The Canary Islands Independence Movement was an ethnic Berber group that most likely surfaced in Algeria during the 1950s.  Their primary goal was to create an autonomous state for native Berbers living on the Canaries. At the time the Islands were a territory ruled by the kingdom of Spain, and had been since the 1400s.  After World War II, ethnic groups like the Berbers were severely repressed by the Spanish-controlled Franco regime, causing militants to become organized and take up arms against the dictatorship.    <br /><P> The Movement's first known attack took place on January 3rd, 1977, when the Las Palmas (capital city of Grand Canary island) offices of South African Airways (SAL) were bombed.  No injuries resulted from the attack, but there was significant property damage.  Members of the Canary Islands Independence Movement did not state their reason for attacking SAL, but their decision was possibly linked to the airline's alleged discriminatory practice of flying only to certain African countries in which white people were likely to visit.  <P> A second attack claimed by the Canary Islands Independence Movement occurred on March 27th, 1977, when a bomb exploded in a florist's shop at the Las Palmas Airport.  While there were no fatalities, eight people were seriously injured.  Subsequent threats of a second bomb in the airport forced Las Palmas law enforcement to cease all air traffic to and from the airport until an investigation could be completed.  All inbound flights were then re-routed to the Los Rodeos Airport on the neighboring island of Tenerife.  The Los Rodeos airport quickly became congested, causing flight delays in excess of eight hours.  A Pan Am and KLM airplane, both 747 jumbo jets, collided on the Los Rodeos runway while preparing for takeoff.  Later investigations indicated that as the KLM aircraft was taking off, it collided with the Pan Am aircraft that was taxiing on the tarmac.  The accident was attributed to highly saturated use of the Los Rodeos Airport and dense fog that caused limited visibility.  The investigation concluded that had the Las Palmas Airport not been closed due to the terrorist attack, the two airplanes may not have been using the Tenerife airport.  The collision, which resulted in the deaths of 583 people, remains one of the largest disasters in aviation history.