Meteorite over Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1806

It is not uncommon to spot meteors or trails of celestial bodies penetrating the Earth's atmosphere in the skies over the Canary Islands. They are usually small fragments of rocks travelling through space (less than one metre in diameter) which, upon entering the atmosphere, dissolve several tens of kilometres above, producing a beam of light and a loud boom.

One of these phenomena that caused the greatest impact on the population of Santa Cruz was observed on the night of 26 March 1806. The chronicler Juan Primo de la Guerra in his Diario records the following entry for Monday 3 March:

“On the night of Wednesday the 26th of last month, a fiery meteor or exhalation was observed in this town that, running close to the earth, lasted for some time with a bluish light, similar to that of sulphur and surpassing the brightness of the moon, which was then clear and uncovered. When the fireball disappeared, a noise was heard so similar to a cannon shot that some thought the mail was arriving. This winter, some other exhalations of this kind have been seen here.”

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