Fuerteventura is the second
largest island of the Canarian Archipelago with a population of around
80,000 inhabitants. Fuerteventura is 100km long, and 31km wide and
is believed to be the oldest of the Canary Islands forming over 20
million years ago.
The earliest settlers, the Gaunches first landed in Tenerife,
and were a primitive people descending from the Berber race of North
Africa. Subsequently there were many invasions by Spanish and Portuguese
and even the British tried to claim parts of Fuerteventura for themselves(unsuccessfully),
the most successful invasion was by Jean de Bethencourt who in 1402
first conquered Lanzarote and who gives his name to the town of
Betancuria in the centre of Fuerteventura, which was the capital
of the island up until the mid 19th century.