November 15, 2022: Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands

November 15, 2022 cjbishop@yahoo.com

We are visiting two of the islands in the Canary Island chain, which is governed by Spain. This is the first one – Santa Cruz de la Palma. Santa Cruz is the capital of the island of La Palma with a population of about 16,000. The city dates back to 1492 and is the only major seaport on the island. La Palma is one of the 8 major islands that make up the Canary Island cluster where a total of 2.1 million people live. The islands lie about 100 km west of Morocco and are owned by Spain. La Palma lies on the western edge of the island cluster. La Palma is the 5th largest island in the chain and has a population of 85,840 of which 15,716 live in the port city of Santa Cruz de La Palma where we docked.

Map of the Canary Island chain. La Palma is on the left where the star is.

Black sand beach right in the town of Santa Cruz.

We selected a shorter four hour tour called “Volcanoes and Wine” as our tour today. By the way, Regent offers a variety of free (included in the fare) tours at each port plus sometimes a couple of special ones you would have to pay extra for. Often there are too many tours to choose from; it is hard to decide which one to pick! On the way to the volcano we stopped at several viewpoints to see the coastline below and the dozens of cloth covered structures that protect the banana plants growing inside them. It turns out growing and exporting bananas is a major business in the Canary Islands. At the stops we also got to see the results of lava flows from the 17th eruption of San Antonio.

We are required to wear masks when on the bus. No other times are they required.

Homes are typically located on the edge of a cliff, often below the road.

Looking down at the coast line. The white structures are covers over banana plantations.

Black sand beach formed by volacano flow.

A rather unique plant growing in the lava fields.

Our stop at the Bodega Teneguia winery was a bit of a disappointment. The literature brags about the special grape that is grown on the island, the Malvasia grape, which supposedly produces a “fruit saturated aromatic wine”. Unfortunately we were not given a taste of that wine at the winery; instead we were served an inexpensive white and red wine from their list of offerings.

The tour got better then as we soon reached the crater of the San Antonio volcano, a classic example to behold. Its last major eruption was in 1677 but there was a minor one in 1971. The crater is well formed and trails have been made along its edge for visitors to explore. The crater is about 1 km in diameter and 100m deep. A grove of pine tress has emerged at the bottom of the crater. The major 2021 volcano eruption on this island occurred to the south of San Antonio, but has been quiet since then. After a bit of hiking and picture taking we worked our way back to the ship.

San Antonio volcano from the air. The last major eruption was in 1677 although there was a minor eruption in 1971.

View of the crater at San Antonio volcano.

Better view of the crater showing the emerging pine tree forest at the bottom of the crater.

Chart in the visitor center showing how volcano eruptions are migrating south over time.

Interesting statistics about the 2021 volcano eruption on the island.

Dinner this evening was scheduled to be at one of the “fancy” restaurants, Chartreuse, which features a French inspired menu. When we made reservations we indicated that we would like to share a table so we could meet some fellow travelers. As we waited to check in the couple in front of us (who had also indicated a willingness to share) asked if the table companions would be German. When told it was unlikely, they chose to then eat alone. As it turned out when we checked in we were told they would have been our table companions. Since there were no others currently scheduled at our dining time (they limit the number/hour) we ended up at a cozy table for two! Oh well, we tried to be friendly! Dinner was excellent but I still fault them for not having French onion soup on their menu; it just does not seem right to not offer it in a French restaurant!