Thursday, February 22, 2024

The Canary Islands And Northern Spain

Spain was originally separate kingdoms. Upon the Catholic reconquest of the country from the Moors, in 1492, Spain was united by the marriage of the famous king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella, who were from the two most important states Aragon and Castile.

The unification of Spain was never quite complete and in recent years there have been separatist movements in two regions in particular, the Basques in northern Spain and the Catalans in the northeastern part of the country.

Far from mainland Spain, 150 km off the Atlantic coast of Morocco, are the Canary Islands which are a part of the country. Geographically, the Canary Islands are somewhat like the Spanish version of Hawaii. The islands get a lot of vacationers. A visitor to the Canary Islands once sent me these postcards.


The two largest cities on the Canary Islands are considered as co-capitals of the islands. The first is Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria. The first five scenes of Las Palmas are from Google Earth and Street View.






There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >,  After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.1511305,-15.4265522,3a,75y,300h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqKaVp4M2vIPFw4A5ogRUMQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DqKaVp4M2vIPFw4A5ogRUMQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D300%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The other major city on the Canary Islands is Tenerife. Unfortunately, the name of Tenerife is synonymous with tragedy. On March 27, 1977, I was a youth watching television when the broadcast was interrupted to announce a terrible tragedy that had taken place. The airport at Tenerife was shrouded in dense fog. A Pan Am jet was taxiing on the runway. A KLM jet was set to take off, but the crew couldn't see the Pan Am jet in the dense fog. The KLM crew saw the other plane after beginning takeoff but it was too late to avoid a collision. Nearly 600 people died and it remains, to this day, the worst air accident in history. 

The following image, from Google Earth, shows where the accident happened. The runway is at left and the parallel main taxiway is at right. A bomb, planted by a separatist movement, exploded at Las Palmas Airport and planes were diverted to this airport, now known as Tenerife North. It was a smaller airport that was not designed for heavy traffic and planes had to park on the main taxiway, so that it could not be used for taxiing. On top of that there was heavy fog and the airport didn't have ground radar.

The KLM jet taxied the length of the runway and turned around, in position for takeoff. The Pan Am jet also followed instructions from the control tower to taxi and then turn off into the third taxiway. Apparently because of the fog the Pan Am jet missed the taxiway and continued taxiing on the runway. At this point the crews of the two planes could not see the other plane. I presume that both planes couldn't have taken off in the opposite direction because a plane is supposed to take off into the wind and the prevailing wind at that latitude is from the west.

The red arrow, in the following image from Google Earth, shows the path of the KLM jet. The pilot seems to have misunderstood a communication from the control tower and thought the plane was clear for takeoff. The red arrow is pointing WNW. The blue arrow shows the path of the Pan Am jet and the exit that it had been instructed to take. Too late the crews of both planes saw the other. The Pan Am jet tried to get off the runway onto the grass. The KLM jet tried to liftoff but it's tail struck the runway and it didn't have enough altitude to miss the Pan Am jet. The red dot shows the collision point. (Credit to Wikipedia article "Tenerife Airport Disaster").


What is not widely known is that when the Boeing 747 jet was introduced, in 1970, it was demonstrated by a highly-publicized flight from New York to London, and that same plane was the Pan Am jet that was involved in this accident at Tenerife.

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.4622958,-16.2567478,3a,75y,80h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPGkGm9LURKNlGzygWvFXvmf1kkUv6iNr0jD1wS!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPGkGm9LURKNlGzygWvFXvmf1kkUv6iNr0jD1wS%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-19.109251-ya254.88681-ro-1.9366425-fo100!7i11000!8i5500

On the Spanish mainland, the ancient city of Salamanca was first Celtic and then Roman. Salamanca is a university city and the site of a great medieval university. My feeling is that Salamanca has taken the mantle of Cordoba as Spain's most prominent university city. The first four images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Salamanca Cathedral.



https://www.google.com/maps/@41.653944,-4.7228592,3a,75y,308.7h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPw243kdbLFjlquKOidU8jnirEbEJM4Xlfv-dca!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPw243kdbLFjlquKOidU8jnirEbEJM4Xlfv-dca%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya72.67629-ro-0-fo100!7i14000!8i7000

Vigo, on northern Spain's Atlantic coast, is not quite as old, having originated in medieval times.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2381823,-8.7266348,3a,75y,187.46h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sg5-22VgQedohv9ErGqy0Kg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dg5-22VgQedohv9ErGqy0Kg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.53725%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

A Coruna was another city that was first Celtic, and then Roman. This coastal city is especially known for the Tower of Hercules, which is a lighthouse that is nearly two thousand years old. The Tower of Hercules is believed to have been modeled on the former Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), which we saw on our visit to "Alexandria". The first three images, from Google Earth, are of A Coruna and the Tower of Hercules.




https://www.google.com/maps/@43.378305,-8.4011371,3a,75y,138.12h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sx6zunxy3aR-tAnFLPXG7Wg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dx6zunxy3aR-tAnFLPXG7Wg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D146.91069%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Leon was an ancient Roman city that gained a new life in medieval times. It seems to be a common name for a city. You may remember that we have visited cities named Leon in both France and Mexico. The first three images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Leon Cathedral and the adjacent Royal Palace.




https://www.google.com/maps/@42.5995013,-5.5665059,2a,75y,303.68h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVLCc0ZGWnhl-Q0feLhC06g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DVLCc0ZGWnhl-Q0feLhC06g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D312.15045%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Bilbao is the focal point of Spain's Basque country. The Basques speak Spanish, but also have their own language. The Basque language mystifies because it is believed to be completely unlike any other language, much unlike Spanish which is a Romance language related to French, Italian, Portuguese and, Romanian. Basque is not the only language in Europe that is unlike any other. The same can be said for Hungarian and Finnish. Some believe that the Basque language might be related to that of the ancient Etruscans.

There used to be a campaign for a separate Basque homeland that sometimes involved bombings. The Basques live in northern Spain and southwestern France. The bombings targeted mostly Spain but sometimes France. The first image of Bilbao is from Google Earth.





https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3431543,-3.7006741,3a,75y,131.21h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s169SLZXjNiXepFU8XUK46w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D169SLZXjNiXepFU8XUK46w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D139.83372%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Spanish is either the third or fourth most common language in the world. Mandarin and English are the first two. If Hindi and Urdu are counted as one language, sometimes referred to as Hindustani, then Spanish is the fourth most common language. But if Urdu is counted as being separate from Hindi, the spoken language is similar but it uses a different script, then Spanish is the third most common language in the world.

The Spanish language is sometimes called Castilian Spanish, from the former kingdom of Castile in Spain where it originated. Unlike most languages, it can be traced where the language began. This language, one of the few most important languages in the world, can be traced to the Monastery of Val Puesta, near Burgos.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8661254,-3.1243679,3a,75y,83.94h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sB9tFCF2nTXf1bQpntj7zew!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DB9tFCF2nTXf1bQpntj7zew%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D81.75567%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Finally the city of Pamplona, of Roman origin, is known for the annual "Running of the Bulls", although I am not condoning bullfighting.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8184143,-1.6440194,3a,75y,162.73h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO0s7a-ad-l2vx3wcu1IKUl5U9JBCPHBx1j0Anx!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO0s7a-ad-l2vx3wcu1IKUl5U9JBCPHBx1j0Anx%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya204.6944-ro0-fo100!7i8000!8i4000
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