The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 kilometres (60 mi) to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which is believed to have been related to the Berber languages of mainland North Africa; the language became extinct in the 17th century, several generations after the completion of the Conquest of the Canary Islands by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.

It is believed that the Guanches may have arrived at the archipelago some time in the first millennium BC. The Guanches were the only indigenous people known to have lived in the Macaronesian archipelago region before the arrival of Europeans. There is no accepted evidence that the other Macaronesian archipelagos (the Cape Verde Islands, Madeira and the Azores) were inhabited.

After the commencement of the Spanish conquest of the Canaries, starting in the early 15th century, many natives were outright killed by the Spanish or died of exposure to new pathogens during the social disruption. Eventually, any remaining survivors were assimilated into the new Spanish population and associated culture. Elements of their original culture survive within Canarian customs and traditions, such as Silbo (the whistled language of La Gomera Island), as well as some lexicon of Canarian Spanish. Some scholars have classified the destruction of the Guanche people and culture as an example of colonial genocide.

In 2017, the first genome-wide data analysis of the ethnic Guanche confirmed a North African origin, genetically being most similar to ancient North African Berber peoples of the mainland African deserts.

The native term guanachinet literally translated means "person of Tenerife" (from Guan = person and Achinet = Tenerife). It was modified, according to Juan Núñez de la Peña, by the Castilians into "Guanche". Though etymologically an ancient, Tenerife-specific term, the word Guanche is now used mostly to refer to the pre-Hispanic Indigenous inhabitants of the entire archipelago.

Genetic and linguistic evidence show that North African peoples made a significant contribution to the aboriginal population of the Canaries, notably, following desertification of the Sahara (post-6000 BC). There are ties between the Guanche language and the Berber languages of North Africa, particularly when comparing numeral systems. Research into the genetics of the Guanche population has led to the conclusion that they share an ancestry with Berber peoples who immigrated from Northwest Africa.

The islands were visited by a number of other peoples and representatives of distant civilizations during recorded history; the Numidians, Phoenicians, and Carthaginians all knew of the islands and made frequent visits, including expeditions dispatched from Mogador by Juba.

Based on Roman artifacts, found on and near the island of Lanzarote, the Romans visited the Canary Islands during their occupation of mainland North Africa between the 1st and 4th centuries AD; the artifacts found show that the Romans engaged in trade with the people of the island. However, there is no evidence of them ever settling on or invading the Canaries. Archaeology of the Canaries seems to reflect diverse levels of technology, with items differing widely from the Neolithic culture that would have been encountered by the Spanish, at the time of their conquest.