Canary Islands PAU Geography cheat sheet

Iberian Peninsula core is the Meseta, a Precambrian–Paleozoic hercynian block peneplained into a high interior plateau (average ~600–700 m); it tilts gently west toward the Atlantic.

Alpine orogens: Pyrenees, Cantabrian Range, Iberian System and Betic Cordillera were raised by Alpine compression (Cenozoic), folding and thrusting Mesozoic cover over the hercynian basement.

Ebro and Guadalquivir depressions are foreland basins filled with Tertiary and Quaternary sediments; both were later opened to the sea and infilled by fluvial deposits.

Volcanic Canary Islands are intraplate hotspot/oceanic-island volcanism on Jurassic oceanic crust; each island is a distinct shield-to-stratovolcano edifice, not part of the Alpine belt.

Tenerife: Teide–Pico Viejo stratovolcano inside the Las Cañadas caldera (multiple collapse events), summit 3,718 m, highest point in Spain.

Gran Canaria shows a classic radial shield with the Roque Nublo/Pico de las Nieves centre; La Palma the Taburiente collapse caldera (Caldera de Taburiente) and Cumbre Vieja rift.

Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are the oldest, most eroded islands (Miocene), with malpaís lava fields, badlands and aeolian sand (Corralejo, Maspalomas dunes); El Hierro is youngest with rift volcanism.

Relief contrasts: Spain's mean altitude (~660 m) is among the highest in Europe; highest mainland peak is Mulhacén (3,479 m, Betic Cordillera).

Landform vocabulary: peneplain, cuesta, hogback, polje, karst (Ciudad Encantada), glacial cirque (Gredos, Picos de Europa), marine terrace, lava tube, caldera, malpaís, roque.

General circulation: westerlies and the polar-front jet drive Atlantic fronts in winter; the Azores High (subtropical anticyclone) shifts north in summer, blocking rainfall over Iberia.

NAO positive phase = strong Azores High + westerlies further north = dry Spain; negative phase = wetter, stormier winters in the peninsula.

Cold-season 'gota fría' (DANA/cut-off low) events: isolated cold upper-level lows over warm Mediterranean water produce torrential autumn rain, especially Valencia and Murcia.

Mainland climate types: oceanic (north/northwest, >800 mm, mild, no dry summer), Mediterranean (dry summer; Csa/Csb), continentalised Mediterranean inland (cold winters, hot summers, ~400–600 mm), alpine (altitude zonation), arid southeast (Almería–Murcia, <300 mm).

Canary climate: subtropical oceanic, mild all year (Las Palmas ~21 °C mean), low rainfall concentrated in winter; two regimes - 'mar de nubes' windward north (trade-wind cloud belt, 600–1,500 m) and arid leeward south.

Trade winds (NE) are persistent; the Canary Current cools the sea and stabilises the lower atmosphere, while the subsidence inversion caps the moist layer and limits rain to the north-facing slopes.

Rainfall gradient: NW Iberia >1,500 mm (Santiago, Grazalema) versus <200 mm at Cabo de Gata/Fuerteventura; orographic and exposure effects dominate over latitude.

Temperature metrics: annual range greatest inland (Cuenca, ~18–20 °C), smallest on Canary coasts (~7 °C); frost rare below 200 m in Canaries, common on inland Meseta.

Climatic indices used in PAU: ombrothermic diagram (P > 2T = humid month), aridity index, Gaussen/Bagnouls rule; classify with Köppen letters (Csb, Csa, Cfb, BSk/BSh).

Atlantic vs Mediterranean divide: Atlantic rivers are long, high-discharge (Duero, Tagus, Guadiana, Guadalquivir, Miño); Mediterranean rivers short, steep and irregular (Ebro is the exception, 910 km).

Flow regime types: nival (Pyrenees, high discharge May–June from snowmelt), pluvio-nival, pluvial oceanic (regular, winter maximum), pluvial Mediterranean (strong summer minimum, autumn flood peaks).

The Ebro, Duero and Tagus are regulated by large reservoirs; the Tagus–Segura transfer (Trasvase Tajo-Segura, from 1979) moves water to Murcia/Alicante and is politically contested.

Canary hydrology: almost no permanent surface rivers; water comes from aquifers (galerías and pozos), plus desalination plants; barrancos carry flash floods.

Water balance: precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus runoff; Spain's renewable freshwater is unevenly distributed, with internal deficits in the southeast.

Confederaciones Hidrográficas (river-basin authorities) manage each basin; interbasin transfers, desalination and the 'Plan Hidrológico Nacional' frame allocation conflicts.

Pressures: aquifer overexploitation (Doñana, Mancha Occidental), diffuse nitrate pollution, reservoir siltation, drought cycles and the EU Water Framework Directive's ecological-status targets.

In the Canaries, 'aguas depuradas' reuse and desalination supply urban/tourist demand; El Hierro's Gorona del Viento is an example of renewable-powered water pumping.

Hydrological analysis: calculate runoff coefficient (runoff/precipitation), compare regime coefficients (monthly flow / annual mean), and interpret a hydrograph for lag time and peak.

Atlantic (Eurosiberian) realm: deciduous forest - beech (hayedos), oak (robledales), chestnut - with ferns and mosses; extends across Galicia, Cantabrian coast and Pyrenees.

Mediterranean realm: evergreen sclerophyll - holm oak (encina), cork oak (alcornoque), olive, lentisk, rosemary, thyme; degraded stages are maquis/garriga and espartal.

Altitudinal zonation: basal Mediterranean → oak/pine belt → montane pine (Pinus sylvestris/nigra) → alpine grassland (borreguiles, piornal) above ~2,000 m.

Canary vegetation belts: cardonal-tabaibal (0–300 m), thermophilous palm/ dragon tree belt, laurel forest (laurisilva, 500–1,200 m windward), pine forest (Pinus canariensis), high-mountain summit scrub (retamar, tajinaste).

Endemism and relicts: laurisilva is a Tertiary relict; Canary endemics include Dracaena draco, Pinus canariensis, Viper's tail (Echium wildpretii) and many Macaronesian species.

Soil types: rankers and podzols in humid north; brown Mediterranean soils and terra rossa on limestone; red 'alfisoles' on old volcanic surfaces; recent volcanic andisols/tephra in Canaries; saline and gypsiferous soils in arid southeast.

Protected-area categories in Spain: Parques Nacionales (16, e.g. Teide, Caldera de Taburiente, Garajonay, Timanfaya), Parques Naturales, Reservas de la Biosfera (La Palma, Lanzarote, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria), Natura 2000 (ZEC/ZEPA).

Garajonay (La Gomera) is a UNESCO World Heritage laurel forest; Doñana combines marsh, dunes and Mediterranean scrub and is also a Ramsar site.

Fire, overgrazing and abandonment drive dehesa dynamics and shrub encroachment; reforestation with pines and eucalyptus has altered native communities.

Spain's population is ~48 million; density ~95 inhab/km², but distribution is highly uneven: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and coastal belts concentrate people; interior provinces (Teruel, Soria, Cuenca) fall below 10 inhab/km².

Natural increase is near zero or negative (TFR ~1.2, among the EU's lowest); population growth since 2000 is driven mainly by immigration.

Ageing: over 20% aged 65+, life expectancy ~83–84 years; dependency ratio rising; rural areas show stronger ageing and masculinisation.

Migration history: 1960s–70s emigration to Germany, France, Switzerland and internal rural-to-urban; 2000s Latin American, Moroccan, Romanian and later Ukrainian inflows; 2012–2015 net outflow during crisis; post-2020 recovery.

Canary Islands: ~2.2 million people, heavily concentrated in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife metropolitan areas; high share of foreign residents (Europeans, Latin Americans, Moroccans).

Canary demography has high natural growth relative to mainland due to younger age structure, plus tourism-driven and irregular-arrival migration pressure (Cayuco routes).

Demographic tools: population pyramid shape (beehive = ageing), sex ratio, crude birth/death rates, natural increase, net migration, dependency ratio, and the demographic transition model stages.

Settlement density contrasts: coastal vs interior, urban vs rural; 'España vaciada' depopulation and the Lapland/Serranía Celtibérica low-density belt.

Urban hierarchy: Madrid and Barcelona as global/national metropolises; then Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Málaga, Bilbao; then regional centres (Murcia, Valladolid, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife).

Urban systems: monocentric primacy in Madrid; polynuclear conurbations (Bilbao, Barcelona); Canary twin-capital structure with two metropolitan areas (Las Palmas–Telde, Santa Cruz–La Laguna).

City structure models: pre-industrial historic core (casco antiguo) with plaza mayor and walls; ensanche (19th-century grid, e.g. Eixample, Ensanche de Madrid); peripheral industrial/worker districts; post-1970s suburban sprawl and metropolitan rings.

Functional zoning: CBD, residential segregation by income, industrial parks on urban fringe, logistics platforms near motorways/ports, gentrification in historic centres.

Canary urban form: compact historic centres (Vegueta, La Laguna - UNESCO), linear coastal tourist urbanisation (Playa del Inglés, Los Cristianos), dispersed rural settlement in the medianías, and 'ciudades difusas' along the coast.

Settlement patterns: concentrated vs dispersed; in Spain, concentrated villages dominate the Meseta, dispersed hamlets the Atlantic north; Canaries mix coastal strip urbanisation with scattered medianía housing.

Urban problems: housing affordability, traffic and air quality, urban heat island, flood risk in ramblas/barrancos, pressure on coastal land.

Tools: rank-size rule, primacy index, urban land-use map interpretation, and analysis of a city's plan (radiocentric, orthogonal, irregular).

Primary sector: ~2–3% of employment; Mediterranean triad (cereals, vines, olives), irrigated horticulture (Almería greenhouses), extensive livestock, and forestry; Canaries: bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, vineyards (malvasía) and fishing.

Secondary sector: ~15–20% of employment; automotive (Catalonia, Basque Country, Castilla y León), chemicals, food processing, steel; deindustrialisation in old belts (Asturias, Bilbao) with reindustrialisation via logistics and renewables.

Tertiary sector: ~70–75% of employment; tourism, retail, transport, finance, public services; tourism is Spain's largest foreign-exchange earner (~90+ million international arrivals pre-2020).

Canary economy: tourism and services dominate (>70% GDP), construction cyclical, agriculture small; heavy dependence on external demand and imports; special tax regime (REF, ZEC).

Regional imbalances: GDP per capita highest in Madrid, Basque Country, Navarra, Catalonia; lowest in Extremadura, Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha and the Canary Islands (below EU average).

Employment structure indicators: activity rate, unemployment rate (youth and long-term), sectoral shares, productivity; Spain's unemployment is structurally high and seasonal in tourism regions.

Spatial patterns: central places and growth poles, coastal tourism corridors, rural decline, and metropolitan concentration of advanced services; EU cohesion funds target convergence.

Sustainability issues: tourism carrying capacity in Canaries, water/energy intensity, dependence on air transport, and diversification toward digital and blue economy.

Spain is a decentralised unitary state ('Estado de las Autonomías') under the 1978 Constitution, Article 2 and Title VIII; 17 autonomous communities plus 2 autonomous cities (Ceuta, Melilla).

Two autonomy routes: 'vía rápida' (Art. 151, e.g. Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia, Andalucía) and 'vía lenta' (Art. 143, most others); powers are defined in each Estatuto de Autonomía.

Historic 'nacionalidades' (Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia) and 'regiones' coexist; the Basque Country and Navarra hold special fiscal regimes (concierto/Convenio).

Sub-state units: provinces (50, plus Ceuta/Melilla), municipalities (municipios), and comarcas as intermediate units (e.g. Comarca de La Vera, comarcas in Catalonia and Aragón); Canaries use 'comarcas' informally, but the island (isla) is the key administrative tier.

Canary Islands: single autonomous community with two provinces (Las Palmas: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote; Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro); each island has a Cabildo Insular with devolved powers.

EU context: NUTS-2 regions for cohesion policy; Canaries are an outermost region (RUP, Art. 349 TFEU) with specific measures.

Territorial tensions: Catalan and Basque independence movements, financing reform debates, and the 'España vaciada' demand for territorial balance.

Geographical analysis of administrative maps: distinguish provincial boundaries from comarcal and municipal ones, and read the capital city of each province.

Map scale: 1:25,000 (large scale, detailed), 1:50,000 (MTN50), 1:200,000 (regional), 1:1,000,000 (national); scale = map distance / ground distance.

Contour lines: index contours every 5th line; spacing indicates slope steepness; V-shape pointing upstream = valley; closed loops = hills or depressions (hachures).

Topographic profile: plot distance vs elevation along a transect; calculate gradient (rise/run) and identify landforms (ridge, valley, plateau, cliff).

Climatic graphs: ombrothermic diagram with P (mm) and T (°C) axes; dry month when P < 2T; interpret regime, aridity and seasonality.

Population pyramid: read age cohorts (0–14, 15–64, 65+), sex ratio, and shape (expansive, stationary, constrictive); link to demographic transition stage.

Statistical measures: rate = (events / population) × 1,000; density = population / area; percentage change; index numbers; moving averages for smoothing series.

Choropleth vs isopleth vs flow maps; cartograms distort area by value; dot maps show distribution; isolines (isohyets, isotherms) connect equal values.

Image interpretation: aerial/satellite imagery - identify land use (cropland, urban, forest, lava), linear features (roads, rivers), and change over time.

Cartographic vocabulary: meridians/parallels, latitude/longitude, grid north vs magnetic north, legend, scale bar, UTM vs geographic coordinates, GIS layers.