On October 10, 1868, a group of Cuban nationalists declared Cuba’s independence from Spain, then a Spanish colony. This triggered a prolonged conflict that went down in Spanish history as the Ten Years' War (1868–1878).

During this time, maritime traffic between Spain and Cuba intensified. It's estimated that around 1,000 voyages were carried out by ships of the company Antonio López y Compañía, transporting approximately 400,000 soldiers to Cuba. This was possible because the company granted the Spanish government long payment deadlines.

It was in this context that, on November 13, 1871, the Spanish steamship Canárias was sailing from Havana to Cádiz with 19 crew members and 98 passengers, returning from a voyage in which it had transported nearly a thousand soldiers to Cuba.

The Canárias was a mixed-use vessel with a steel hull, one funnel, and three masts. It measured 66.45 meters in length and 11.28 meters in beam. Built in 1855 at shipyards in Amsterdam, it had previously sailed under the names Constitution, Princess Charlotte, and England, until it was acquired in 1861 by Antonio López y Compañía.

On the aforementioned day, as it navigated south of the island of Santa Maria, the ship was struck by a violent storm and began taking on water. It eventually ran aground in Praia Bay on the island’s southern coast.

“Shipwreck – It was learned last week that a large steamship had run aground on Santa Maria. The vessel had departed from Cuba with an important cargo and many passengers. It approached this location because it was the closest on its route, as it was taking on a lot of water. The crew and passengers were successfully saved.”

The cause of the Canárias' shipwreck remains unknown, but the available details are intriguing—particularly concerning the ship’s captain. Several days after the grounding, the captain reportedly returned aboard with three men and is believed to have started a fire that caused a gunpowder explosion.

“In the first few days after the ship ran aground, the captain ordered the recovery of valuable items such as silverware, dishes, luggage, and provisions. On the sixth day, he returned to the ship with three crewmen to prepare more items to bring ashore. He went to the cabin, and after he left to disembark, the three men remained working below. Around 7 PM, they noticed heavy smoke coming from the cabin. Upon checking, they found it in flames.

Fearing for their lives—since there was a large amount of gunpowder on board—they rang the ship's bell in alarm. The captain, already on shore, ignored the warning. The sailors boarded a launch, and the captain ordered a lantern to be placed on a rock, guiding them to the most dangerous point. The sea was rough, the boat overturned, and only two men miraculously survived.

Around 10 PM, a massive explosion was heard across the island. It was the ship's magazine detonating, which caused a phenomenon similar to an aurora borealis, with colorful lights in the sky—produced by alcoholic vapors igniting. The general consensus was that the fire had been deliberately set by the captain, with the added intent of killing the three crew members to prevent them from testifying against him.”

One theory at the time suggested that the ship’s captain was also a shareholder in the shipping company and may have deliberately caused the disaster to claim the insurance money. This capital would then allow for the purchase of a new vessel for Antonio López y Compañía, a company that continued to grow and diversify. In 1881, it became the Compañía Transatlántica Española, with a vast passenger fleet.

Today, the remains of the Canárias still lie off the coast of Praia Formosa, in the parish of Almagreira, near Vila do Porto. In 2015, the Canárias Underwater Archaeological Park was established in the area to preserve the site.

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