Volcanoes Route. TRACK 01
Lanzarote, with an area of 807 square kilometers, has a volcanic origin. This island emerged from the ocean about 25 million years ago as a result of the accumulation of materials from repeated eruptions.
The area of the Timanfaya National Park that we are visiting now, known as the Fire Mountains, is located in the southwest of the island, comprising a small part of the 172 square kilometers covered by volcanic materials from eruptions in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Between 1726 and 1730, frequent earthquakes and underground rumblings occurred, causing panic among the inhabitants of the island’s interior, who fled for refuge to Teguise and Arrecife. The eruption began in late summer of 1730, at sunset on the first of September. The events that unfolded have been recorded in the handwritten chronicles of an exceptional witness, the priest of Yaiza, Don Andrés Lorenzo Cuberlo, who narrates:
Between nine and ten o’clock at night, the Earth suddenly opened near Chimanfaya, two leagues from Yaiza. During the first night, a huge mountain rose from the earth, and flames erupted from its summit, continuing to burn for 19 days. The most significant volcanic process in Canarian historical times had begun. It lasted for six years with phases of varying intensity, during which rivers of lava at temperatures exceeding 800 degrees Celsius and immense ash rains destroyed all traces of life.
Associated with the base of many of the volcanoes formed during the eruption, fractures opened through which genuine and powerful lava rivers flowed. The Manto de la Virgen is the most emblematic ornament of the Timanfaya National Park. These structures form when the accumulation of gas inside the lava tunnels is such that it can deform the ceiling and allow the escape of incandescent materials and gases at high pressure.
The eruptions in Timanfaya are of the fissure type, meaning a huge fissure several kilometers long opens up, releasing vast volumes of lava. These lavas filled depressions and leveled the uneven terrain, resulting in a more or less horizontal surface. Volcanic cones are formed by the accumulation of material deposited around the vent points. Despite the multitude of cones and eruptive vents, lava flows dominate the landscape in Timanfaya.
Endless lava tongues emerge from the craters, merging and intertwining to form the immense sea of lava that occupies a quarter of the central area of the island. The lava flows extended to the coast, covering distances of around 20 kilometers in certain places. Upon contact with the seawater, they created formidable columns of steam and entered the ocean, thereby increasing the surface area of Lanzarote.
Volcanoes Route. TRACK 02
Whenever people thought that the fire from the mountains had come to an end, new fissures would open, and the eruptions seemed to regain their strength. In the historical manuscript of the priest from Yaiza, we read the following account:
On October 18, 1730, three new openings formed above Santa Catalina, and from their vents, clouds of smoke billowed out, spreading across the entire island, accompanied by a large amount of slag and ash that covered everything around. The explosions that accompanied these phenomena, the darkness caused by the mass of ash, and the smoke that blanketed the entire island forced the inhabitants of Yaiza to flee more than once.
Lava flows and volcanic ash rains completely destroyed about thirty hamlets, leaving another twenty population centers severely damaged. Significant areas of farmland, crops, barns, water collection systems, as well as a portion of pastures and livestock, were also lost.
The hope of the island’s inhabitants dwindled gradually, until they finally left these areas and fled to other parts of the island or beyond. It is estimated that only about five months after the eruption began, nearly half of Lanzarote’s population had emigrated. At some points, the total evacuation of the island was even considered. The entire territory was populated by small settlements and hamlets scattered throughout the region, most of which were sparsely populated and were destroyed. These included Tingafa, Mancha Blanca, Santa Catalina, Peña Paloma, Maretas, San Juan, Jaretas, Timanfaya, Testeina, Rodeos, and Mazo.
Today, almost three centuries later, life thrives amidst the lava, making its way with resolute force. Nearly 800 species of animals and plants have been described, the majority of them terrestrial and the rest marine. Organisms that live directly on the rock include birds, lizards, and, above all, various species of lichens and curious nocturnal insects that feed on microscopic particles carried by the wind. These insects are primarily beetles and crickets, possibly similar to the pioneers who arrived on the island millions of years ago when Lanzarote emerged from the waters.
The largest known animal is a scavenging bird called the «guirre,» which nests in some of the craters of the Fire Mountains, and the smallest is a tiny cave-dwelling insect measuring less than 1 mm in length.
From the volcanic cones, very fluid lava flows emerged and spilled down to the coast. In some of these flows, the fiery rivers flowed through underground channels, through which we can now see the red and black entrails of the lava flows. Stony stalactites and stalagmites bear silent witness to the halted dynamism of the burning lava streams.
Volcanoes Route. TRACK 03
The landscape of Timanfaya appears to be a desert where aridity and temperature fluctuations between day and night, up to 20 degrees, make it very difficult to spot any animals. Only small succulent or spiky plants can be observed, as in this landscape of the Valley of Tranquility, where time seems to have come to a standstill, oppressed by the intense heat. The dominant materials here are volcanic ashes emitted during the eruption, and their texture contrasts with the magmatic flows we saw in the Sea of Lava. In these areas, only a few plants take root, and even lichens are rare.
The volcanoes that make up the Timanfaya National Park are the result of effusive eruptions of basaltic magma and are, in a way, similar to those that occur in Hawaii. These volcanoes emit significant volumes of lava, projecting moderate amounts of ash a few hundred meters into the air, which are carried by the wind and deposited around the eruption centers.
At the base of the Fire Massif, there is a laboratory for the study of volcanic activity in Timanfaya. In this observatory, continuous monitoring of seismic activity, deformation, and thermal and gas emissions takes place.
During the ascent to the Fire Massif, the fissure-like nature of the emission can be clearly observed. All emission centers are aligned along a fracture. After the eruption is over, the emitted materials cool down, and gas emissions continue for a long time. This gives rise to various surface alteration phenomena, resulting in a wide range of colors.
Volcanoes Route. TRACK 04
The central core of the eruption was the Fire Massif, where we are currently located, with its highest point reaching 525 meters. This volcano is covered in scoria and ashes from the eruptions of the 18th century. On the crest, you can see older areas that were not completely covered by modern lava. These are called islets, and many of the plants and animals that survived the volcanic cataclysm inhabit them, gradually expanding across the new substrates with a true colonizing zeal. This complex structure was built from about ten eruptive points, and at the base of the Volcanic Massif, eruptive fissures opened through which abundant lava channels flowed. From the main core of the fracture, volcanoes of great artistic beauty extend to the east and west, such as the «corazoncillo,» which constitutes one of the most spectacular examples in the entire Timanfaya area.
As we can see, it is an annular cone with a unique central crater over 500 meters in diameter and 170 meters deep. The crater floor sinks 100 meters below the external base of the structure.
The solitude and stillness of these caustic mountains, imposing craters, and deep calderas are absolute, and during the day, life seems nonexistent except for the presence of lichens covering the rocks and adding a new chromaticism to the blackness of the lava. At night, however, a horde of millions of insects swarm among the stones in search of sustenance formed by organic matter carried by the wind. Since there are hardly any soil deposits, plants barely grow, except in some places where a yellowish dust accumulates, originating from the distant sandstorms of the Sahara that occasionally obscure the atmosphere over Timanfaya, causing a rain of particles that covers the ground with a layer of up to 2 kilograms of dust per square meter.
The last eruptions in Lanzarote occurred in 1824 and were preceded by a long preparatory period of ten years during which numerous medium-intensity earthquakes were recorded on the island. This eruption began near Isolte Hilario, a new volcano of fire or «Chinero,» and developed along an eruptive fissure parallel to that of Timanfaya, with its lavas flowing above those emitted in the 18th century. It was mainly characterized by the high fluidity of its lavas and, especially, by the jets of very hot saltwater that erupted from the craters for days, resembling enormous geysers reaching up to 30 meters in height. In one of these craters, there are cavities known as «cimas del diablo» (summits of the devil), where scientists have managed to descend through narrow vertical passages to depths of up to a hundred meters, where the narrowness and heat prevent further human progress.
And as the end of this journey, we arrive at the Islet of Hilario. This is the area where the most intense heat emissions occur, and its name recalls a hermit, Hilario, who frequented the islet for more than fifty years with no company other than his camel. It is said that Hilario planted a fig tree, which, although it grew, never bore any fruit because the flower could not feed on the flame.
