Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are an Atlantic nation, an archipelago of eight inhabited islands lying closer to the African coast than to mainland Europe, with a distinct identity rooted in the heritage of their first inhabitants, the Guanches, and in centuries as a crossroads between Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Recognised as a historical nationality, the Canary Islands govern themselves under their Statute of Autonomy of 1982, reformed in 2018, with their own Parliament and government (Gobierno de Canarias) and a special economic and fiscal regime that reflects their remoteness. Within the European Union they are an outermost region — fully part of the Union, with tailored derogations — and the most populous of them all, with around 2.2 million inhabitants (2024).

A proud nation within Europe, the Canary Islands embody a principle the European Democrats hold dear: that Europe must remain attentive to its most distant territories, and that geographic remoteness must never mean political distance from the heart of the Union.