{"id":819,"date":"2014-10-07T19:28:16","date_gmt":"2014-10-07T19:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fuertecharter.com\/?p=819"},"modified":"2015-12-09T10:29:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T10:29:09","slug":"la-batalla-de-tamasite-defensa-de-fuerteventura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fuertecharter.com\/en\/la-batalla-de-tamasite-defensa-de-fuerteventura\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamasite Battle: defence of Fuerteventura"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As every year, the 13th October the municiaplity of Tuineje, South of Fuerteventura, celebrates with a performance that is becoming more and more popular, to commemorate the victory of the \u201cmajorera\u201d population over the Corsairs\u2019 attacks in 1740.<\/h3>\n<\/header>\n
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This staged battle is about the battles of \u201cEl Cuchillete\u201d and that of \u201cTamasite\u201d, and it takes place within the frame of the festivities in honour of San Miguel Arc\u00e1ngel, patron saint of this locality, whom the neighbours promised to never forget this date if he helped them achieve the victory.<\/p>\n

This dates back to the middle of the XVIII C, hard times for Fuerteventura due to the huge droughts that destroyed the harvests turning Fuerteventura, which was considered \u201cthe barn of the Canary Island\u201d, into a dry land with no water where the plants could hardly bear fruits. At those times the \u201cmajorera\u201d population was decimated due to emigration to other islands in search of sustenance.<\/p>\n

It turns out that in 1739 Great Britain, helped by Portugal, declares war to Spain in its Caribbean colonies, with the intention of controlling the whole market in America, which is known as The War of Jenkins\u2019 Ear<\/a>, as the trigger was that a Spanish representative cut the British Jenkins\u2019 Ear, carrying in his ship loads of smuggled goods, so as to warn the British crown. This deed was considered as an offence by the British, who decided to start the war.<\/p>\n

The attacks extended to the colonies in the Atlantic, The Canary Islands being target of looting by Corsairs, who were trying to get ships and loots to exchange them later on in Madeira.<\/p>\n

At those times, the crown of Spain was not protecting The Islands with their troops regularly, so, taking advantage of the lack of population and arms in Fuerteventura, and also of how easy it was to access its coast, having so many kilometres of sandy beaches, a British corsair disembarked at Gran Tarajal beach, on October 13th<\/sup> 1740, and its crew managed to get to Tuineje area and plunder it.<\/p>\n

However, the \u201cmajorero\u201d people didn\u2019t let the fear overcome them at that moment and, organised in militias, managed by the lieutenant colonel S\u00e1nchez Umpi\u00e9rrez, and armed wit sticks and stones, decided to face the attackers in the well-known \u201cEl cuchillete\u201d battle, which ended up with the victory of Fuerteventura\u2019s people, who killed 33 out of the 53 attackers, and imprisoned the remaining ones.<\/p>\n

The corsairs, very surprised not to have their troops back, attacked Fuerteventura again one month later, November 24th<\/sup> 1740, and this time the corsairs faced, in the well-known \u201cTamasite\u201d battle, on Gran Tarajal beach, a more trained population, as their self-confidence had grown and now they also had firearms they had seized in the previous battle. By then, \u201clos majoreros\u201d had also developed their military strategies and they used camels, which were very abundant by then, as shields, thus stopping to a great extent the corsairs\u2019 attacks. And once again they emerged victorious, without the help of the Spanish troops, who didn\u2019t establish a steady military base in the islands until the XIX century, a bit too late for corsairs\u2019 attacks.<\/p>\n

A fragment of this island\u2019s history was performed last October 13th<\/sup>, thus reviving this battle that makes the \u201cmajorero\u201d people feel so proud of.<\/p>\n

El Equipo de FuerteCahrter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As every year, the 13th October the municiaplity of Tuineje, South of Fuerteventura, celebrates with a performance that is becoming more and more popular, to commemorate the victory of the \u201cmajorera\u201d population over the Corsairs\u2019 attacks in 1740. This staged battle is about the battles of \u201cEl Cuchillete\u201d and that of \u201cTamasite\u201d, and it takes … Continue reading Tamasite Battle: defence of Fuerteventura<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n