La Guancha

From the Conquistadors camp, set up at what is now Los Realejos, several groups set off to take possession of these lands. On the way, they arrived at what is now Santa Catalina.

Several families reached here, mainly from Gran Canaria, some of Portuguese origin.

With time, they built the church of Santa Catalina, in 1510. This small settlement gradually spread to the place where the conquering soldiers found a native girl by a spring that came to be called Fuente de la Guancha. (the Guanche girl's spring).

A church was built there too, devoted to El Buen Jesus. This was made into a parish church in 1630, under the name of the church of El Dulce Nombre de Jesús, separating from the Benefice of San Marcos de Icod.

Once La Guancha was declared a borough, a Town Hall and a Corn Exchange were built, a mansion that burned down in 1888, with the loss of valuable records.

The borough was very isolated until the Icod road reached the town centre in 1931.