Eruption of the San Juan volcano in La Palma, the first after 237 years without volcanic activity on the island.

On 24 June 1949, the feast of Saint John, a fissure opened at El Duraznero on the Cumbre Vieja ridge, beginning La Palma's first eruption in 237 years. The event, which lasted several weeks, had three eruptive centres: Duraznero-Nambroque (from 24 June), Llano del Banco (from 8 July) and Hoyo Negro (from 12 July). The Llano del Banco lava flow descended through Las Manchas and reached the sea at Puerto Naos, burying fields and houses and cutting the road infrastructure of the Aridane valley. The eruption left a deep mark on the islanders' collective memory and shaped the landscape that, seventy-two years later, would be transformed again by the 2021 eruption.