From President’s Desk

We hope you will peruse the entire site and find it informative with plenty of great information about our Ancestors and of course our Organization.

The families started the journey with a royal decree from King Philip V in March 1730, to settle and establish the first community of Spanish civilians in the area. Our ancestors sacrificed so much to make the incredible trek traveling for months over treacherous seas and ultimately over 1100 miles of land to reach the Villa de San Fernando on March 9, 1731. It was our ancestors who established the first civil government in Texas in that same year. Today the Villa is known as the City of San Antonio. It is with pride that our members celebrate what our ancestors started is flourishing today.

Our organization was established in 1977 to honor those 16 families by encouraging and promoting historical genealogical research, enhancing the historical value and significance of their accomplishments, providing educational programming, assisting schools with the sharing of our story, and providing guest speakers at schools and for other organizations.
This year, we started the process of developing a Strategic Plan for the organization. We have held several meetings and heard from the group about many items that our members would like the organization to undertake. We categorized them and are developing those items into short-term, mid-term and long-term plans. The development of Action Plans is in the final stages that will include many exciting events and activities. Stay tuned for more details.
Much has been accomplished over the past few years such as El Nacimiento: The Birth of San Antonio, San Antonio’s Founders Monument, re-dedication of Plaza de Las Islas Canarias (Main Plaza), a new recognition placard in front of City Hall and soon to be corrected Historical Marker in front of the Bexar County Courthouse.

Primos, we hope you will join us as we undertake the long journey of additional major initiatives to keep our story alive and well for everyone’s benefit. I am always available to answer questions, feel free to reach out to me.

Freddie T. Bustillo
President
Canary Islands Descendants Association

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