Guess how many islands belong to Spain. Now check on Wikipedia – there are 179 – but some are tiny.
As well as Mallorca, Minorca and Ibiza there are another fifteen in the Balearic Islands and nineteen in the Canary Islands. Although I have been on lots of islands on sailing holidays I never set foot on any of them, until Monday.
Santa Catalina was built in 1890 and unfortunately completely modernised five years ago. I prefer faded grandeur but it is still magnificent, not least the gardens.
I wonder what it was like to stay on this beautiful island, untainted by mass tourism, at the end of the 19th century? For those who could afford it, a journey by sea to paradise is my guess. But don’t rush to buy a property here – or do so sharpish – because buyers outside the EU will have to pay a 100% tax. This is crazy economics but, maybe, a vote winner like policies already adopted in the UK to please Labour’s left wing and Trump’s on the menu tariffs. It’s a dog eat dog world.
These bronze dogs and others lie and sit facing the cathedral. Look closely and you can see the one on the left has retrieved a bird. You might think the Canary Islands are so called because of small yellow birds.
“The Spanish name of the islands Islas Canarias is most probably derived from the Latin name Insula Canaria, meaning Island of the Dogs. Canis is the Latin word for dog.” (Las Palmas Travel Blog)
There are certainly a lot of dogs on leads and an absence of dog shit. These islands are about 2,000 km from Madrid. I wonder if Trump will want to buy them? Yellowland?