La Palma’s Reconstruction: December 2024 Update

La Laguna School progress – Now three years after the eruption ended, the destroyed school in La Laguna has still not been rebuilt, despite promises from the Cabildo de La Palma that it will be done as soon as possible. The students are currently housed in temporary school buildings, despite the road, water and electricity outside the school grounds being restored much sooner after the eruption.

Mothers and students of the CEIP, in front of the centre’s ruins. Read more at El Valle de Aridane (2024)

LP-2 recovery update – The LP-2 reconstruction project is nearing starting, but a date for the start of the construction has not been given. The final phases of the setup of the project, expropriating the land needed for the route, has been one source of delay, as has necessary modifications made to the original route on feasibility grounds.

• Slow agricultural reconstruction – Latest statistics show that three years after the end of the volcanic eruption, only 5% of the 230 ha of agricultural land damaged or destroyed by the tephra and lava flows has been rebuilt, most of this near the Tazacorte coast. The President of La Palma, Sergio Rodriguez, estimates that with the current aid, maybe less than 50-70% of the area will be able to be recovered. ASEPALMA, representing the island’s banana growers, has called for current aid to be maintained, which includes bank moratoriums, personal income tax deductions, and financial aid per kg of production.

Storms hit recovering bananas – Storm Dorothea brought damage to banana plantations on La Palma with heavy winds, in areas including those on the west of the island that suffered damage during the volcanic eruption and were only just starting to recover.

Telesforo Bravo-Juan Coello Foundation discusses the possibility of a GeoPark in La Palma, read more at El Time (2024).

New volcano-tourism ideas – In an Interview, the Director of The Espai Cràter, a volcano-tourism site in Catalonia receiving 50,000 visitors per year, has said a similar model could be implemented for many sites on La Palma related to the 2021 eruption to maximise its touristic potential. This could include an interactive exhibition based on science communication and sustainable tourism. 

La Palma geopark hopes – A series of sessions by The Cabildo of La Palma, in collaboration with the Telesforo Bravo-Juan Coello Canarian Foundation, have been held to promote the idea of the creation of a geopark on La Palma, by highlighting geotourism routes and geoheritage on the island.

Waiting for the volcano law, three years after the Tajogaite eruption. Read more at El Time (2024).

Volcano Law waits – Progress on the Volcano Law, which hopes to retroactively guarantee financial aid and recovery for all those affected by volcanic eruptions, past, present and future in the Canary Islands, is very slow, according to a spokesperson. The law is currently being debated within the Government of the Canary Islands, but there have been little public updates despite the groups of the house supporting its processing.

Affected persons registry deadline extended – The deadline for applying to the registry of people affected by the 2021 eruption, allowing the applicant to receive aid, has been extended again until July 31st, 2025, from the previous deadline of the end of December 2024.

Support for affected businesses – FEDEPALMA, The Federation of Businessmen of La Palma, has launched for another year its “Vólcate con La Palma: Action Plan for the Development and Consolidation of the Business Network”, for businesses affected by the eruption. It offers advisory services for grant procurement, and focuses on SMEs and entrepreneurs.

€5.5 million for self-employed workers and businesses – €5.5 million has been allocated by the Cabildo to support the recovery of self-employed workers and businesses affected by the eruption, aimed at job creation on the island. Funding is from the Canary Islands Employment Service.

€350k for electric and renewable energy installations – The Cabildo de La Palma has announced €350k aid for those affecting by the volcano to install electrical systems or renewable energy in homes.

€350k to speed up aid – The Canarian Government have allocated €350k to the Cabildo de La Palma to improve the management of the current aids and guarantee access for citizens in vulnerable situations.

The Cabildo prepares aid for those affected by an alleged scam in the reconstruction of their homes. Read more at El Time (2024)

Series of aid initiatives approved – A series of new and extended support measures for those affected have been approved. These include ERTES, for businesses yet to reopen, aid for loss of income for SMEs and self-employed persons, the moratorium on loans, extension of free public transport, and €30 million towards job creation focused on geothermal energy and geotourism.

Aid for reconstruction scam victims – The Cabildo de La Palma has delivered aid to families affected by fraud relating to the reconstruction of new homes as affected residents, by fraudulent construction companies. A total of eight grants have been approved, totalling €356,000.

What is that kind of ‘column of smoke’ that seemed to come out of the Tajogaite volcano. Read more at El Time (2024)

Cabildo considers converting Puerto Naos CO2 into energy – In an interview covering the progress of recovery in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla, Sergio Rodríguez stated that as well as focusing on monitoring CO2 emissions in these areas, the Cabildo has also thought about potential uses for the CO2 in creating sustainable energy.

Unusual clouds observed above the volcano – Residents of La Palma noticed a localised cloud resembling a plume rising from the volcanic cone on the 26th of December. The National Geographic Institute (IGN) explained that there is no anomalous activity from the volcano and that the cloud is probably there due to the humid conditions and condensation of vapours above the cone.

Geothermal exploration delays – There have been multiple delays to the start of exploratory geothermal drilling on La Palma, which according to officials could jeopardize the current investment in the projects, which totals around €100 million. The delays are due to an appeal against the project.

Access to 10 more homes Puerto Naos – Access has been granted to 10 more homes in Puerto Naos, and gas meters have been distributed to homeowners in the areas that had requested them from Peinpal. IGN have also installed new sensors, bringing the total number of sensors in the network to close to 2,000. IGN has also acquired a new infrared camera that can be used to detect the presence flow of CO2, costing €110,000.

New INVOLCAN tephra study – A new collaborative study by INVOLCAN, ITER, and collaborators in Italy, the UK and Switzerland, analysing the tephra from the eruption, has been published. It presents a stratigraphic framework for the tephra deposits, which is useful for understanding how the eruption dynamics changed throughout the eruption, and how much material was emitted by the volcano in total.

Netflix’s La Palma series is the number 1 watched series of December but it sparked controversy and discourse regarding responsible representations of disasters. Read more at El Time (2024).

‘La Palma’ Netflix series controversy – A controversial miniseries ‘La Palma’ has been released on Netflix, following a fictional family caught up in a volcanic disaster on La Palma inspired by the long-debunked ‘mega-tsunami’ theory of La Palma. It has received widespread criticism in the Canary Islands for its insensitivity given the recent eruption on the island, and also the nature of the volcanic disaster depicted in the film, although some offer more nuanced opinions.

‘Volcanoes in motion’ project – The ‘Volcanoes in motion’ educational projects. Focusing on La Palma and El Hierro, will visit selected educational centres across the Canary Islands in December. This exhibition intends to promote interests in geology and volcanology among students, and provide resources for teaching staff.

La Palma nominated for film location award – The island of La Palma has been nominated for the ‘Best Location Award’ by the European Film Commission Network, highlighting the best European locations for film making.

PEVOLCA recordings still remain private – The fight by NGO Tierra Bonita and other groups in the courts for the Cabildo to publicly release minutes and recordings of PEVOLCA meetings in the days leading up to the eruption continues. The latest discussions in Canarian Parliament only hint at further delays to any potential progress towards this cause.

Cabildo advisor dismissed for accepting funds for reconstruction – Vicente Leal, an advisor to the President of La Palma, has been dismissed for accepting funds from a solidarity collection through the initiative Macronesian Stories, to finance the reconstruction of his home which was damaged by the volcano. He was allegedly warned against this as he is a public employee and earns a salary of more than €55,000 per year.