The University of La Laguna is situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands, and has the highest student population of any university in these islands. It has four campuses: Central, Anchieta, Guajara, and Santa Cruz.
Its origins date to the year 1701 when a center for advanced studies was established by the Augustinians in the town of La Laguna. A Papal Bull of 1744 proposed that it be converted into the Ecclesiastical University of San Agustín, but these plans never came to fruition.
In 1792, by royal decree, Charles IV of Spain ordered the establishment in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, then the capital of Tenerife, of the first Universidad Literaria of the Canaries, but the political situation on the mainland prevented its establishment. However, with the restoration of the House of Bourbon in the guise of Fernando VII of Spain, the university was established at La Laguna as the Universidad de San Fernando in spite of objections from the governments of the other islands.
