Page 14 - Demo

14 | Gazette Life | July 2026GAZETTE | HISTORYFor centuries, Lanzarote islanders lived in terror of pirate raids. An isolated, lightly protected island on the main trade routes to the Americas, it was highly vulnerable to attack from the sea. Lanzarote was never a wealthy island, and the raiders did not come in search of gold or great riches. Instead, they would raid the island for supplies, pillaging anything of value, and would often engage in the lucrative business of people trafficking %u2013 in other words, slavery.Islanders were often captured during raids, and locals would often be given the chance to buy them back for a ransom. If they could not afford this, the slaves would be transported to the north African coast to be sold at slave markets.Pirate raids are the reason why towns like Teguise and San Bartolom%u00e9 are located in the middle of the island, far from the coast. This gave locals the maximum amount of time to flee and hide in the event of a raid.One of the places they would hide was the underground volcanic tunnel of the Cueva de los Verde. One such siege in 1618 lasted for several days until a scribe gave away the secret entrance that islanders were using to fetch food and water. Over 900 slaves were taken in that raid, many of whom drowned in a subsequent sea battle with the Spanish Navy. The island was left virtually unpopulated.The daughter of Mar%u00eda Ru%u00edz and Blas Perdomo was six when she was taken in the 1618 raid, and it was not until 1632 when the couple were able to reach Andalusia, to try and negotiate her return from Algeria. Now a young woman, their daughter chose to remain in captivity, but the couple managed to return with two of Mar%u00eda%u2019s nieces who had also been abducted.The Castillo de Santa B%u00e1rbara, perched on top of the volcano of Guanapay overlooking Teguise, was another refuge %u2013 built specifically to protect islanders from pirate raids. Weapons were hard to come by in those days, but the sides of the volcano, littered with stones and rocks, show how natives may have defended themselves.Pirates came from many places. The Barbary coast of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisa; the Caribbean, and also from England. While British history books may refer to sailors such as Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins as explorers and adventurers, Spanish history recalls them as common pirates, privateers who plundered Spanish ships.Raleigh landed in Arrecife in 1617 after unsuccessful attempt to find Pirates of Lanzarotethe mythical city of El Dorado, although accounts of what happened vary. Some claim his men burnt buildings in the port and stole wine from a moored ship, but whatever took place, it was enough to attract strong criticism from Spain, which was then at peace with Britain. Raleigh was executed shortly afterwards.The two castles in Arrecife, San Jos%u00e9 and San Gabriel, were both built as fortresses to defend the coast from pirate attacks, and the Torre de %u00c1guila in Playa Blanca, built in 1741, also saw bloody skirmishes.The fortifications on the coast and the decline of piracy on the high seas by the 19th century finally allowed Lanzarote%u2019s ports and coastal villages to live in peace, and the island%u2019s main port, Arrecife, took over from the ancient settlement of Teguise in the late 19th century. The real Treasure Island? The most famous pirate story is, without a doubt, Robert Louis Stevenson%u2019s Treasure Island, but could the real island be lying off the coast of Lanzarote? Stevenson published his novel in 1886, but set the action over a century earlier, and it is believed that two 18th century incidents, both involving Lanzarote, inspired the story. The Castillo de Santa B%u00e1rbara