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island history

The Conquest of Fuerteventura finished in 1405. Betancuria, a place hidden in a valley to prevent pirate attacks from the African continent, was chosen to be the capital and the island was governed from there. The conquest led by the Norman, Jean de Béthencourt, ended Fuerteventura’s prehistoric era and a new stage began which would have feudal traits. In 1476, the Señorío Territorial, or  territorial lordship, of Fuerteventura was legally created, through which the  Catholic Kings recognised the conqueror's rule over the Island. The town of Betancuria, where the conquerors settled, became the seat of governmental authority through a Cabildo (as a single town council) subject to the Señores (Lords) as the owners of the island. ​
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​There is little information about population settlements on the rest of the island. According to ROLDAN VERDEJO, “The valleys with the best land were settled, Betancuria, Santa Inés, Río Palmas, Pájara, Antigua, Tuineje, Tetir and  La Oliva, which are the most important centres and hence the oldest. People fled  from the coast, from the less fertile or completely sterile and sandy islands, and especially from the eastern coast for fear of Berber incursions.” Once the capital had been established, Pájara, to the south of Betancuria, and La Oliva, to the north, formed the original backbone of the island.
An anonymous manuscript tells how the town of La Oliva was founded in 1500 by some individuals known as the Hernández brothers, residents of Betancuria, “Who built two little houses in this jurisdiction so as to be able to move to the area during sowing time. To that end they constructed the above mentioned houses and built a type of pond or pool for irrigating crops, in the place called Puerto Escondido. Other people followed in the footsteps of the Hérnandez brothers, and they began to build small, scattered houses, encouraged by the cereal farming.” All of these new villages that sprang up were very far from the nerve centre of Betancuria, and hence in 1711 La Oliva’s Ayuda de Parroquia (a dependent church or chapel with a resident priest) was created so that its inhabitants could fulfil their religious obligations.
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The description of the islands given by the engineer Torriani at the end of the 16th  century includes a map of Fuerteventura showing La Oliva, the port of El Toston,  and the Corralejo cove in the north. By the 17th century, El Roque, Los Lajares, Caldereta, Vallebrón, Tindaya, Villaverde, Mascona, Peñaerguida, etc., located  inland and satellites of the central plain in which La Oliva is situated, were inhabited places where agriculture was also the main trade............. contd
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