La Palma Canary Islands: Tourists told 'don't panic' as holiday hotspot activates volcano 'emergency plan'

Authorities in La Palma have activated the emergency plans due to the concentration of gases in the volcano. La Palma was severely hit by a three-month long volcanic eruption in 2021.

The emergency protocol has been activated, however, the island's Emergency Minister has relayed a message of calm and assured that these are "completely normal processes". Island leaders have also denied false rumours claiming a new eruption has started but this is not the case. 

La Palma's government launched the protocol of the Island Emergency Plan in certain areas after the detection of occasional peaks in the concentration of gases in Puerto Naos. According to Darwin Rodríguez, Minister of Emergencies, these are "normal and natural processes" that are under the constant supervision of the Scientific Committee. In addition, he assured that the established safety protocols are being followed to the letter to ensure the protection of residents, stressing that the area is "the most monitored place in the world ".

The government said: "Despite the increase in measurements, it has not been necessary to evacuate residents from the affected areas. The situation has been controlled by ventilating the spaces, and the concentrations of gases observed do not pose a risk to the population.” Mr Rodríguez added that the activation of the protocol confirms the effectiveness of the monitoring and emergency systems, which allows "rigorous monitoring and the possibility of intervening quickly if necessary".

The 2021 eruption was the longest ever eruption on the island. More than 7,000 people had to be evacuated as La Palma was hit by 9,000 earthquakes, the strongest of which measured 5.1 on the Richter scale. More than 1,676 properties were swallowed up and black soot even reached other Canary islands including Tenerife.