Canarias, 1800-2000: la singularidad de la historia económica isleña

Abstract

This text focuses its attention on summarizing contemporary economic history of the Canary Islands with a wide analytical perspective. In the first place, the article presents its previous history, i.e., the modern period since the time of the conquest and colonization of the Archipelago. The evidence shows the formation of an economic a social model based on the free trade character of its institutional framework. This characteristic of the canarian economy, i.e., its openness to international trade allowed for an evolution quite different from the rest of Spain. The free trade structure was dressed up in new clothes during the 19^th century so as to secure the bonds of the Canary Islands with the new bourgeois state. The analysis of contemporary history carried out in this paper upholds the assessment made, i.e., the economy of the Canary Islands requires a distinct design in commercial and fiscal policies, more so during times of social and economic crisis.