La Gomera () is one of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, located in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

off the coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the

province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, also Province of Santa Cruz ( es, link=no, Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife), is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of abo ...

. La Gomera is the third least populous of the eight main

with 22,426 inhabitants. Its capital is

Political organisation

La Gomera is part of the

. It is divided into six

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

: The island government (''cabildo insular'') is located in the capital, San Sebastián.

Geography

The island is of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

origin and roughly circular; it is about in diameter. The island is very mountainous and steeply sloping and rises to at the island's highest peak, Alto de Garajonay. Its shape is rather like an orange that has been cut in half and then split into segments, which has left deep ravines or ''barrancos'' between them.

Ecology

The uppermost slopes of these ''barrancos'', in turn, are covered by the ''

laurisilva Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of Subtropics, subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glo ...

'' – or laurel rain forest, where up to 50 inches of precipitation fall each year. The upper reaches of this densely wooded region are almost permanently shrouded in clouds and mist, and as a result are covered in lush and diverse vegetation: they form the protected environment of Spain's

Garajonay National Park Garajonay National Park ( es, Parque nacional de Garajonay, ) is located in the center and north of the island of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). It was declared a national park in 1981 and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. ...

, which was declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 1986. The slopes are criss-crossed by paths of varying difficulty, offering views of the surrounding area. The central mountains catch the moisture from the

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

clouds and yield a dense jungle climate in the cooler air, which contrasts with the warmer, sun-baked cliffs near sea level. Between these extremes there is a variety of microclimates; for centuries, the inhabitants of La Gomera have farmed the lower levels by channelling runoff water to irrigate their vineyards, orchards and banana groves.

Natural symbols

The official natural symbols associated with La Gomera are ''

Columba junoniae The laurel pigeon or white-tailed laurel pigeon (''Columba junoniae'') is a species of bird in the Columba genus in the family Columbidae ( doves and pigeons). It is endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain, and resides in laurel forest habitat. It ...

'' (Paloma rabiche) and ''

Persea indica ''Persea indica'' is a large, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to humid uplands on Madeira and the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic. It belongs to the genus ''Persea'', a group of evergreen trees including the avocado. ...

'' (Viñátigo). File:Lorbeertaube15-01-2010.jpg, ''

'' File:Persea indica - Berlin.jpg, ''

Culture

The local wine is distinctive and often accompanied with a ''tapa'' (snack) of local cheese, roasted pork, or goat meat. Other culinary specialities include

almogrote Almogrote is a soft paste made from hard cheese, peppers, olive oil, garlic, and other ingredients, which is typically eaten spread on toast. It is native to La Gomera in the Canary Islands. See also * List of spreads This is a list of ...

, a cheese spread,

miel de palma Miel de palma (lit. palm honey, also palm syrup) is an edible sweet syrup produced from the sap of a number of palms. It is produced in the Canary Islands and coastal regions of South America. Species In the Canary Islands, palm syrup (''miel d ...

, a syrup extracted from palm trees, and "escaldón", a porridge made with

gofio Gofio is a sort of Canarian flour made from roasted grains (typically wheat or certain varieties of maize) or other starchy plants (e.g. beans and, historically, fern root), some varieties containing a little added salt. Gofio has been an im ...

flour. The inhabitants of La Gomera have an ancient way of communicating across deep ravines by means of a

whistled speech Whistled languages use whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. A whistled language is a system of whistled communication which allows fluent whistlers to transmit and comprehend a potentially unlimited number of messages over l ...

called ''

Silbo Gomero Silbo Gomero ( es, link=no, silbo gomero , 'Gomeran whistle'), also known as ''el silbo'' ('the whistle'), is a whistled register of Spanish used by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, historically used to communicate across the deep ...

'', which can be heard 2 miles away. This

whistled language Whistled languages use whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. A whistled language is a system of whistled communication which allows fluent whistlers to transmit and comprehend a potentially unlimited number of messages over l ...

is indigenous to the island, and its existence has been documented since Roman times. Invented by the original inhabitants of the island, the

Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

, ''Silbo Gomero'' was adopted by the Spanish settlers in the 16th century and survived after the Guanches were entirely assimilated. When this means of communication was threatened with extinction at the dawn of the 21st century, the local government required all children to learn it in school. Marcial Morera, a linguist at the

University of La Laguna The University of La Laguna (ULL; Spanish: ''Universidad de La Laguna'') is a public research university situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands. The university ...

has said that the study of silbo may help understand how languages are formed. In the mountains of La Gomera, its original inhabitants worshipped their god, whom they called Orahan; the summit and centre of the island served as their grand sanctuary. Indeed, many of the natives took refuge in this sacred territory in 1489, as they faced imminent defeat at the hands of the Spaniards, and it was here that the conquest of La Gomera was drawn to a close. Modern-day archaeologists have found several ceremonial stone constructions here that appear to represent sacrificial altar stones, slate hollows, or cavities. It was here that the Guanches built pyres upon which to make offerings of goats and sheep to their god. This same god, Orahan, was known on La Palma as Abora and on Tenerife and Gran Canaria as Arocan. The Guanches also interred their dead in caves. Today, saints, who are worshipped through village festivals, are principally connected with Christianity. But in some aspects, the Guanches’ god-like idealising of Gomeran uniqueness plays a role as well besides their pre-Christian and pre-colonial implication and shows strong local differences.Jaehnichen, G. (2011). Steps into the future: San Isitdro's procession dance. In: Jaehnichen & Chieng, (eds.) Preserving creativity in music practice. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.http://www.mercado-mallorca.com/canaries.htm 2012

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

made La Gomera his last port of call before crossing the Atlantic in 1492 with his three ships. He stopped here to replenish his crew's food and water supplies, intending to stay only four days.

Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ossorio Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ulloa-Ossorio (Medina del Campo, 1462 – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1504) was the daughter of Juan de Bobadilla and named after his cousin Beatriz de Bobadilla. Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ossorio was married to ruler of th ...

, the Countess of La Gomera and widow of Hernán Peraza the Younger, offered him vital support in preparations of the fleet, and he ended up staying one month. When he finally set sail on 6 September 1492, she gave him cuttings of sugarcane, which became the first to reach the New World. After his first voyage of Discovery, Columbus again provisioned his ships at the port of San Sebastián de La Gomera in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, commanding a fleet of 17 vessels. He visited La Gomera for the last time in 1498 on his third voyage to the Americas. The house in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

in which he is reputed to have stayed is now a tourist attraction.

Genetics

autosomal An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosome, allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in au ...

study in 2011 found an average Northwest African influence of about 17% in Canary Islanders with a wide interindividual variation ranging from 0% to 96%. According to the authors, the substantial Northwest African ancestry found for Canary Islanders supports that, despite the aggressive conquest by the Spanish in the 15th century and the subsequent immigration, genetic footprints of the first settlers of the Canary Islands persist in the current inhabitants. Parallelling mtDNA findings (50.1% of U6 and 10.8% of L haplogroups), the largest average Northwest African contribution (42.5%) was found for the samples from La Gomera. According to Flores et al. (2003),

genetic drift Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance. Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...

could be responsible for the contrasting difference in Northwest African ancestry detected with maternal (51% of Northwest African lineages) and paternal markers (0.3–10% of Northwest African lineages) in La Gomera. Alternatively, it could reflect the dramatic way the island was conquered, producing the strongest sexual asymmetry in the archipelago.Flores, C., Maca-Meyer, N., Pérez, J. A., González, A. M., Larruga, J. M. & Cabrera, V. M. 200
A predominant European ancestry of paternal lineages from Canary Islands
Ann Hum Genet 67, 138–152.

Festivals

Virgen de guadalupe, patrona de la gomera

The festival of the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...

, patron saint of the island, is the Monday following the first Saturday of October. Every five years (most recently in 2018) is celebrated the ''Bajada de la Virgen de Guadalupe'' (the Bringing the Virgin) from her hermitage in Puntallana to the capital. She is brought by boat to the beach of

San Sebastián de La Gomera San Sebastián de La Gomera is the capital and a municipality of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, Spain. It also hosts the main harbour. The population was 8,699 in 2013,Antonio José Ruiz de Padrón José Antonio Ruiz de Padron (1757–1823) was a noted Spanish politician and Catholic priest. He was a critic of the Inquisition and promoter of a more enlightened Catholic faith. In 1785 he went to Pennsylvania and met and debated with George Was ...

(1757–1823), Franciscan priest and politician. *

José Aguiar José Aguiar or José Aguiar García (born 1895 (Santa Clara, Cuba), died 1976 (Madrid)) was a painter and muralist from La Gomera. Aguiar was born in Cuba in 1895 but his family returned to Agulo, La Gomera a few months later in 1896 where he w ...

(1895–1975), painter. *

Pedro García Cabrera Pedro García Cabrera (19 August 1905 – 20 March 1981) was a Spanish writer and poet. A member of the Generation of '27, he is considered one of the greatest poets of the Canary Islands. Biography Early life Born in Vallehermoso, on the islan ...

(1905–1981), writer and poet. *

Tim Hart Tim Hart (9 January 1948 – 24 December 2009) was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Early years Tim Hart was born in Lincoln, England, but moved to St ...

(1948–2009), English folk musician. *

Manuel Mora Morales Manuel Mora Morales (born 10 May 1952 on La Gomera, Canary Islands) is a Canarian writer, filmmaker and editor. He completed his studies at the University of La Laguna on the island of Tenerife. He is the president of the Asociación de Ed ...

(born 1952), writer, filmmaker and editor. * Oliver Weber (born 1970), German photographer, physician and professor of visual arts.

References

External links

* *Green, Lawrence G.: South African beachcomber. Memories of the people of the shore and the stories they told; sand and dunes and treasure, seabirds and creatures of the sea; and personal impressions of certain islands in African waters. Cape Town: Howard B. Timmins, 1958.
Cabildo de La Gomera
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La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

Islands of the Canary Islands Volcanoes of the Canary Islands Extinct volcanoes Biosphere reserves of Spain