English: The Canary Islands are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago sitting closer to the coast of western Africa than the Spanish mainland. Although often surrounded by clouds, the skies directly above the volcanic islands are most often cloud-free, logging 3,000 hours of sunshine a year on average.

Although grouped close together and sharing a mild climate, the islands have their own “personality”. Some islands are popular and well-populated tourist destinations with wide sandy beaches. Others have seemingly sterile but spectacular rocky lava fields, or green pine forests. With many different ecosystems, the Canary Islands also enjoy high biodiversity, claiming around 4,000 endemic species of flora and fauna. There are 146 protected areas across the eight islands, including four national parks, three marine reserves, and seven biosphere reserves.

On July 30, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the Canary Islands. Seven of the eight islands are visible in the image. From west to east, they are El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote. The smallest island, La Graciosa, sits off the northern tip of Lanzarote and is covered by cloud in this image.