La Palma is the northwesternmost island in the Canary archipelago. It is roughly triangle-shaped, measuring 27 kilometres along the northern coast and then tapering off towards the south and ending in a point, with an overall lenght of 47 kilometres. The surface is square kilometres. La Palma is one of the youngest island in the archipelago.
The north formed million years ago, which we can compare with the two oldest islands Lanzarote and Fuerteventura which are about 15 million years each. The north of La Palma is characterized by the Caldera de Taburiente, an enormous depression which is often erroneusly known as a volcanic crater but which is, in fact, the result of the interaction of the opposite forces of vulcanism and erosion.
It measures 28 kilometres in circumference, 9 kilometres in diameter and metres in depth. Filled with pine forest and a little stream the only permanent water course in the Canaries , it was declared National Park in On its edge we find the highest point of the island at metres.
From the Caldera extends dozens of gorges carved out by erosion. Just small undulations in the terrain at first, they get deeper and wider the more you approach the coast and can have depths of several hundred metres at their end. These gorges made the construction of a network of road extremely difficult. Before the modernization of the island, which started in the s, the only way to get around was by foot.
These ancient trails have been recovered and restored and are now one of the major attractions of the island. The whole south is famous for its range of volcanoes and the Volcanic Route trail is one of the most popular ones. The coastline mainly consists of vey tall cliffs. There are only a handful of tiny beaches, formed by black lava sand or pebbles. La Palma is the quintessential rural island. A former producer of luxury items such as sugar, wine, tobacco or silk, it now lives off the export of the dwarf bananas that made their way to the island in the early s.
