La Palma

La Palma is one of the Canary Islands with more forest area, such as laurisilva as well as pine. It has a population of 86,000 inhabitants, the main island is Santa Cruz de la Palma although the city/toen Los Llanos de Aridane is the most populated and exceeds the capital in this aspect.

In the year 2002 La Palma has been/was declared as Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO, therefore it is the third canary island after Lanzarote and El Hierro, to be granted this protection status.

The area is 708 km ², reaching an altitude of 2,426 meters in the Roque de los Muchachos, a place where you can find situated the International Astrophysics Observatory.

To the tranquillity and the harmony of this island, it is necessary to include the other recognised attractions such as la Caldera de Taburiente National Park and los Tilos Forest along with walking routes and contrasting small beaches with black sand.

The biggest source of economic income is from bananas. Although 160 thousand tourists, visit the island every year, the majority German, there are only 7,500 beds on offer so you cannot talk about the mass of tourism.

At the moment, building work on the new airport of La Palma is being carried out, the predicted deadline for the work to be finished is at the end of 2009. The modern terminal will be completely integrated with the maritime and mountainous landscape It will have four telescopic runways/footbridges.