GEOTOURISM in the CANARY ISLANDS: Interview with Prof J.C. CARRACEDO

Juan Carlos Carracedo is Professor emeritus of Volcanology at the University
of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He graduated from the University Complutense Madrid,
Spain, in 1968 with a B.A. and received his PhD in 1976 in geology at the same institution.
After a spell as visiting scientist at the University of Toronto, he took up a permanent
position on the staff of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) at the National Museum of
Natural Sciences (Madrid) from where he moved to the Estación Volcanológica de Canarias
(EVC-CSIC) in La Laguna on Tenerife in 1981. He retired from the CISIC in 2011 as a
‘Distinguished Research Professor’, the highest academic degree obtainable at the CISIC.
Prof. Carracedo was named as one of the most influential scientists in Spain by a national
survey in early 2015 and in recognition of the latter he was appointed a member of the
“Canarian Royal Academy of Sciences” in summer 2015.

Prof. Carracedo has worked in the Canary Islands for over 40 years and published
over 200 scientific articles on the geology, palaeomagnetism and volcanology of the
Canary archipelago and authored or co-authored over 20 books and book chapters. He
hopes to spark interest and wants to help make science relevant to peoples’ every-day
lifes, which is of particular importance in the Canaries, an area with active volcanism,
where a good general knowledge of volcanic processes and associated hazards may
significantly help to facilitate the management and responses to future eruptive hazards. 

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. The Canary Islands are one of the most beautiful regions in Europe and host millions of
tourists every year. In fact the island’s economy has become strongly dependent on
tourism by now. The recent Covid pandemic has had profound effects on our ability to
travel large distances, so how has Covid affected the Canary Islands and its economy?

2. Teide National Park, the most popular in all of Spain, is one of the key attractions in the
Canary Islands and one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It is a UNESCO world heritage
site and hosts over 4 million visitors per year. What makes it so special?

3. What are the challenges when aiming to sustain mass tourism while also trying to preserve
abiotic, biotic and cultural values and features within the Teide National Park? Do you think balancing natural and cultural ambitions can be successfully achieved, or will one
thrive on the expense of the other?

4. Another important, but contrasting example of geotourism in the Canaries is the
Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote that is centred around the vents of the 1730-36
eruption. Criticism has been voiced that accessibility is highly limited, with a visitor centre
and a coach tour being the main activity aspects, while hiking or cycling in the park is
prohibited. Many tourists report online that Timanfaya National Park feels a bit like a
money-making exercise (entrance fee 10 Euro) and that visitors are treated a little like
cattle, with long waiting lines and demonstrations being rushed at times. This seems to be
very different from the Teide National Park concept, which has free access for cars,
bicycles and hikers, with many hiking trails for long hiking or cycle tours and a cable car
that brings visitors up to be the summit area of Teide (the largest mountain in Spain).
There is even the possibility of a night hike and early morning experience on Teide summit.
How come these approaches are so different?

5. Intriguingly, visitors to the Timanfaya Park declined from ca 3.2 million/year in 2012 to ca
2.7 million in 2016, while Teide National Park had a record numbers of visitors in 2016 (4.3
million), making it the most popular National Park in all of Spain. Is this a signal for a
winning concept?

6. In 2011/12 the Canaries experienced their last volcanic eruption, just offshore the
southern tip of El Hierro. The island has had a small but thriving community prior to the
eruption with eco-tourism being a main source of income, but tourism effectively
collapsed after the eruptive events in 2012. What happened?

7. You talked with local residents. What do they think contributed to this economic disaster?

8. In 1971, the year I was born, a little volcano on La Palma erupted (Teneguia), which was
located near the small town of Fuencaliente. Tourism boomed in the following years as a
result of this event and the vent site is still a visitor magnet today. What was different on
La Palma back then?

9. What are the lessons to learn from 1971, 2011 and the current Covid events for
sustainable geotourism in the Canaries and how will future Canary Islands volcano-tourism
look like in your view?