Editing Canary Islands (section)

=== Capitals ===
At present, the Canary Islands is the only autonomous community in Spain that has two capitals: [[Santa Cruz de Tenerife]] and [[Las Palmas de Gran Canaria]], since the {{ill|Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands|es|Estatuto de Autonomía de Canarias}} was created in 1982.<ref name="es.wikisource.org"/><ref name="gobiernodecanarias.org"/>

The political capital of the archipelago did not exist as such until the nineteenth century. The first cities founded by the [[Europeans]] at the time of the conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century were: [[Telde]] (in [[Gran Canaria]]), [[San Marcial del Rubicón]] (in [[Lanzarote]]) and [[Betancuria]] (in [[Fuerteventura]]). These cities boasted the first European institutions present in the archipelago, including [[Catholic]] [[bishoprics]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.juliosanchezrodriguez.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/san_marcial.pdf |title=San Marcial de Rubicón y los obispados de Canarias |access-date=24 May 2016 |author=Julio Sánchez Rodríguez |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403020508/http://www.juliosanchezrodriguez.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/san_marcial.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2015 }}</ref> Although, because the period of splendor of these cities developed before the total conquest of the archipelago and its incorporation into the [[Crown of Castile]] never had a political and real control of the entire Canary archipelago.

[[File:Las Palmas panorama.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Overview of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria]]
[[File:Vista de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.png|thumb|upright=1.25|View of Santa Cruz de Tenerife]]
The function of a Canarian city with full jurisdiction for the entire archipelago only exists after the conquest of the Canary Islands, although originally ''[[de facto]]'', that is, without legal and real meaning and linked to the headquarters of the [[Canary Islands General Captaincy]].

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was the first city that exercised this function. This is because the residence of the Captain General of the Canary Islands was in this city during part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.<ref name="junta">La Junta Suprema de Canarias. Volumen I. Buenaventura Bonnet y Riveron. Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Tenerife, Editorial: Editorial Interinsular Canaria SA, publicado en Santa Cruz de Tenerife en 1980 (reedición de 1948) Páginas 104–106</ref> In May 1661, the Captain General of the Canary Islands, [[Jerónimo de Benavente y Quiñones]], moved the headquarters of the captaincy to the city of [[San Cristóbal de La Laguna]] on the island of [[Tenerife]].<ref name="portalcultura.mde_1">{{cite web |url=http://www.portalcultura.mde.es/cultural/archivos/canarias/archivo_156.html |title=Archivo Intermedio Militar de Canarias. Gobierno de España |language=es |access-date=5 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222093936/http://www.portalcultura.mde.es/cultural/archivos/canarias/archivo_156.html |archive-date=22 February 2017 }}</ref> This was due to the fact that this island since the conquest was the most populated, productive and with the highest economic expectations.<ref name="mdc.ulpgc_1">{{cite web |url=http://mdc.ulpgc.es/cdm/ref/collection/bolmc/id/440 |title=La Diócesis de San Cristóbal de La Laguna en los inicios del siglo XIX: el Obispo Folgueras Sión, el Cabildo Catedral y la jurisdicción eclesiástica |language=es |access-date=7 January 2019 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617065832/https://mdc.ulpgc.es/cdm/ref/collection/bolmc/id/440 |url-status=live }}</ref> La Laguna would be considered the ''de facto'' capital of the archipelago<ref name="ref_duplicada_2">{{cite web |url=http://www.arquitectuba.com.ar/diccionario-arquitectura-construccion/san-cristobal-de-la-laguna/ |title=Capital de facto de Canarias |language=es |access-date=5 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105123250/http://www.arquitectuba.com.ar/diccionario-arquitectura-construccion/san-cristobal-de-la-laguna/ |archive-date=5 January 2009 }}</ref> until the official status of the capital of Canary Islands in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was confirmed in the 19th century, due in part to the constant controversies and rivalries between the bourgeoisies of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the economic, political and institutional hegemony of the archipelago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gevic.net/info/contenidos/mostrar_contenidos.php?idcat=1&idcap=190&idcon=691 |title=Pleito Insular; Autonomía y Nacionalidad |work=Gran Enciclopedia Virtual Islas Canarias |language=es |via=www.gevic.net |access-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422082522/http://www.gevic.net/info/contenidos/mostrar_contenidos.php?idcat=1&idcap=190&idcon=691 |archive-date=22 April 2020 }}</ref>

Already in 1723, the Captain General of the Canary Islands [[Lorenzo Fernandez de Villavicencio]] had moved the headquarters of the General Captaincy of the Canary Islands from San Cristóbal de La Laguna to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This decision continued without pleasing the society of the island of Gran Canaria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gevic.net/info/contenidos/mostrar_contenidos.php?idcat=1&idcap=197&idcon=717 |title=Su Origen |work=Gran Enciclopedia Virtual Islas Canarias |language=es |via=www.gevic.net |access-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110160012/http://www.gevic.net/info/contenidos/mostrar_contenidos.php?idcat=1&idcap=197&idcon=717 |archive-date=10 November 2018 }}</ref> It would be after the creation of the [[Province of Canary Islands]] in November 1833 in which Santa Cruz would become the first fully official capital of the Canary Islands (''[[De jure]]'' and not of ''de facto'' as happened previously).<ref name="es.wikisource.org"/><ref name="Real Decreto Canarias"/> Santa Cruz de Tenerife would be the capital of the Canary archipelago until during the Government of General [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera]] in 1927 the province of Canary Islands was split in two provinces: [[Province of Las Palmas|Las Palmas]] with capital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and [[Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife|Santa Cruz de Tenerife]] with capital in the homonymous city.

Finally, with the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands in 1982 and the creation of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the capital of the archipelago between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife is fixed, which is how it remains today.