After Tajogaite: what you see and how to visit it
The 2021 eruption on Cumbre Vieja lasted almost three months and redrew the map of the island’s west. Four years on, the sensible question is not whether you can travel to La Palma — you can, and the island lives on tourism — but which area is affected and how to visit something like this without turning it into a spectacle.
What happened, briefly
A volcano erupted on the western flank, in the Cumbre Vieja area, in September 2021. The lava flow covered farmland and inhabited settlements until it reached the sea, where it formed new land. The eruption ended in December 2021.
The rest of the island — the north, the east, the capital, the Caldera de Taburiente, the Roque — is not affected.
What to know before going to the area
- Roads changed. Part of the western road network was rebuilt over or around the flow. An old map or an out-of-date satnav can send you down a road that no longer exists.
- Some areas have restricted access. Not all the ground can be visited: there is geological risk and there is buried private property.
- The flow is still hot in places. This is not an inert landscape you can freely climb over.
How to visit it without it becoming disaster tourism
This is not just any viewpoint: under that rock there are houses and farms belonging to people who live there. The way to visit that respects this already exists: designated viewpoints and guided visits led by islanders, who explain what you are looking at and where you do not go.
And two things you do not do: take rock as a souvenir, and walk onto buried ground to take photographs. The first is material from the volcano itself and the second is somebody’s home.
What is intact, and it is most of the island
The Caldera de Taburiente and its trails, the northern laurel forest, Roque de los Muchachos and its sky, the eastern coast and the capital. If you are going to La Palma to walk and look at stars, the eruption does not change your trip.
What to check before travelling
The state of access roads in the west, because that is what has changed and what may keep changing. It is the fact in this guide with an expiry date.
Frequently asked questions
›Can I travel to La Palma normally?
Yes. The 2021 eruption affected an area in the west of the island; the north, the east, the capital, the Caldera de Taburiente and Roque de los Muchachos are not affected. What is worth checking before you go is the state of access roads in the west.
›Can you walk on the lava flow?
Not freely. Some areas have restricted access for geological risk, the flow is still hot in places, and there is buried private property underneath. It is visited from designated viewpoints and on guided visits.
›Can I take a rock as a souvenir?
No. It is material from the volcano itself in an area affected by a recent disaster, with homes and farms underneath. You neither take rock nor walk onto buried ground to take photographs.