Valentin Rudolf Troll, Meritxell Aulinas Junca, Juan Carlos Carracedo, Harri Geiger, Francisco José Pérez Torrado, Vicente Soler, Frances Deegan, Christin Bloszies, Franz Weis, Helena Albert Minguez, Guillem Gisbert, James M D Day, Alejandro Rodríguez González, Esteban Gazel, Kyle Kyle Dayton

Damage and destruction caused by the 2021 eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma was unprecedented relative to other historical eruptions of the last century (1909, 1949, 1971, 2011) in the Canary Islands. The devastation caused by the eruption was not a result of eruption magnitude, which was only marginally larger than other historical events, but instead of increasing vulnerability due to population growth and increasing rural land use on the slopes of the volcanically active Cumbre Vieja Ridge. Since future eruptions along the Cumbre Vieja are inevitable, it is imperative that actions are taken to ensure the safety of the island’s growing population. While civil protection and emergency services managed to avert loss of life from direct volcanic impacts in 2021, loss of property for many people in the affected area remains a grave issue and requires targeted measures to safeguard against human suffering from similar future events.