Attempted Portuguese Invasion

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1478

Very shortly after the founding of the Real de Las Palmas, the Castilians not only had to undertake a tough struggle inland in their endeavour to conquer the island, but they were also forced to defend their newly established camp from an attempted external invasion by Portuguese troops. This was in 1478, a year before the signing of the Treaty of Alcáçovas, an agreement by which the Canary Islands and the nearby African coast definitively came under Castilian influence, leaving all other Atlantic islands and the long African coast in Portuguese hands.

Anticipating this agreement, the Catholic Monarchs had already begun the conquest of Gran Canaria and the conqueror charged with carrying out the mission, Juan Rejón, had founded the Real de Las Palmas at the beginning of the summer of 1478. This event provoked an immediate reaction from the Portuguese crown, with a flotilla of Lusitanian ships arriving on the coasts of Gran Canaria shortly afterwards. After forming alliances with the aborigines, they attempted a coup aimed at expelling Rejón and his men from their settlement in Las Palmas and, by extension, from the entire island.

The Portuguese landing attempt took place on the coast of La Isleta. The plan was to land there and then take the Real in a joint attack by Lusitanians from the coast and indigenous people from the interior. 

The operation was a complete disaster. The Portuguese approach to land was disorderly due both to the rough sea conditions at the time and the swift action of the Castilians who were already waiting for them on the coast. The invaders were immediately repelled and forced into a disorganised retreat amid heavy surf. Most of the Portuguese were killed or captured.

This was the first attempted invasion of the island, with the Castilians already present, by a European power, and the last by Portugal in its intention to seize the Canary archipelago. The following year, after the signing of the Treaty of Alcáçovas, both peninsular kingdoms divided their areas of influence in the Atlantic and the remaining Canary Islands to be conquered definitively came under the Crown of Castile.

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