500th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF LAS PALMAS

[aukepalmhof]

For the 500th Anniversary of the foundation of Las Palmas on the Canary Island, Spain issued 3 stamps in 1978.

By order of the Catholic Monarchs, a sea expedition is formed to conquer the Canary Islands. It was under command of Captain Juan Rejon, a Leonine gentleman, seconded by Dean Juan Bermudez and Mayor Ensign Alfonso Jaimez de Sotomayor. The ships arrive at "Gran Canaria"; where Chaplain Gómez Escudero, describing the arrival and celebrated the Mass on the beach where he says:
“And so they raised his Real flag in a beautiful valley with lots of palm and dragon trees, fig-trees and willows and where freshwater always ran to the sea from a stream called Guiniguada, that is, at the foot of the hills that runs north to the south by a league and a half or so, until you find a high and chopped cliff that falls into the sea. It has wide banks with a width of two to three stone throws. They named the place Las Palmas ".
It was the morning of the 24 June 1478, and so began an overseas company that speaks of being crowned with the discovery of America.
The expedition consisted of six hundred men of war, thirty hijosdalgos riding on horseback and numerous adventurers who attended the announcement of the expedition which took place in Andalusia to gather men who will carry out the conquest and colonization.
A chapel and houses followed the initial camp. After the arrival of the new settlers, the population grew, which we can see on a map of 1590, depicted on the three pesetas stamp, from a map by engineer Leonardo Torriani, commissioned by Philip II of the fortification of the islands.
The five pesetas reproduces the old chapel of San Antonio Abad, in the center of Las Palmas, and the twelve pesetas stamp is the reproduction of a Dutch engraving inspired by the attack at the end of the sixteenth century made on the city by the Dutch Admiral Pieter van der Does and his fleet.
The city of Las Palmas is today has today an active population whose prosperity contributes to the port, the fertile agriculture surroundings, and incessant commercial movement. However, it is assured that the best of Las Palmas is its climate: an annual average of 16 to 23 degrees and 4 degrees difference between day and night.
http://spainfilatelia.blogspot.com/2012 ... e-las.html
In 1599 a huge Dutch armada led by Admiral Pieter van der Does https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_van_der_Does attacked and took Las Palmas in just two days. The quick victory went to the Admiral’s head and he decided to take the rest of Gran Canaria too.
So, he marched his tired men up into the hills behind the city to capture the rich sugar towns. However, his heavily armored soldiers were no match for mobile local militias in the forested terrain.
Van der Does was ambushed, defeated and beat a hasty retreat to the city. He wasn’t the best of losers and turned Las Palmas into a bonfire.
Most of the city’s original houses, monasteries and convents were destroyed and only the stone cathedral survived unscathed.
It took Las Palmas 100 years to grow back to the size it was when Van der Does arrive.
The admiral didn't last anywhere near as long. From Las Palmas he copied Drake and withdrew to south Gran Canaria to recover. From there, he sailed to the Cape Verde Islands where he and many of his men died of tropical diseases within days of arriving.

(Dutch sources give: on 11 May 1599 a fleet of 73 ships sailed from the Zeven Provicien with onboard 8000 men under command of Admiral Pieter van der Does, his flagship was the HOLLANDSCHE TUIN (Dutch Garden) first the fleet sailed to the Spanish town Coruna, but this town was strongly defended and the Dutch decided to sail to the South arriving off Las Palmas.
Van der Does died on 24 October 1599 at Sao Tome on malaria or his injuries).

http://www.gran-canaria-info.com/en/con ... heir-lives
Spain 1978 10p sg 2527, scott?