Independence movements

History of the Canary Islands independence movement

From MPAIAC's 1964 founding to Cubillo's 1986 return and the CNC.

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1964-1986: MPAIAC

MPAIAC was founded in 1964 by Antonio Cubillo, seeking Canarian independence from Spain.[1]

In the 1970s, MPAIAC conducted armed activity from exile; Cubillo survived a 1978 assassination attempt.[2]

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Founding of MPAIAC, 1964

Antonio Cubillo founded the principal organisation seeking Canarian independence from Spain.

1986: return and the CNC

Cubillo returned in 1986 and founded the National Congress of the Canaries, shifting to political means.[3]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: The Movement for the Self-Determination and Independence of the Canary Archipelago (MPAIAC), a Canarian nationalist and socialist organisation, was founded in 1964 by Antonio Cubillo, with the objective of achieving the Canary Islands' secession from Spain.

    • Canary Islands Independence Movement (Wikipedia) link, Founding section. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: During the 1970s, while exiled in Algiers, Cubillo led an MPAIAC campaign for Canarian independence that operated through two armed groups, the Guanche Armed Forces (FAG) and the Destacamentos Armados Canarios (DAC), maintaining relationships with the Spanish armed group GRAPO, which supplied weapons and explosives, and with the governments of Libya and Algeria, which provided financial support; in 1978, Cubillo was seriously injured in an assassination attempt linked by some accounts to Spanish Interior Ministry security forces. This bundle does not narrate the specific armed incidents of this period in detail.

    • Canary Islands Independence Movement (Wikipedia) link, Armed activity section. Source record
    • Antonio Cubillo (Wikipedia) link, Exile and 1978 assassination attempt section. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: Antonio Cubillo returned to the Canary Islands in 1986 and subsequently founded the National Congress of the Canaries (CNC), a separatist political party pursuing independence through electoral and political means rather than armed activity; a separate organisation, the Popular Front of the Canary Islands (FREPIC-AWAÑAK), describes itself as continuing Cubillo's Berberist political tradition. Cubillo died on 10 December 2012.

    • Antonio Cubillo (Wikipedia) link, Return, CNC founding and death section. Source record
    • Canary Islands Independence Movement (Wikipedia) link, FREPIC-AWAÑAK section. Source record

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Printed from https://independenceatlas.com/movements/canary-islands-independence/history · last substantive update 24 September 2026.