Many people do not realise that the Spanish Civil War of 1936 actually began in the Canary Islands. Francisco Franco was General Commandant of the Canary Islands, who was based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It was here that Franco plotted his strategy, well away from the rest of Spain, before he headed to the Spanish Peninsular. It was under his watch that Spain became divided into two factions: ‘Republican’ and ‘Loyalists’.

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© Barrie Mahoney 2025

I heard a UK economist on the radio this week complaining about high employment levels in the country. Apparently, high employment is bad for the economy, since it forces wage and salary levels upwards, which is bad for UK exports and the overall economy. Conversely, high unemployment level is preferable, according to this economist, since it creates “a competitive employment background”, which results in wage stability and even a reduction in production costs.

© Barrie Mahoney 2025

To find out more about Barrie, his blogs, podcasts and books, go to: http://barriemahoney.com/

Anyone who has travelled across these islands and has driven through some of the older road tunnels, carefully crafted through the centre of some of the volcanic mountains, will appreciate the impressive engineering skills demonstrated by the talented workers of earlier generations. I was reminded of this once again when it was reported that the authorities in St Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, announced their decision to dedicate a bridge on the tributary of the Neva River in honour of the Canary Islands engineer, Agustín de Betancourt, who worked for Tsar Alexander I.