La Palma
La Palma has an area of 706 km² making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands. The total population is about 85,000, of which 18,000 (2003 data) live in the capital, Santa Cruz de la Palma and about 20,000 (2004 data) in Los Llanos de Aridane.
La Palma, like the other islands of the Canary Island archipelago, is a volcanic ocean island. The volcano rises almost 7 km (almost 4 1/3 miles) above the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
La Palma's geography is a result of the volcanic formation of the island. The highest peaks reach over 2400 m above sea level, and the base of the island is located almost 4000 m below sea level. The northern part of La Palma is dominated by the Caldera de Taburiente, with a width of 9 km and a depth of 1500 m. It is surrounded by a ring of mountains ranging from 1600 m to 2400 m in height. Only the deep Barranco de las Angustias canyon leads into the inner area of the caldera which is a national park. It can be reached only by hiking. The outer slopes are cut by numerous barrancos (gorges) which run from 2000 m down to the sea. Today, only few of these carry water due to the many galerias (water tunnels) that have been cut into the islands structure.
In 1815, the great German geologist Leopold von Buch visited the Canary Islands. It was as a result of his visit to La Palma and Tenerife where he visited the Las Cañadas and Taburiente calderas, that the Spanish word "Caldera" was added to the geological communties vocabulary.
From the caldera to the south runs the ridge Cumbre Nueva. The southern part of La Palma is dominated by the Cumbre Vieja, a volcanic ridge formed by numerous volcanic cones built of lava and scoria. The Cumbre Vieja is active - but dormant, with the last eruption occurring in 1971 at the Teneguia vent which is located at the southern end of the Cumbre Vieja - Punta de Fuencaliente, (The Point of the Hot Fountain).
La Palma is dominated by the colours blue, green and black. Blue represent the surrounding ocean, Green represents the abundant plant life (which is the most diverse in the Canary Islands) and Black comes from the volcanic rocks that forms the landscape and the numerous playas (beaches) of black sand.
The Canary Islands had been settled by the native Canarians called Guanches whose origin is still controversial but believed to be ancestors of the Berbers of North Africa. They had a Neolithic culture divided into several clans led by chiefs. Their name for La Palma was Benahoare. The main remnants of this culture are their cave dwellings, enigmatic petroglyphs and paved stone paths through the mountains. After the Spanish occupation of La Palma, the native Canarians vanished by either being killed, sold into slavery or by assimilating into the Spanish population.
It is probable that the Canary Islands were known to the Phoenicians and the Greeks. The Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello reached the archipelago in 1312 and remained for two decades until expelled by a native uprising. In 1404 the Spaniards began the conquest of the islands. Though the first landing on La Palma was in 1405, it took until 1493 and several bloody battles until the last resistance of the natives was broken. The conqueror of La Palma was Alonso Fernández de Lugo, who defeated Tanausu, the last king on the island. He ruled the area known as Acero (Caldera de Taburiente). Tanausu was ambushed after agreeing to a truce arranged by Fernández de Lugo and Juan de Palma, a Guanche who had converted to Christianity and who was a relative of Tanausu.
For the next two centuries, settlements on La Palma became rich as the island served as a trading post on the way to the New World. La Palma received immigrants from Castile, Portugal, Majorca, Flanders, and Catalonia.
La Palma has a road network of some 1,200 km. All the main roads are asphalted and in a good state, although there are many sharp bends, some very narrow. In order to proceed to some small villages in the north of the island it is necessary to travel on earth tracks. A road circumnavigating the island, about 180 km long exists. Several bus routes exist that unite the main localities on the island running to different timetables. For more details see [1] La Palma Airport serves the Island and several airlines run services to and from it. |
