GERMAN SPIES’ ON THE CANARY ISLANDS

‘German Spies on the Canary Islands’ revealed through thorough research by scholars at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

Research reveals that the Canary Islands played a crucial role in the German espionage network during World War II. Marta García Cabrera, author of the study, describes how the Third Reich’s intelligence service used the archipelago as a strategic base for controlling the Atlantic Ocean and carrying out intelligence and sabotage operations.

Despite Spain’s official neutrality, the geostrategic location of the Canary Islands and the presence of an influential German community facilitated these clandestine activities. The research, published in German History journal, emphasizes the role of the islands in the Nazi espionage network and their connections to operations in Africa and South America.

Gran Canaria

This work analyzes how the Canary Islands played a key role in the international war between 1939 and 1945. Although Spain never formally joined the war, the complicity of the Franco regime allowed ports like Las Palmas to function as supply stations for Axis submarines. Before 1939, Nazi tourism was already in full swing.

These activities were closely monitored by the Allied powers, who did not hesitate to intervene diplomatically or militarily. The Canary Islands were the scene of various occupation plans aimed at transferring, using, or occupying one of the islands—particularly Gran Canaria—on behalf of both the Germans and the English.

From London

Parallel to this, Gran Canaria was also the center of a sabotage plan devised in London, aimed at obstructing any collaboration with Nazi Germany in the island’s port areas. This plan, named Operation Warden, was organized by the SOE (Special Operations Executive) and the British Naval Intelligence Service between June and September 1941, with the goal of detonating seven foreign ships anchored in the Port of La Luz.
Although the plan was not carried out, the details of the operation and its level of preparation once again highlight the effects of international war on the Canary Islands.

Researchers

Marta García Cabrera is a Researcher in Training at the Department of Historical Sciences and holds a pre-doctoral grant from the Canary Island Agency for Research, Innovation, and Information Society (ACIISI) and the European Social Fund. The researcher emphasizes in her work that the role of the Canary Islands during World War II is always a subject of interesting research and publications carried out by universities on our archipelago.

Researchers such as Juan José Díaz Benítez (ULPGC) have been responsible for shedding light on the international significance of the islands and the role of the Port of La Luz in supplying German submarines, among other aspects. This article complements those studies, but from the Allied perspective, through a description of the planning devised from Great Britain to end this collaboration and thus prevent Germany’s strategic position in the Atlantic War.

Strategic Importance of the Islands

Operation Warden had been mentioned by some researchers in their studies on German activities in Spain, and it was necessary to publish an independent, more descriptive article on this operation. This article highlights a very detailed sabotage plan that required large sums of money, careful intelligence preparation, and the mobilization of many political-military sections and divisions.

The organizers of the operation themselves described it as “one of the largest and most spectacular sabotage operations ever carried out” up to that point, and in fact, it could be said that it was one of the first plans designed by the SOE for Spanish territory. Despite the operation never being carried out, this clearly proves the strategic importance of the islands and their significance during the international war.

The Canary Islands: A Key Position in German Espionage during WWII

It is unquestionable that German spies operated on the Canary Islands. Marta García Cabrera, a researcher at the Department of Historical Sciences at ULPGC, conducted an in-depth analysis of how the Third Reich’s intelligence service strategically used the Canary Islands to exert influence on the war in the Atlantic Ocean. According to García Cabrera’s findings, German intelligence services took advantage of the archipelago’s geostrategic location to support their maritime campaigns and gather information on Allied movements. Despite Spain’s official neutrality, the presence of an influential German community on the islands made the Canary Islands a crucial point for the clandestine operations of the Third Reich.

Secret Operations and Spy Networks

The research shows that the German intelligence services not only used diplomatic and consular networks to gather information but also set up an extensive sabotage network coordinated by the Abwehr, the German secret service. This operational network was led by Edmund Nehrkorn (alias Niemann), who directed more than 70 German and Spanish agents from the Canary Islands to African areas such as Cabo Juby, Ifni, and Fernando Poo.

The archipelago also served as a hub for a trans-Atlantic smuggling network that connected Spain to Argentina via cargo ships. Additionally, the Abwehr set up a key maritime intelligence division, linked to the Etappenorganisation, responsible for supplying submarines and conducting maritime surveillance. Notable German spies on the Canary Islands, such as Jacob Ahlers and Otto Bertram, played a key role in these operations.

Allied Countermeasures and New Research Directions

Despite the intensive Nazi espionage activities on the islands, the Canary Islands were also targeted by Allied attempts to maintain control over the Atlantic Ocean and reduce German influence. García Cabrera emphasizes the originality of her research, which focuses on an underexplored aspect: the strategic role of the Canary Islands within the Nazi secret service.

The study provides insight into the coverage of the German secret naval system’s intelligence and complements previous research on maritime strategies conducted by Professor Díaz Benítez. This research, published in German History and published by Oxford University Press, is funded by the “Margarita Salas” program of the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the European Social Fund – Next Generation.

The study is part of the project “Foreign Intelligence Services on the Canary Islands during World War II: Information and Espionage in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.”

ULPGC © Photography
German Spies on the Canary Islands ©