Timanfaya National Park
The Timanfaya National Park is a Spanish protected natural area located in the municipalities of Yaiza and Tinajo, on the island of Lanzarote, autonomous community of the Canary Islands. In 2020 it received 1,655,772 visitors, making it the second national park in the number of visits in the Canary Islands, after the Teide National Park in Tenerife, as well as the fourth in Spain, after Teide, Sierra de Guadarrama and the of the Picos de Europa.
Features
It was declared a national park on August 9, 1974, making it the third natural protected area in the Canary Islands to hold the designation of a national park, as well as the first and only one in the entire province of Las Palmas.
It occupies an area of 51.07 km² in the southwest of the island. It is a park of volcanic origin. The last eruptions occurred in 1824. It has more than 25 volcanoes, some of which are emblematic, such as the Montañas del Fuego, Montaña Rajada or the Caldera del Corazoncillo . It still presents volcanic activity, with hot spots on the surface that reach 100-120 C and 600 C at a depth of 13 meters.
Additional protections
Within the park, in 1994, according to the Law of Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands, two spaces were established with additional environmental protection due to their unique values. They are the natural monument of the Islote de Halcones, a caldera prior to the emissions of the historical lava flows, which surround it and rise to 104 meters high. Also the natural monument of the Montañas del Fuego, where the most important cones are concentrated. Significant landmarks throughout the park such as Montaña de Fuego or Montaña Timanfaya and the islet of Hilario.
The Timanfaya eruption
"On September 1, 1730, between nine and ten at night, the earth opened up in Timanfaya, two leagues from Yaiza... and an enormous mountain rose from the bosom of the earth", according to the testimony of the parish priest Lorenzo Curbelo. The island was completely transformed. Nine towns were buried (Tingafa, Mancha Blanca, Las Maretas, Santa Catalina, Jaretas, San Juan, Peña de Plomos, Testeina and Rodeos) and for six years the lava spread through the southern zone, covering a quarter of the island and filling the nearby vegas of volcanic ash. In 1824 the eruptions began again in Timanfaya, giving rise to the so-called Volcán de Tinguatón, Tao and del Fuego. Terrible famines occurred and a large part of the population was forced to emigrate. Since then the landscape has been transformed thanks to agricultural cultivation techniques on volcanic lapilli that the people of Lanzarote use to capture the humidity of the trade winds.