Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of Africa, today an autonomous community of Spain. Inhabited by the indigenous Guanches, they were reached by the Genoese Lanzarotto Malocello in the early fourteenth century and conquered by Castile between 1402 and 1496. They became a key stopover on Spanish voyages to the Americas.