Geotourism on an active volcanic island (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the importance of geotourism before, during and after the eruption of the Tajogaite Volcano (September to December 2021) on La Palma, Spain. The methodology applied consisted of identifying the geotourism products on the island before the eruption, the importance of the volcano for geotourism – by means of a survey – and the geotourism products developed after the eruption. The findings show that, before the eruption, La Palma's tourism products (hiking, archaeology, stargazing and volcano tourism) were closely related to its volcanic heritage. During the eruption, Tajogaite became a tourist attraction for the island, drawing thousands of visitors and scientists. Lastly, now that the eruption has ended, geotourism is playing a key role in the various island recovery plans through the evaluation of sites of geotourism interest and the design of geotrails in natural and urban areas.