The possibility of a volcanic eruption on Mount Teide It is not considered imminent, but the Canary Islands institutions have decided to leave nothing to chance. In recent months, the scientific debates, simulations, and planning to strengthen Tenerife's response to a possible eruptive episode on the island.
The administrations insist that There is no alarming situationBut there is a clear commitment to preparedness. Local councils, the Island Council, the Government of the Canary Islands, Civil Protection, security forces, scientists, and citizen groups are already working on it. action plansevacuation protocols and preventative measures to minimize the impact of a possible eruption of Teide on the population and infrastructure.
Santa Cruz activates a commission for a plan in the event of a possible volcanic eruption of Teide
The Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council has taken a significant step by decreeing the creation of a specific technical committee to study and design the capital's response to a possible volcanic eruption on the island. The mayor, Jose Manuel Bermudez, has tasked this body with preparing a detailed action plan facing different eruptive scenarios.
Although volcanic hazard maps place Santa Cruz in an area of low or very low threatThe city council assumes that the capital would have an essential role in the Logistics, humanitarian and administrative management if an eruption were to occur in other areas of Tenerife. In fact, the city is being considered as a possible reception center and temporary shelter for the evacuated population from the most exposed municipalities.
This commission's main task will be to assist the mayor in the risk assessment, proposal of preventive measures and coordination of municipal responses in the event of a crisis. Its priorities include contingency planning related to transport, accommodation for evacuees, basic supplies and support for essential services to ensure they remain operational even in a volcanic emergency scenario.
The City Council maintains a constant contact with the Tenerife Island Council and the Government of the Canary Islands all with to monitor the evolution of activity under Mount Teidealways incorporating scientific information from the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the PEVOLCA scientific committee. The objective is clear: anticipate decisions, avoid improvisation, and ensure that the capital is ready to act if the situation requires it.
How is the technical committee organized and what functions will it have?
The municipal decree establishes that the technical commission It will be chaired by the general coordinator of Infrastructure, Community Facilities, Emergencies, and Mobility of the Santa Cruz City Council. This figure will be empowered to issue internal instructions and coordinate the different municipal areas involved to ensure the efficient operation of the body.
This working group includes those responsible for key areas: Environmental Sustainability and Public Services, Budget Management, Heritage and Procurement, Citizen Security and EmergenciesIn addition to the head of the Governance and Data Quality section, the secretariat will be headed by an official appointed by the general coordinator.
Among the functions assigned to the commission is the preparation of a strategic report that details the preventative measures to be adopted in the municipality in the event of an eruption in Tenerife. This document should also define a governance and management model that allows for effective coordination between all municipal areas and with the other affected administrations.
The report, as the council has indicated, will have confidential natureTherefore, special precautions will be required in its handling. It will also be assessed whether it is appropriate maintain permanently This technical commission, once the initial analysis is completed, will ensure that Santa Cruz has a stable body for monitoring volcanic risk.
The capital is thus preparing to become, if necessary, one of the large logistics support nodes of the island: administrative coordination center, resource base and possible reception point for people displaced from the municipalities with the greatest volcanic threat.
The island plan and the municipalities with the highest volcanic risk in Tenerife
Beyond the municipal level, the Cabildo of Tenerife has the Island Action Plan against Volcanic Risk (PAIV)This document defines how to respond if Mount Teide or another volcanic system on the island erupts. It begins with risk zoning and establishes... protocols for coordinated action between administrations, emergency services and the population.
According to the PAIV zoning, around 69.200 people reside in municipalities classified as having a high or very high threatIt is essentially about GuÃa de Isora, Santiago del Teide, El Tanque, Garachico, Icod de los Vinos, La Guancha and San Juan de la Rambla, on the northwest flank of the island. This ridge concentrates the most frequent lava flows and volcanic structures in the recent history of Tenerife.
The plan also identifies a large area of moderate risk that encompasses the environment of The Cañadas del Teide and extends towards the from the Orotava valley to the coastIncluding Los Realejos and Puerto de la CruzAnother strip of low threat It includes the rest of the valley, the summit and fasniawhile other regions are considered to be very low threat, including Santa Cruz, although volcanologists point out that no point on the island can be considered risk-free.
This approach allows for prioritizing resources and defining more precisely evacuation routes, refuge areas, critical infrastructure that must be kept operational and reinforcement needs in each area. Even so, specialists insist that nature does not always respond to historical patterns, so the entire island must have updated emergency plans and flexible.
In several municipalities in Tenerife, such as El Rosario or those located on the northwest ridge, resources have been coordinated Local Police, Civil Protection and security forces to ensure rapid responses. These local plans, together with the PAIV and the PEVOLCA, form a multi-level protection network against a possible volcanic crisis.
What do scientists say about the activity of Mount Teide?
Strengthening planning goes hand in hand with thorough scientific monitoring. Tenerife has one of the volcanic monitoring systems most advanced in Europe, managed by the IGN and the Volcanic Monitoring Area of ​​the Government of the Canary Islands, with networks of seismographs, GPS stations, gas sensors and inclinometers that control changes below the surface.
In recent months, the following have been recorded seismic swarms under Las Cañadas del Teide, with thousands of small, low-magnitude events, not perceived by the population. Seismologists classify them as hybrid eventslinked both to rock fracturing and the movement of high-temperature volcanic fluids underground. Despite their volume, scientific committees emphasize that do not in themselves imply an imminent eruption.
The director of the IGN in the Canary Islands, Itahiza DomÃnguez, has reiterated that There are no current signs that point to an eruption in the short or medium termHowever, it is also worth noting that on a volcanically active island like Tenerife, it is reasonable to assume that there will be another eruption at some point in the future, although it is not possible to pinpoint when. when and in what exact place It will happen.
Special programs such as "What's happening on Mount Teide?"Broadcasts by Radio Televisión Canaria have brought together volcanologists, seismologists, and Civil Protection officials to translate this technical information into everyday language. Experts such as Luca D'Auria, Vicente Soler, Nieves Sánchez o Montserrat Román have insisted on the Importance of following only official sources and avoid rumors or alarmist interpretations of the data.
During these sessions, very practical matters have been addressed: Safety protocols in schools, actions to take in case of a minor earthquakeRecommended contents for an emergency kit or steps to take in the event of an evacuation order. The goal is for citizens to become familiar with the reality of living on a volcano and know what to do if the situation were to worsen.
Monitoring, technologies and precursor signs of an eruption
The monitoring of Mount Teide relies on an extensive network of resources. network of seismographs which allows for continuous monitoring of what is happening underground. This equipment records any relevant changes in seismicity, which, combined with measurements of ground deformation and gas emissions It provides a fairly accurate picture of the state of the volcanic system.
Among the recent developments, the installation in Tenerife of the first inclinometer buried at 30 meters of depth, designed to measure very subtle variations in the horizontal plane of the terrain. This data helps to detect possible swellings or deformations which could indicate magma movements at a certain depth.
The head of Meteorology at Televisión Canaria, Vicky Palma, he has explained in various speeches what the typical precursor signs of an eruption: significant and sustained increase in seismicity, changes in the type of earthquakes, appreciable deformation of the terrain, modification in the composition and amount of gases emitted or thermal variations on the surface.
Tenerife's volcanic history, with at least six documented eruptions between the 18th and 20th centuries, serves as a reference. Episodes such as the eruptions of 1704-1705 (Siete Fuentes, Fasnia and Montaña del Valle), The eruption of Garachico in 1706That of Chahorra or Narices del Teide in 1798 and The eruption of Chinyero in 1909 They demonstrate the system's ability to activate outside of the main crater itself.
The scientific committees advising PEVOLCA emphasize that, to date, the Ground deformation shows no significant changes And gas emissions have decreased following the recent seismic events. All of this supports the idea that Teide is, for now, in a phase of internal activity without immediate surface activity, although monitoring remains intensive.
The experience of La Palma as a warning for the Teide plan
The eruption of Tajogaite in La Palma in 2021The eruption, with 85 days of lava, ash, and gases, left behind thousands of destroyed homes, buried neighborhoods, devastated crops, and more than 7.000 people evacuatedFour years later, associations of affected people, neighborhood groups and animal rights organizations have sent a direct message to the population and authorities of Tenerife.
Their goal is not to fuel fear, but to convey a lesson learned through lossesPrevention and good management can make the difference between a natural phenomenon and a social catastrophe. These associations recall that, when the Tajogaite volcano erupted, There was no strong culture of prevention and many people were not informed with the necessary clarity about the actual level of risk.
They point out deficiencies such as the absence of early preventive evacuations In some areas, the lack of transparency in technical deliberations and the subsequent slowness in reconstructionwhich generated uncertainty and a feeling of helplessness among those who had lost everything.
With that experience in mind, the groups from La Palma maintain that Tenerife still has time to "do things right"They demand that plans in the event of a possible eruption of Mount Teide be based on open information, citizen participation and sufficient social protectionso that, if the volcano becomes active, the response does not worsen the damage caused by nature.
Its underlying message is that the trust in institutions and social resilience They are built in times of calm, not when the lava is already flowing. For the design of any plan in the event of a possible eruption of Mount Teide, this perspective from La Palma has become a point of reference that many administrations say they already keep firmly in mind.
Eight key points to improve plans in the event of a Teide eruption
The associations of those affected in La Palma and other groups have formulated a proposal in eight major axes These guidelines, which they consider valid not only for Tenerife but for any territory at risk of volcanic activity, fully align with the work already being carried out by regional, island, and municipal plans, but they highlight aspects that need strengthening.
First, they ask Total transparency in scientific informationwith public and near real-time access to data on seismicity, gas emissions, and ground deformation. They believe that this information should not be treated as a restricted resource, but as a basic citizen's right.
Secondly, they demand a mass training in self-protection and evacuation for the entire population, including regular drills, neighborhood talks, and educational materials in schools. The idea is that society doesn't start learning how to react on the very day the volcano erupts.
Another relevant aspect is the need to guarantee the insurance of homes and propertyof both the container and its contents, to facilitate faster and fairer compensation payments. Related to this, they emphasize the importance of maintaining Updated Cadastre and Property Registryso that no one is left out of the aid due to bureaucratic problems.
They also insist on having realistic emergency plans, prepared with detailed data on vulnerable populations, critical infrastructure, animals, and evacuation routesThey propose to integrate volcanic risk coherently into the territorial planningavoiding construction in high-risk areas without the necessary guarantees and reducing unnecessary exposures.
The lines of action also include the effective protection of animals, with mandatory registration and provision of reception spaces for them in case of evacuations, as well as the full development of the Canary Islands Volcano Law, which establishes obligations in monitoring, awareness, psychological support, financial aid and more agile reconstruction procedures.
Drills, schools and self-protection culture in Tenerife
The plans aren't just on paper. They're already being implemented in Tenerife. simulations and practical exercises so that the population understands what to do if a volcanic alert is activated. An example is that of a El Tanque Institute, where the students participated in a confinement exercise in the face of a hypothetical situation of volcanic gases that prevented them from leaving the center.
Work is underway in various municipalities specific security protocols for schoolsFrom organizing orderly evacuations or confinement to specific classrooms, to communicating with families and coordinating with Civil Protection, the aim is for schools to become prepared, not improvised, spaces should a volcanic emergency occur.
Emphasis is also placed on the preparation of a simple emergency kit or backpack In homes located in higher-risk areas, experts recommend preparing items such as a flashlight, battery-powered radio, water, basic documents, regular medication, some warm clothing or a light blanket, and a small supply of non-perishable food.
In neighborhoods of municipalities like GarachicoDrills and information sessions have already been carried out in recent years, often driven by Civil Protection and neighborhood associations. All of this contributes to generating a culture of self-protection, in which each person knows what role to play if an evacuation or lockdown alert is activated.
The idea that is repeated among emergency managers is that, faced with a phenomenon as powerful as a volcanic eruption, the best tool for citizens is to be present. educated, informed and organizedThe plan in the event of a possible eruption of Teide is not only written in offices and technical committees, it is also built day by day in schools, neighborhoods and homes throughout the island.
This entire network of measures—from the creation of the technical commission in Santa Cruz The current situation—from the updated PAIV (Emergency Action Plan) to the work of PEVOLCA (Emergency Plan for the Volcanic Zone of Tenerife), constant scientific monitoring, and proposals from La Palma—has created a scenario in which Tenerife, despite not facing an imminent eruption, is progressing towards being better prepared. On an island where the volcano is part of the landscape and daily life, calm planning, coordinating administrations, and fostering a culture of prevention have become key to ensuring that, should a future eruption of Teide occur, society is better protected, informed, and able to respond calmly.
