A year and a half after the eruption, the new volcano of La Palma and its flows remain an unprotected territory. The bulldozers that open new roads are destroying lava emission points associated with volcanic tubes that are "unique in the world", according to the scientists responsible for preparing the map of special protection areas.
In the last days of the eruption, in December 2021, small eruptive fractures disconnected from the main cone opened by surprise and lava was emitted at the southern edge of the lava field. It was the last gasp of the volcano, which went out on the 13th of that month, precisely with the emission of a small wash in one of these fractures in the area of El Corazoncillo.
The lava that flowed through these centers was so fluid that the gases swelled it forming vaults that later burst like bubbles of chewing gum, leaving striking formations similar to miniature volcanoes. In the underground part, lava tubes were formed that when the eruption ceased to have given rise to a system of spectacular cavities covered by the last splashes of lava. Most of these tubes cannot yet be explored because they are still over 100 degrees.
More informationImpenetrable caves and tunnels in the area devastated by the volcano of La Palma
A few days ago, a team from the Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) that was going to study one of these points discovered that the excavators had opened a track passing right in the middle. They had knocked down part of the vault and filled the hole with rubble from the laundry itself. According to those responsible for the IGME, the municipalities involved and the Cabildo de La Palma knew since February that this was an area to be preserved. The road has been opened to give access to a few houses in the area, but according to scientists the same could have been done surrounding the protected area. The institution has denounced the situation before the Cabildo de la Palma and hopes to do so before the autonomous government.
"It is a geological accident never seen in the Canary Islands," explains Juana Vegas, a researcher at the Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) specialist in conservation of volcanic heritage, who has led the elaboration of the map of protected areas. "These points can help us model future eruptions, determine what the emission rate was and the type of lava. Never before in Spain had it been possible to study the outflow of lava in this way. And if this were not enough, it is a spectacular and beautiful geological accident. When it is destroyed, it is lost forever," says the scientist.
A scientist inside the emission center, before the destruction.J. V.
Conflict jumps in the middle of the perfect storm. There is little more than a week left for the regional and municipal elections. The approval of the law that will reorganize the territory after the eruption will not be approved until after the elections. While that happens, the local authorities of the island continue with the reconstruction work without for now there is a legal framework that delimits the protected areas. The great fear of scientists is that this legal limbo will cause the destruction of other unique accidents of the volcano that, if protected, can be a valuable scientific, tourist and economic resource.
IGME specialists have been studying the new volcanic building since March last year to delimit, on behalf of the Government of the Canary Islands, the most valuable areas that should be protected and excluded from any urban action. The IGME delivered its report in December last year. It recommended the precautionary protection of the cone and the upper areas of the lava flows in an extension of about 260 hectares of a total of 1,218 hectares of new volcanic terrain created by the volcano. Also left out of all action were the two lava deltas that formed on the coast. The emission points detected are within the perimeter of maximum protection and, therefore, had to be untouchable. But the truth is that since the IGME delimited this area, in December 2022, seven drafts of the new law have been prepared without it having yet been approved.
Another view of the emission point filled with chopped laundry after the construction of the new runway.J. V
José Antonio Valbuena Alonso, Minister of Ecological Transition of the regional government and in charge of agreeing on the law, recognizes that it is being "very difficult" to reconcile the positions of all the affected groups. "Now we are immersed in the drafting of the eighth draft, agreeing article by article in meetings with neighbors, because their opinion seems the most important and we do not want them to feel that we are throwing them out. We cannot reconcile 100% the interests of scientists, but the people of La Palma are aware of the need to conserve volcanic heritage and we will try to find space for everyone," he explains.
In the hands of the next government
The counselor hopes to close the articulated with the neighbors this week. Then it would have to be agreed with municipalities, the cabildo and take it to the governing council after its approval. This will not happen before the regional elections, Valbuena acknowledges, and will be in the hands of the next government that comes out of them.
Meanwhile, the reconstruction and reopening of roads continues. A spokeswoman for the Cabildo de La Palma explains that they cannot wait for the law to be approved, nor can they guarantee the protection of the areas delimited by scientists until then. "There is brutal social pressure from neighbors to reopen access roads. For them this is the first step to start reclaiming their lives. We know that they have called us repeatedly to please act in this area," they explain. Those responsible for the council are committed to coordinating better with scientists to ensure that there is no more avoidable damage.
Volcanic caving technicians explore the Red Tube, a new volcanic tunnel formed after the eruption. Arturo Rodriguez
The underlying problem, explains Nieves Sánchez, geologist at IGME, is that it is intended to recover the layout of roads and paths as they were before the eruption, when the reality is that there is a completely new and different terrain. "We're not crazy about conservation, but between preserving everything and destroying as much as we're seeing, there are a lot of middle grounds," he says.
One of the biggest risks is that the legal vacuum continues and other unique formations are damaged, such as the area of corded lavas and part of the cone that collapsed during the eruption, which would be affected by the LP2 road if it is decided to trace it exactly where it passed before.
To this future project are added others already almost finished, such as a new pipe and access track that crosses the so-called lava strip left by the volcano, another area that in theory could not be touched. The Cabildo de La Palma has announced that it will finish building this water pipeline for the cultivation of bananas, despite the fact that the coastal directorate of the Government of Pedro Sánchez requested its stoppage.
Map of the volcano area and the flows proposed for maximum protection (red boundary) and location of emission sources (stars). The red one indicates the shattered spotlight. GESPLAN (Source: GESPLAN)
Octavio Fernández is one of the few people on La Palma who knows first-hand the volcanic tubes of the subsoil, which form a possibly kilometric network that is still to be explored. This speleologist collaborates with the IGME and the Government of the Canary Islands in the mapping of these galleries. For the first time, it has managed to access some of these ducts that have cooled and allow transit through areas that are about 50 degrees. This is the case of the red tube, a spectacular gallery covered with droplets of solidified lava. A few meters away from this stretch the temperature is still about 200 degrees. "We thought that until two years after the eruption it would be impossible to go down, but the cooling by air currents has allowed us to do so and scientific studies of the mineral composition of the tubes and the search for microbes have already begun," explains Salazar.
Part of the galleries connected to the red tube would be affected by the new LP2 road if it is decided to rebuild it where it passed before the volcano, explains Salazar. "We really want to continue exploring all these tunnels, but we are also worried about whether they will be protected. The volcano took with it part of what there was, but it has also left us things that can be an important tourist attraction, "he reasons.
"The volcano can be profitable"
Carmen Romero, a geographer at the University of La Laguna, has been studying the volcanoes of the Canary Islands for 40 years. Among all the historical eruptions, he says, this is "the first in which there is the possibility of doing things in a different way taking into account all voices." "It is obvious that new houses must be made for all those who lost them and restructure the territory, but it is being done without respect, as if the volcano and the lava flows were a wasteland. But this volcano belongs to the inhabitants of the island and can be made profitable. We have a clear example in Caños de Fuego, where a volcanic tunnel from the eruption of San Juan in 1949 has been preserved," he explains. "You have to ask yourself if all the land that was urbanized and has been razed should return to the same use. Maybe it hadn't been planned well. It is now possible to rethink the recovery model," he adds.
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