La Palma

La Palma, also known as La isla bonita and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The total population at the end of 2020 was 85,840, of which 15,716 lived in the capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma and about 20,467 in Los Llanos de Aridane. Its highest mountain is the Roque de los Muchachos, at , being second among the peaks of the Canaries after the Teide massif on Tenerife. In 1815, the German geologist Leopold von Buch visited the Canary Islands. It was as a result of his visit to Tenerife, where he visited the Las Cañadas caldera, and then later to La Palma, where he visited the Taburiente caldera, that the Spanish word for cauldron or large cooking pot – "caldera" – was introduced into the geological vocabulary. In the center of the island is the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, one of four national parks in the Canary Islands. Etymology The full name of the island is "San Miguel de La Palma" ("Saint Michael of La Palma"), usually abbreviated simply to "La Palma". La Palma is nicknamed "La Isla Bonita" ("beautiful island"). Origins and geology La Palma, like the other islands of the Canary Islands archipelago, is a volcanic ocean island. The volcano rises almost above the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. There is road access from sea level to the summit at , which is marked by an outcrop of rocks called Roque de Los Muchachos ("Rock of the Young Men"). This is the site of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, one of the world's premier astronomical observatories.