The Role of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Coal Route from the End of the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Corporate Strategies

Abstract

infrastructures required by bigger and more complex vessels. 4 Nonetheless, given the limited range of steamships, convenient supply depots along the length of trade routes were essential if ships' holds were to be filled with goods rather than huge amounts of fuel. The Iberian Atlantic islands (Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde and to a lesser degree the Azores), situated as they were at the proximate mid-point on Atlantic trade routes, proved ideal. Alongside these activities a "differential economic model for islands" was created to permit the islands to develop their own enclave economies in which transportation played an important role.' Douglass North has theorised on this model, in which the export of agricultural products to Europe (bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, etc.) benefited maritime transport fleets by lowering their operating costs, since ships could now exploit the "return" leg of their journey with a cargo to take back to Europe." This activity was further complemented by passenger transport, either in the form of tourists visiting the islands or as ports of call for emigrants on their way to South America. The site of the Canary Islands at the crossroads of different maritime trade routes determined their historical importance in international trade and maritime traffic, relegating the archipelagos of the South Atlantic (Ascension Island, St. Helena and the Falklands), which had enjoyed a certain degree of success as coaling stations in the nineteenth century, to secondary roles. 7 This leads to the hypothesis that the ports of these archipelagos, and in particular those of the Canary Islands, were created as a support to Atlantic trade due to a range of factors, including location, adequate infrastructure, benign climate, size of market and the existence of institutional arrangements which benefited and reduced the costs of commercial transactions, such as franchises and commercial liberties (which took the form of "free ports" in the Canary Islands).

Biogeographic origins and drivers of alien plant invasions in the Canary Islands

“…It has previously been proposed that introductions peaked during the last 200 years due to (i) major migration waves of European settlers in the 18th and 19th century and (ii) the acceleration of global trade in the 20th century, with Europeans bringing most species they liked or needed from home (Hulme, 2009;Seebens et al, 2015;Seebens et al, 2017). Accordingly, our study demonstrates that most of the floristic groupings considered, including the Mediterranean Basin, did not show any sign of saturation, rather their rates of natu- Since the first colonial European voyages, through to the present, commercial routes from Europe were established as bidirectional, transiting through the Canary Islands for connections with central and South America and tropical Africa (Aldrich & Connell, 1998;Armenteros Martínez, 2018;Bosa, 2004;Parsons, 1983;Santana-Pérez, 2018). This historical dynamic provides support for two nonexclusive potential explanations.…”

“…Based on our results, we propose that the incidence of naturalizations of Mediterranean (and European) plants in the Canary archipelago during the historical European human diaspore was insignificant. Since the first colonial European voyages, through to the present, commercial routes from Europe were established as bidirectional, transiting through the Canary Islands for connections with central and South America and tropical Africa (Aldrich & Connell, 1998; Armenteros Martínez, 2018; Bosa, 2004; Parsons, 1983; Santana‐Pérez, 2018). This historical dynamic provides support for two non‐exclusive potential explanations.…”

“…From where, and how many of these returned remain open questions (James, 1985). In addition, the Canary archipelago has played a historical role as a hub for European–American trading routes, with trade connectivity increasing over time (Aldrich & Connell, 1998; Bosa, 2004; Parsons, 1983). These migration and trade circumstances have produced concentrated migration that likely explains the high rates of invasion by alien plant species from Central and South America, mainly for agricultural and horticultural purposes (e.g.…”

“…As a result, an important increase in trade and land use transformation caused a significant reduction of the main zonal vegetation types as well as a noteworthy increase in the introductions of alien plants (del Arco‐Aguilar & Rodríguez‐Delgado, 2018). Since Castilian colonization, the archipelago has been a crossroad of several intercontinental trade routes (Bosa, 2004; James, 1985; Santana‐Pérez, 2018), which makes it challenging to track the origins of alien plant species.…”

Cultural Seascapes in the ‘Sea of Calms’ and La Restinga Coast

“…For centuries their ports were an obligatory stop on all routes to the Southern Hemisphere. Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ports became essential coal deposits in the Atlantic, particularly during the nineteenth century (Suárez Bosa 2004). Later, the Archipelago went into the health and tourism businesses.…”