Grenada was first settled by migrating South Americans, before being ‘discovered’ by Columbus in 1498. The homesick Spanish sailors were reminded of the green hills of Granada in Spain, and their nickname for the island corrupted to Grenada (and pronounced gre-NAY-da), stuck.
West Indian, French and English Culture and cuisine
The fierce Carib-Indians prevented the British from settling Grenada in 1609, but in 1650 the French conquered the island and wiped out the Caribs, who had refused to surrender. Subsequently ceded to the British, after many years of conflict with the French, Grenada was made a Crown Colony in 1877.
Grenada remained a British colony until independence in 1974. In the late 70s and early 80s, a succession of coups d’etat by radical revolutionary governments culminated in the US intervention at the request of the then Governor General Sir Paul Scoon.
After the invasion, the pre-revolutionary Grenadan constitution was resumed. Democracy was restored, and a year later free elections were held. Today, unlike many Caribbean islands, it remains unspoilt, with no high-rise buildings or multi-storey hotels – a traditional building code decrees that a hotel cannot be ‘taller than a coconut tree’.
