Role of the Canaries and Madeiras
The Canary and Madeira islands played a strategic role in the discovery and colonization of America, providing “rest-stops” and staging areas for the crossing to America. ... Without the Canaries and Madeiras islands, many needed resources for exploration and conquest would surely have been lost. ... Madeiras soil and climate were excellent for growing sugar, the most lucrative cash crop of the time. ... The Canaries had been known to Europeans since the early fourteenth century, but their conquest by Castile began in 1402.