Humid forests, Benahoarite memory and an island that lives alongside volcanic fire.
La Palma gathers some of the sharpest contrasts in the archipelago: deep ravines, laurel forest, high astronomical summits and active volcanoes. Its rugged profile historically conditioned communications and helped create territories with strong local character.
A steep, green island crossed by ravines and volcanoes that continue to write its story.
History and territory
It was the last island to be fully incorporated into the Crown of Castile, after Benahoarite resistance and the defeat of leaders such as Tanausú. In the early modern period Santa Cruz de La Palma stood out as an important Atlantic port, while the interior developed farming systems adapted to a complex topography.
Cultural landscape
The island's identity rests on the power of landscape and on a culture very conscious of its geology. Caldera de Taburiente, the observatories of Roque de los Muchachos and the recent memory of Cumbre Vieja show how science, nature and collective experience coexist here.