Tajogaite
Tajogaite or Tajogaite Volcano is a monogenetic cinder cone located in the municipality of El Paso on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands. It originated in the eruption that began on September 19, 2021, the most recent on the island and in the national terrestrial geography. It stopped on December 13, 2021, after 85 days of activity, being the longest historical eruption recorded on the island and third in the archipelago.
Name
Tajogaite is the name given to an area of the island of La Palma belonging to the municipality of El Paso and located south of Los Romanciaderos, close to Montaña Rajada. The toponym appears frequently from the 18th century on in local records linked to land ownership, however its use dates back to times when the Benahoarites inhabited the island.
Characteristics
The volcano is above sea level, with the cone of the volcano being approximately high. The main crater is long and wide, and is one of seven vents. The Tajogaite eruption was associated with a magma-gas decoupled system, which resulted in 7-16% of the total erupted volume being made up of tephra.
Lava tubes
The eruption of Tajogaite created an extensive system of lava tubes. The tubes, which were spotted in the midst of the 2021 eruption, were first explored in June 2022 after work crews rebuilding roads over the hardened lava. The system, which extends between to under the hardened lava flow, is made up of three distinct levels and may be the longest in Europe. Despite the tubes reaching temperatures of, Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota bacteria have been found colonizing the walls of the tubes.
Reconstruction
The Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of La Palma, created in 2022 to coordinate and promote the actions adopted by the General State Administration to repair the damage caused by volcanic eruptions and for the reconstruction of the island of La Palma. It has the rank of Under Secretary and it depends from the Ministry of the Presidency, although functionally from the Ministry of Development. Hector Izquierdo Triana, born in La Palma and secretary of state for finance at that time, was appointed to this responsibility. On July 31, 2024 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Civil Merit.