Government of Lanzarote

Although under Spanish authority, the Canary Islands were granted their own Regional Constitution in 1982 and enjoy a special status within the EEC since 1986. King Carlos and Queen Sofia represent the Spanish monarchy; their son Prince Felipe is heir to the throne.

Even before the Canary Islands were declared a single province of Spain in 1821, with Santa Cruz de Tenerife as capital, competition for primacy between the two main islands (Tenerife and Gran Canaria) had long been prevalent.

Contacts with the New World (because of the high emigration to Latin America due to collapses of local industries), where, in 1898, Cuba had gained independence from Spain, led to calls for Canary independence too. Yet, most people simply wanted the division of the archipelago into two separate provinces (the province of Gran Canaria including the eastern islands Lanzarote and Fuerteventura and the province of Tenerife including the western islands La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro), which eventually came about in 1927.

In the new Constitution of 1978, Spain created the status of Autonomous Region for the Canary Islands, which means in practice that the archipelago is not completely separated from Spain but that the government of the Canary Islands does have a great deal of freedom with regard to dealings concerning internal island affairs.

In 1982, the Canary Islands finally saw their autonomy come true. Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas jointly conduct the government. The Regional Government has offices both in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Each island has its own Island Council (Cabildo Insular) with certain powers of self-government and assuming responsibility for the running of local public services. Then the islands are divided into municipalities (Municipios), which are presided by a mayor (Alcalde) with seat in the town hall (Ayuntamiento).

Lanzarote, part of the eastern province led by Gran Canaria, is divided into seven administrative districts – Haría, Teguise, Arrecife, Tinajo, San Bartolomé, Tías and Yaiza – of which Teguise covers the largest surface. The main political parties are the left-wing Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) and the right-of-centre Partido Popular (PP). In the 1990s, various nationalist groups merged to form the Coalición Canaria (CC), which now – rather than pressing for independence – pushes Madrid for improvements.