23 May La Palma Reconstruction – April 2025
La Palma’s Reconstruction: April 2025 Update
News roundup from across La Palma regarding science occurring in La Palma, reconstruction efforts, aid provided to residents and industries, and other relevant news. Links to source articles are hyperlinked in taglines for each article.
Sources for all reconstruction updates: La Palma Ahora, Cabildo de La Palma, El Time, ABC España, El Valle de Aridane, El Dia, Mirame, Planeta Canario, Canarias 7, El Diario, National Geographic
GeoTenerife Updates
- GENESIS Updates – As part of the GENESIS project, GeoTenerife visited the school IES Luis Cobiella Cuevas, in Santa Cruz de La Palma, as part of engagement exercises to educate children about water resources and sustainability.
- GeoTenerife participates in roundtable TV discussion on management of the 2021 eruption in La Palma – GeoTenerife was represented in a two-part TV debate on the management of the eruption alongside the Head of Civil Protection in the Canary Islands and the Head of IGN in the Canary Islands, the public institution responsible for volcanic monitoring in Spain. These were released to coincide with the release of GeoTenerife’s Lava Bombs 2: The Reconstruction documentary on streaming platforms. Descriptions and YouTube links for each part are given below:
- Part 1 – A frank debate discussing the lessons learned from the 2021 eruption and measures still needed to build volcanic resilience in the Canary Islands for future volcanic events. Hosted by David Cuesta, with Sharon Backhouse, Director of GeoTenerife; Monserrat Ramón Casamartina, Head of Civil Protection and Emergency Response of the Government of the Canary Islands and Itahiza Dominguez, Head of IGN in the Canary Islands, the public institution responsible for volcanic monitoring in Spain.
- Part 2 – What have been the greatest challenges, and what remains to be done? A round table discussion addressing the key impacts of the reconstruction and the need for further measures to enable a swift and equitable recovery. Hosted by David Cuesta, with Sharon Backhouse, Director of GeoTenerife; Héctor Izquierdo Triana, the Spanish government’s Special Commissioner for the reconstruction of La Palma; and Dr Stavros Meletlidis, volcanologist with IGN in the Canary Islands, the public institution responsible for volcanic monitoring in Spain.
Reconstruction
- Transformation plan for La Bombilla with artist – Residents of La Bombilla, with support from Tazacorte City Council, have proposed a plan to transform the appearance of the village, in collaboration with a renowned artist. This project would adapt buildings to improve their light, replanting gardens with native flora, and repaint houses to better fit in with the colours of the sea.
- La Laguna School reconstruction – After many delays, the Cabildo have announced the La Laguna Junior School which was destroyed by the lava flow will be rebuilt by the Canary Islands Government Education Department, costing over €5 million.
- Next objectives for Puerto Naos reconstruction – Now that around 900 homes have been reopened in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla due to continued safe CO2 levels in the area, the next objective for the Cabildo is to allow residential use in the ‘black zone’, where CO2 emissions still be dangerously high. This would start with second floor spaces, as CO2 concentrates near the ground being denser than air. Close to this area, 18 new apartments were reopened in April.
- Puerto Naos School Reopening – The Puerto Naos school will reopen in September 2025, after being closed since September 2021 due to the eruption and then high CO2 concentrations in Puerto Naos. 15 gas meters are installed in the school to monitor the levels.
- Reconstruction office created – The Cabildo will establish an office to monitor the recovery efforts on La Palma, and provide advice to those affected through a citizens advice service. €545,000 has been allocated for this.
- LP-2 road recovery – The recovery of the LP-2 road is moving towards beginning, as the current plan has passed the project supervision with the Canary Islands Government.
The Puerto Naos school will reopen in September, four years after the eruption. El Time (2025)
Aid
Sergio Rodríguez demands that the Spanish Government pay the 100 million euros committed to the Canary Islands Agenda to return the assets lost to those affected. El Time (2025)
- 60% income tax reduction debate – Debate continues over whether or not to renew the 60% personal income tax reduction on La Palma, which was implemented post-eruption to stimulate economic recovery. It was not renewed by the state January 2025, despite the Cabildo requesting the measure be applied for 10 years until 2032. The Cabildo has approved a motion urging the state to implement the measure retroactively to January 2025.
- €100 million in aid from Spanish Government still yet to arrive – €100 million for reconstruction from the Spanish Government scheduled to arrive in 2024 is still yet to be delivered to the Cabildo, and there is not any certainty regarding the €100 million for 2025. This comes from the multi-year deal signed in 2023 in which the Spanish Government contributes €100 million annually to the reconstruction, and the Canary Islands Government (which is on time with its payments) contributes €50 million. The debate has led to tensions in discussions in the Cabildo de La Palma. The Canary Island’s Government Senate has supported the immediate transfer of these funds from the state.
- 21 new jobs created to support those affected by the eruption – 21 jobs across social work, psychology and education helping those affected by the eruption have been created, with a budget of approximately €785,000.
Science
- Dating La Palma’s recent eruptions – A study by IGN, using the technique of paleomagnetism, has dated over 300 lava samples across the island to understand the ages of its recent eruptions. The oldest flows were 4,000 years old, and they found activity between 2000bc-300bc, with a lack of eruptions after 300 bc for around 1000 years. Since then, the eruptions have become more frequent, averaging one every 100 years in recent centuries.
- Tajogaite’s magmatic system reactivated 10-15 years before the eruption – A new study by French and Spanish research institutions has conducted petrological investigations of lava and tephra to reconstruct the magma’s transport prior to the eruption. One key finding is that the magma shows evidence of reactivating 10-15 years prior to the eruption, although no other signs, such as gas emissions, earthquakes and ground deformation, were associated with this at the time, suggesting this happened silently.
- Extension requested for European geothermal funds – La Palma has requested an extension to implement funds for geothermal exploration on the island partly funded by the EU, as the administrative procedures of awarding permits has been slowed.
Paleomagnetism allows us to reconstruct the eruptive past of La Palma. El Time (2025)
Other updates
- Tierra Bonita demand PEVOLCA recordings are released – La Palma NGO Tierra Bonita have once again demanded that the Canary Islands Government decide whether or not to publicly release recordings of PEVOLCA meetings in the days leading up to the 2021 eruption, after having first requested these in June 2024. The Canary Islands Government then announced they would commission its legal services to create a report answering under what conditions these recordings could be viewed by the public, although the report has not been published. They demand more clarity as to why they were not evacuated prior to the eruption starting. The Transparency Commissioner has confirmed that she will not act to make the recordings public.
- Alternative proposals for the lava delta pipeline area – Proposals to avoid the removal of the irrigation pipeline across the lava delta are being considered by the Island Water Council. The pipeline was illegally built and lead to a €2 million fine for the Cabildo, and the Water Council has proposed an alternative project where access to all the new beaches on the lava delta is made, which may allow the pipeline to stay.
- Legal case against Puerto Naos residents dismissed – A court has dismissed a complaint by the Civil Guard over residents of Puerto Naos and La Bombilla accessing their homes during the eruption, violating the exclusion zone rules.
The Island Water Council proposes access to all beaches in the fajana to avoid removing the pipe. El Time (2025).
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