Linea Directa 200 LEFT COL CAR INSURANCE

PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 19/09/2022

Volcano tourism explodes on La Palma with new guided tours of eruption zone

Tourists visiting the Canary Island can get an up close and personal view of the infamous volcano

It’s exactly a year since the Cumbre Viaja volcano erupted on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, wiping out entire neighbourhoods, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes and decimating hundreds of hectares of crops and farmlands.

Twelve months on, the residents are trying to rebuild their lives with the regional government’s promise to expropriate land to the north and south of the lava flow to rebuild swallowed-up districts like Todoque.

Hoping to inject some much-needed funds into the island, the local authorities have launched a guided tour of the volcano, which will take groups of 14 people on a circular trail beginning at the Llano del Jable and looping around the cone of the mountain. This unique hike is right at the heart of the original exclusion zone and it will take groups around 2 and a half hours to complete the exciting 5 kilometre trek.

Extensive studies have been carried out to ensure that all parts of the route can handle the foot traffic, and the trained guides will monitor gas emissions throughout the hikes.

In addition to the hiking trail Llano del Jable, another route, originating in the 'Caños de Fuego' Volcanic Cavities Interpretation Centre, is currently being developed with the aim of offering a different perspective of the volcano.

The crater stopped expelling lava 85 days after it first erupted on September 19 2021, but continues to bellow smoke and potentially harmful gases to this day. The looming mountain overlooks dozens of banana plantations, most of which were engulfed, destroying almost the entire harvest last year. Any crops that weren’t scorched were smothered by the incessant rain of ash that fell for weeks on end.

The tourism sector has also been dramatically affected by the eruption. Puerto Naos, the only purely tourist town on the island, avoided the lava but the toxic gases that continue to spew from the subsoil still make this coastal municipality uninhabitable.

Ironically though, the eruption has put La Palma on the map for so-called ‘volcano tourists’, and hotels on the island are currently above 80% occupancy.

Image: Involcan

Linea Directa Bottom Article M-Z CAR INSURANCE

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)