Today we were in Santa Cruz de la Palma. What a breath of fresh air! We were so glad to be back in Europe after the interesting but taxing experiences of West Africa. Clean air, clean streets, sunshine and cool breezes were a big relief (more on our overall impression of West Africa later). In the afternoon I walked alone through the streets, often bumping into people from the ship. Every single one commented on the joy of being here in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz de la Palma is a city and a municipality on the east coast of the island of the Canary Islands. It is the second-largest city (after Los Llanos de Aridane) and is the capital of the island. It is along an old lava flow coming from the Caldereta, a volcano just south of the city.
The population of the municipality is 16,330 and its area is 43.38 km2. Around 13,000 people live within the city limits, with the remaining population residing in other settlements.
The geology of the Canary Islands is dominated by volcanoes and volcanic rock. The Canary Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of Northwest Africa. Geologically, the main islands are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro. There are also some minor islands and islets.
The Canary Islands are on the African tectonic plate but they are far from the plate's edges; the islands are therefore an example of intraplate volcanism.
The Canary Islands, and some associated underwater volcanic mountains on the ocean floor, are in the Canary Volcanic Province. The current long period of volcanic activity in this province started about 70 million years ago. For many millions of years, all the volcanic eruptions in the province occurred on the ocean floor. In the last 20.2 million years, enough lava has accumulated at several of the underwater volcanic mountains to build them above sea level, forming the Canary Islands. The eastern islands emerged first, followed by each of the more westerly islands, in turn.
Volcanic activity has occurred during the Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years) on all of the main islands except La Gomera. The Canary Islands region is still volcanically active. The most recent volcanic eruption on land occurred in 2021.
With so much volcanic activity the soils are rich and the island grows LOTs of bananas. We saw bananas growing everywhere. They also grow avocados and grapes (grown close to the ground without trellises due the high winds).
The island is relatively young, and the shape has changed due to the eruptions. They still have eruptions about every twelve years or so. There are many interesting landscapes of bare black rocks everywhere, with their native pines and small yellow flowing plants sprouting through the mayhem.
On our tour we first visited a lookout over the lighthouses and salt-pans in a volcanic field. We then we to the San Antonio Volcano. https://turismofuencalientedelapalma.com
https://lapalmabiosfera.es/comunidad/centro-de-visitantes-volcan-de-san-antonio/
The San Antonio Volcano lookout point is located on a trail above a volcano that erupted in 1677. The last eruption was in 2021 and was active for 85 days. Over 1200 hectares of land was razed by the lava and almost 3000 buildings destroyed. The main hotels of the island are here, and they remained closed for a couple of years after the eruption. In summary, it was a big deal.
This is a link that has information about the eruption’s progress.
https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=383010
We had a great walk between the rocks with sea views everywhere. It really is quite spectacular. There is also an interesting small museum detailing facts about the eruption.
We then moved down the road to the largest winery on the island—Bodegas Teneguia. https://www.bodegasteneguia.com/en/.
We had a short tour of the winery including the bottling area. Then we moved upstairs and had 2 wines- a wine and red. The white was very minerally, due to the volcanic soils and the red lacked character. However, it was a pleasant experience, and overall, we really enjoyed the tour.
As written above, in the afternoon I went out for a walk through the small center of the town which is located directly across from the port. It was calm, breezy, and the kind of day when you really appreciate life. The town is pristine with buildings painted in pastels. It’s perfect with no graffiti, no trash no mess. I waked down to the end of the main street and saw the statue of the famous Dwarf, and the exact replica of the boat the Santa Maria. Historically the balconies were on the backside of the house as sea views were not important. Now these balconies are colourfully painted, hung with beautiful flower baskets, and now these same sea views are very much appreciated.
- The Dwarf (Enano): The dancing dwarfs with their iconic Napoleonic hats are a beloved emblem of the city. They are the stars of the famous Danza de los Enanos, the highlight of the traditional Bajada de la Virgen de las Nieves lustral festival.
Our first visit to the Canary Islands showed us that is very pleasant calm beautiful place to relax, breathe deeply and enjoy life.