santa Cruz). The royal house ordered him to submit the last bastion of the canary natives. But the Guanches proved themselves as very brave and audacious as related by some chronists.
Bencomo, the king of Raoro (today La Orotava) the mightiest of all nine kings, congregated all his warriors and enticed the intruders to the Bay of Acentejo. 2.000 compatriots of the spanish crown fell and 'de Lugo' was seriously injured.
This happend on the 31st of May of 1494. Since then the town of the massacre is called La Matanza (the slaughter). Today besides the motorway there is a huge stone wall painting with a Guanche blowing the victory signal through a horn in the place of the massacre. One and a half years later, the 25th of December of 1495 and after the stench plague which weakened the Guanches the spanish crown finally conquered Tenerife.
For a long time the extermination of a nation and all it's culture was held in secret and always denied. Under the mandate of 'Franco' it was even forbidden to talk about it. A few years ago a Rennaisance started and now even Guanches names are being registrated on streets. Families with the surname 'Oramas' are proud again of their name and tell about their ancestor 'Juan Oramas' a grandson of the King 'Doramas de Guanarteme' who was killed in Gran Canaria.
In Candelaria, the memory of the last nine Kings was kept alive by Lava made statues at the beach in front of the Basílica. The pass of time and especially the erosion corroded and destroyed partially these statues.
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