La Isleta Concentration Camp

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces · Year: 1936

In the weeks following the military uprising of 18 July 1936, hundreds of political detainees from the two Canary Islands provinces crowded the various prisons (Provincial Prison of Las Palmas and Provincial Prison of Santa Cruz de Tenerife), which proved insufficient to house the large number of inmates. They therefore had to improvise other mass internment sites: the La Isleta Concentration Camp in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and later the one in Gando, in the south of the island, and the Fyffes camp in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Thousands of Canarians passed through them between 1936 and 1945.

The camp was located on the military grounds of the La Isleta peninsula, between the Lighthouse and the Artillery Barracks. It was an elevated plateau with uneven ground, where a huge quadrilateral was set up, limited by a triple row of barbed wire, supported every few metres by thick wooden posts and fastened with staples.

Inside, on the east side, were the huts, arranged in two long rows, initially eight huts each, later increased, with a longitudinal extension of about 200 or 300 metres. The tents were canvas field huts, designed for 12 or 14 people but housing up to 50 prisoners, shaped like a cone, supported by a strong central pole and outer ropes tied to large stones that gave tension to the structure.

The camp entrance was a narrow and very long corridor, narrowing from the outside like a funnel. Outside the camp were the tents of the camp chiefs and the guard corps, located on two small slopes on the west side of the wire fence, with cement walls and conical canvas roofs. There were also warehouses for food and the field kitchen.

[...] One of the most striking aspects of the La Isleta camp was the brutality employed against the prisoners, to the extent that we could call it a true punishment camp rather than one of internment or concentration. It also served as a labour camp, as several tracks were built during that time: one leading to the Lighthouse and another to a coastal battery, although many of the imposed tasks were merely a means to exercise the prisoners since they had no logical explanation. [...]

[Text extracted from the magazine Canarii (July 2007): A place for punishment and brutality , by Sergio Millares Cantero]

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