The eruption of Timanfaya

“On September 1st 1730, between nine and ten at night, the land was opened in Timanfaya, two leagues from Yaiza … and a huge mountain arose from within the earth,” according to the testimony of priest Lorenzo Curbelo.

The island was transformed completely. Ten people were buried (Tingafa, White Mountain, Maretas, Santa Catalina, Jareta, San Juan, Pena de Palmas, and Rodeos Testeina). Over the course of six years, the lava spread to cover the southern quarter of the island and filled the nearby meadows with volcanic ash.

In 1824, eruptions of Timanfaya started again. There were terrible famines, and much of the population was forced to emigrate. Since then the landscape has been transformed, thanks to the techniques of agricultural cultivation on volcanic lapilli. They are used to attract moisture from the trade winds.