Religion in the Canary Islands same Alonso Fernández de Lugo (conqueror of this island) who in 1513 asked the Court to erect a new diocese on the island of Tenerife. However, this project would always have the opposition of the Grancanarian bishop. From this moment, the Canary Islands was divided into two dioceses: The "Diocese Canariense-Rubicense" that encompasses the eastern islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) and "Diocese of San Cristóbal of La Laguna" or "Nivariense" that encompasses the western islands (Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro). In the Canary Islands, religious devotions of great tradition in history and culture are particularly important,
Gallotia 2010). Finally, the clade that colonized the younger western islands was likely to have originated from Lanzarote/Fuerteventura. This western island clade diverged into two groups, all of which colonized Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, leading to 1) a medium-bodied (e.g., "G. caesaris" from El Hierro) and 2) a large bodied "giant" species (e.g., "G. simonyi" from El Hierro) on each of these islands (note that "G. intermedia" from Tenerife belongs to the "giant" group, but present-day individuals are not that large). The giant species now exist, at best, in small relict populations, while "G. auritae" may be