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 Lucha Canaria (Canarian wrestling) | |
| Also known as | Lucha Canaria |
|---|---|
| Focus | Grappling |
| Country of origin |  Spain |
| Creator | Various |
| Parenthood | Ancient Guanche Wrestling |
| Olympic sport | No |
Canarian Wrestling is a form of folk wrestling, originally from the Canary Islands, where it is known as Lucha Canaria.
Wrestlers start in the middle of a sand circle, called terrero. The aim is to make their opponent touch the sand with any part of their body, except the feet. To accomplish this, they use different techniques called mañas to throw their opponent off balance. Two falls are required to win a bout. A match ends when all the members of one team have been defeated.
Canarian wrestling comes from the history of the Guanches, the earliest known natives of the Canary Islands, although with limited contact between the islands, each island then developed different rules.
In 1420, shortly after the Spanish conquest, Alvar García de Santa María first recorded the wrestling techniques, including the use of referees, or hombres de honor (men of honor). Only some of these early rules and techniques have survived to modern times. After the conquest, the sport became part of the islands’ folklore, only usually being fought at celebrations or local festivals.
The rules were first laid down in 1872, making it one of the earliest defined forms of wrestling. In the 1940s several provincial federations were formed, leading to formation of the Federación Española de Lucha in 1984. As it needs a sand circle, lucha is usually fought on special pitches, and important matches, particularly inter-island contests, are covered by local Canarian TV.
Mañas, moves, or series of moves, can be divided in three groups. Punching, hitting and strangling is not permitted.
The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish region and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.15 million people and they are one of the outermost regions of the European Union.
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The University of La Laguna is a public research university situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands. The university has six campuses: Central, Anchieta, Guajara, Campus del Sur, Ofra and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The flag of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands is a vertical tricolour of three equal bands of white, blue, and yellow. The state flag includes the Coat of arms of the Canary Islands in the central band; the civil flag omits this. The designs were made official by the Statute of Autonomy of the Canarian Autonomous Community on 16 August 1982.
Canary Islanders, or Canarians, are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of Spanish settlers and aboriginal Guanche peoples. Genetics shows modern Canarian people to be a mixture of mostly European, with significant North African, and minor Sub-Saharan African. The distinctive variety of the Spanish language spoken in the region is known as habla canaria or the (dialecto) canario. The Canarians, and their descendants, played a major role during the conquest, colonization, and eventual independence movements of various countries in Latin America. Their ethnic and cultural presence is most palpable in the countries of Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States territory of Puerto Rico.
Canarian nationalism is a political movement that encourages the national consciousness of the Canarian people. The term includes several ideological trends, ranging from the right to self-determination to a demand for further autonomy within Spain.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, also called Diocese of Tenerife or Diocese Nivariense, is a diocese located in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in the Canary Islands in the Ecclesiastical province of Sevilla in Spain. The diocese includes the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The bishop of this diocese is Bernardo Álvarez Afonso.
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Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez was a Spanish Catholic priest and confessor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain.
The Canarian Independent Groups were a Spanish political party based in the Canary Islands that existed from 1985 until its integration in Canarian Coalition.
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The 2019 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 10th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 70 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.
Gran Canaria is one of the seven constituencies represented in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the regional legislature of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. The constituency currently elects 15 deputies. Its boundaries correspond to those of the island of Gran Canaria. The electoral system uses the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation, with a minimum threshold of fifteen percent in the constituency or four percent regionally.
As in the rest of Spain, the majority religion in the Canary Islands is the Catholic Church. The Catholic religion has been the majority since the Conquest of the Canary Islands in the fifteenth century. This religion would largely replace the Canarian aboriginal religion through the prohibition of the latter and syncretism. According to a survey conducted in 2019, Canary Islands is the fifth autonomous community in Spain with the highest percentage of people who declare themselves to be Catholics after the Region of Murcia, Extremadura, Galicia, Aragon, and Castile and León. 76.7% of the population is Catholic.
The next Canarian regional election will be held no later than Sunday, 28 May 2023, to elect the 11th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 70 seats in the Parliament will be up for election.
The Canarian Football Federation is the football association responsible for all competitions of any form of football developed in the Canary Islands. It is integrated into the Royal Spanish Football Federation and its headquarters are located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
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