Santiago in the Canary Islands? Yes, really!
There are over 140 places named after Santiago all over the world. A few of them are located on the Canary Islands, so this week on the podcast I welcom back Marina Rodríguez, who you might remember from episode 25, when she told us all about the Camino de Gran Canaria.
We talk about places in the Canary Islands that are named Santiago... and something else that connects Galicia and the Canary Islands.
Playa de Santiago
The first place Marina tells me about is Playa de Santiago on the small island of La Gomera: a quiet fishing village with black sand beaches, tucked at the mouth of the Barranco de Santiago. It started out as a fishing spot, then grew into a hub for canning fish, exporting tomatoes and bananas, and welcoming ships. Today, it’s still authentic and peaceful—definitely not the kind of place overrun by tourists.
Santiago en Tenerife
Then we jumped over to Tenerife to explore Santiago del Teide. This mountain village sits near Spain’s highest peak, Mount Teide, which is actually a volcano. It’s not the only volcano in the area. The nearby Chinyero last erupted in 1909.
Fun fact: the town was once just “Santiago,” but constant postal mix-ups with Playa de Santiago in La Gomera (letters ending up on the wrong island!) forced the locals to rename it Santiago del Teide. That solved the problem, and the name stuck. Nearby you’ll also find Puerto de Santiago and the dramatic cliffs of Los Gigantes, plus whale and dolphin watching.
More links between the Canaries and Galicia
Of course, since Marina is from the Canaries, we couldn’t resist diving into local culture and language. We discovered more interesting links between Canary Spanish and Galician, like similar vocabulary. c
And we talked about the Canarian version of Galicia’s furanchos: guachinches (in Tenerife) or bochinches (in Gran Canaria). These started as homes where families sold their extra wine alongside homemade food. Today, they’ve evolved into more conventional restaurants serving traditional dishes, though the most authentic ones still only open in winter, when the new wine is ready.
Marina shared two theories about the name guachinche. One is that it comes from buche (sip) > bochinche / guachinche.
The other? A popular legend that it comes from locals teasing English visitors with “I’m watching you” as they drank! And that became bochinche /guachinche. No one knows for sure and there’s no evidence that that’s the real origin of the word, but it’s a great story.
If you’re curious about language, culture, and hidden corners of the Canary Islands linked to Santiago, this episode is for you. And if you want to learn more from Marina, check out her website Lengua Babel.
I started this series on places named after Santiago a few weeks ago with an episode on Santiago de Chile. You read/listen here.
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