Local authority
Politically, the Canary Islands belong to the Kingdom of Spain as one of the autonomous communities (Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands). Means, that they have considerable legislative and executive power, that is, own parliament and council of ministers, headed by the president (President), and the supreme court. Usually, autonomous communities also have a capital – in the case of the Canary Islands, after many years of competition, the title of the capital of the archipelago is shared by Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Cąnaria. Santa Cruz is home to a pot of ministries and a parliament, in Las Palmas, the Supreme Court and other ministries.
The islands are divided into two provinces: Santa Cruz of Tenerife, which include the so-called. western islands (Tenerife, The Palm, La Gomera and El Hierro), oraz Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, managing the eastern islands (Gran canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura). Moreover, there is a separate local government body on each island, Island Council, which is responsible, inter alia, for the functioning of public services. Communes are at the lowest level of power (municipalities) and municipal authorities, usually in historic town halls (town halls) at the main town square.
Gran Canaria vs Tenerife
The two largest islands, Teneryfa and Gran Canaria, they have always fought for the title of the capital of the archipelago. W 1821 r. Santa Cruz de Tenerife was established as the capital of the entire province of the Canary Islands, which, of course, did not please the authorities of Gran Canaria, which proposed dividing the archipelago into two independent provinces. The proposal was implemented in 1927 r.
Franco times
In February 1936 r. the position of the military commander of the Canary Islands was taken by the former chief of the general staff of the Spanish army - Francisco Franco. The unreliable government was exiled to Tenerife, for the then government was counting on it, that distance will solve "Franco's problem". Meanwhile, it was in Tenerife that the general planned a coup, which led to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and over 40 years of fascist dictatorship.
The post-war period of Franco's rule was not only a time of political persecution, but most of all of great poverty. Is estimated, that in years 50. XX w. the islands left over 16 thousand. Canarians. The main purpose of emigration was: Venezuela, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
In the early years 60. XX w. in Spain, a slow process began, but steady economic growth, made possible mainly by opening the country to mass tourism.
Present day
Francisco Franco died in 1975 r. After the dictator's death, King Juan Carlos I of Bourbons returned to the throne, which carried out the democratization of the country, sealed with the signature of v 1978 r. constitution. Under her, v 1982 r. The Canary Islands have become one of the 17 Spanish Autonomous Regions. W 1983 r. the first elections to the Canarian parliament took place, a day of the first session (30 May) has since been celebrated as Canary Islands Day.
From 1993 r. the governments of the islands are exercised by the politicians of the Canary Coalition (Canary Coalition), which considers itself a nationalist party, but without separatist tendencies. The other two major groups are the nationwide left-wing PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) and the right-wing PP (People's Party). The Coalición Canaria representatives in the Spanish parliament usually support the ruling party, in return, they demand an increase in funding for the development of the islands.
As part of the Canary Islands of Spain 1982 r. belong to NATO, from 1993 r. from the EU, a w 2002 r. adopted the euro currency.