Journey to the edge of the Earth, El Hierro,

[Hepa]

Bosslady writes for Tourist Information, here the last one.

HERE

[Janet]

That's fantastic, Hepa ... and bosslady!! 

[NAH]

Thanks for posting the link, that was a great read 

[El Profesor]

133 years.

Thanks for posting that - made me want to visit your island. Never been there.

I heard a theory the other day. I wonder what you think of it.

El Hierro is often cited as one of the places where the most correct version of proper Castellano Spanish is spoken . . . kind of ironic when you consider that learning Spanish in the Canaries is usually a bit like learning English in Glasgow. Certainly within a Canarian context, it is the closest to Castellano. I had wondered why for years.

The theory goes that  . . .  as you say in your piece "Journey to the end of the World" . . . . the western point of El Hierro was the end of the old world. That is where they all set off from, the first conquistadores. Columbus himself was hanging around there waiting for the "Alisios" trade winds to be favourable.
And so little by little, people stopped off, hung around and populated the island.
But as time went by, important ports and towns established on the bigger islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria and that was where the international maritime traffic gravitated  . . . so nobody stopped in El Hierro anymore. And it became isolated, thus conserving a micro-bubble of old Castillian Spanish.

Seems logical.

[Hepa]

133 years.

Thanks for posting that - made me want to visit your island. Never been there.

I heard a theory the other day. I wonder what you think of it.

El Hierro is often cited as one of the places where the most correct version of proper Castellano Spanish is spoken . . . kind of ironic when you consider that learning Spanish in the Canaries is usually a bit like learning English in Glasgow. Certainly within a Canarian context, it is the closest to Castellano. I had wondered why for years.

The theory goes that  . . .  as you say in your piece "Journey to the end of the World" . . . . the western point of El Hierro was the end of the old world. That is where they all set off from, the first conquistadores. Columbus himself was hanging around there waiting for the "Alisios" trade winds to be favourable.
And so little by little, people stopped off, hung around and populated the island.
But as time went by, important ports and towns established on the bigger islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria and that was where the international maritime traffic gravitated  . . . so nobody stopped in El Hierro anymore. And it became isolated, thus conserving a micro-bubble of old Castillian Spanish.

Seems logical.

I think you are on the right track, however Columbus sailed from La Gomera, Tenerife had not been conquered and El Hierro did not have suitable anchorage, hence the isolation, I very much doubt in this day and age that the spoken word is perfect Castellano, radio and T.V. have diluted the language and introduced Ciao, hello baby, and super bonito, but the pronunciation of Fairy as in Fairy Liquid always amuses.

Sorry for the late reply, I only found your post today.

[TOTO 99]

That's a seriously remote place you live in Hepa if it takes a month for an email to reach you......

[Hepa]

That's a seriously remote place you live in Hepa if it takes a month for an email to reach you......

Whadayamean?  we've got electricity and flush toilets