La Palma Volcano Eruption 2021: The Story of Tajogaite

lapalmaexcursion
2 days ago
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The La Palma volcano eruption began on September 19, 2021, when the ground opened on the western side of the island. What followed was 85 days that changed the island forever — the eruption that gave birth to the Tajogaite volcano.

I lived through it. This is what I remember, and what it left behind.

The Day the La Palma Volcano Eruption Began

The eruption started without much warning — a swarm of small earthquakes, then a fissure opening on the Cabeza de Vaca ridge, part of the Cumbre Vieja volcanic system. Within hours, lava was flowing downhill toward the towns of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane.

Thousands of people were evacuated in the days that followed. Nobody knew yet how long it would last.

85 Days of Eruption

The eruption continued for 85 days — one of the longest in La Palma's recorded history. Lava flows destroyed entire neighborhoods, covered farmland, and eventually reached the sea, creating new land where there was only ocean before.

By the time it ended on December 13, 2021, the eruption had:

Covered over 1,200 hectares in lava
Destroyed nearly 3,000 buildings
Created 48 hectares of new land where lava met the sea
Caused an estimated €843 million in damages

What Was Lost — and What Was Born

For the people of La Palma, this wasn't just a geological event. Homes, businesses, and banana plantations that had been in families for generations disappeared under the lava in a matter of hours or days.

But out of that loss came something new: Tajogaite, the youngest volcano in Spain, and a landscape found almost nowhere else on Earth — raw, black, and still settling into what it will become.

Walking Through History

Today, the area around Tajogaite is accessible only with a certified guide, due to ongoing gas monitoring and the fragility of the terrain. Walking there means walking on ground that didn't exist before September 2021 — and hearing the story from someone who watched it happen.