Arucas Between the 17th and 19th Centuries
The rise of the cane sugar industry during the 16th Century in The Canary Islands as a whole was always going to be short lived. It however, proved to last almost the whole Century, until the conquest of the so-called “new world” resulted in the production of large quantities of cane sugar ,which the Canarians could not compete with. This was a determining factor in their struggle through various calamities during the 17th Century. The inhabitants of Arucas, therefore, had to adapt to survive, while the market shifted away from the raw cane sugar industry to other produce such as cereals.
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Arucas in the 18th Century focused on the production mainly of potatoes, corn and fruit, which gave the town the stability it needed to grow and prosper. In the 19th Century, the then village, was first recognised as a small town by the Reina Isabel II in 1837. In 1894, the town had progressed to the extent that it was given the title City of Arucas by Reina María Christina de Habsburgo, during her reign in honour of her son and heir Alfonso XIII.
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