The Atlanticity of the Macaronesian islands during the Iberian Union

Abstract

The search for the definition of the Macaronesian islands world (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde) has been a subject of constant reflection for the interpretation of these societies, both to understand their origin and their worldview, and to define the parameters that unite the island spaces with the Atlantic and, consequently, with that which is foreign. This research is focused on the analysis the characteristics which define the island phenomenon with the goal of understanding the peculiar significance of the composition of modern Macaronesian society during the consolidation of the Atlantic world at the time of the Iberian Union. In this regard, the islands of Macaronesia formed an essential terrain to feed and boost transatlantic circulation. The attraction of certain islands is their ability to cross distant paths, redistribute products and promote migratory flows in the Atlantic. In this way, the fluid contacts between islands of Macaronesia, which are complementary, promoted between the Castilian and Portuguese islanders not only a feeling of belonging to a supranational Iberian monarchy, but also a sensitivity of belonging to the same island region formed by a Portuguese and Spanish population of extrapeninsular origin with its nexus being it’s the Atlantic insularity.