The Council of Ministers approved this morning the addendum of the ‘Convention of the Tourism Sustainability Plan’ of the municipality of Llanense, a strategic instrument to advance the economic, social and tourist recovery of the municipality and the island as a whole, especially oriented to the regeneration of the activity after the volcanic eruption. In the words of the Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo, “one more step towards the recovery of a sustainable and resilient tourism model”.

The Council of Ministers gave the green light this week to a direct grant to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for a line of incentives aimed at improving the national and international connectivity of La Palma, with an endowment of 1.55 million euros, on an exceptional basis and for reasons of public, social and economic interest. The concession is regulated through the ‘Royal Decree regulating the direct granting of subsidies in the field of tourism by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, during the budgetary year 2025’.

The Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo, together with the Deputy Director of the Office of the Commissioner, José Manuel Monge, have visited the team of psychologists of the Center for Coordination and Socio-Sanitary Monitoring (CECOSS), belonging to the Ministry of Defense, with the aim of showing their support for the professional and emotional accompaniment they continue to offer, to the people affected by the natural disaster of 2021 on the Island.

Today, the Council of Ministers has approved a new Royal Decree-Law that includes urgent and complementary measures to continue the economic and social recovery of the island of La Palma, after the ravages caused by the volcanic eruption that began on September 19, 2021. These measures complement the strong public investment and the maintenance of the economic and social protection shield that has been carried out during these four subsequent years in which the reconstruction of the island has been developed. In this rule with the rank of law, special attention is paid to one of the sectors most punished by this catastrophe, the primary one, which is a great lever of the island economy.

In the framework of the International Conference Tajogaite Eruption, held from November 17 to 21 in La Palma, the Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island, Héctor Izquierdo, spoke in a session entitled “Social and Economic Reconstruction in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla due to the Tajogaite Eruption”, related to the actions developed in both neighborhoods, affected by the volcanic gases generated by the natural event of 2021 and which are still under surveillance and mitigation. The meeting is funded by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

The Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo, has attended the presentation of the Situation Report for the Island of La Palma that corresponds to the third quarter of 2025, prepared by the Federation of Entrepreneurs of La Palma (FEDEPALMA). It highlights a positive evolution in the economic activity of the island. This recovery is driven by key sectors such as construction, transportation, and a gradual increase in business confidence, although the context remains impacted by the repercussions of the 2021 volcanic eruption and post-pandemic normalization.

This week the tender went out for 14.5 million euros in the government procurement portal the development of an innovative microchip sensor as part of the ‘La Palma Interferometer’ project. An astronomical observation initiative that will be developed at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory from the own funds of CDTI (Ministry of Science) and the ERDF. This technology associated with the SPAD detector will create new professional opportunities in diverse fields and sectors, acting as a catalyst for the attraction of technology companies on the island and job creation. In the image, the Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo, together with the promoter of this technological bet, Francisco Prada (CSIC), in a meeting on the island to collaborate in its implementation.

The scientists involved in the Tajogaite eruption agree that we will be better prepared for the next volcanic phenomenon. All thanks to having established the need for a control network and to implementing gas mitigation technology with unique experiments in the world such as the one carried out these weeks in Puerto Naos, Los Llanos de Aridane. The first results of the test have been detailed during the Mitigation Committee held this week and are optimistic: extraction around 500,000 ppm of CO₂.

On Tuesday morning, a meeting took place between the Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo and the Deputy of the Common of the Canary Islands, Lola Padrón, with the aim of following up the complaints that the citizens affected by the volcanic eruption have raised with the institution of regional conciliation. The meeting was also attended by the Insular Director of the General Administration of the State, Carlos García and the First Deputy to the Provincial Council of the Common, Antonio Alarcó.

After the eruption of the volcano of La Palma in 2021, the Canary Islands has recognized the need to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce volcanic risk. In this context, INVOLCAN has organized over the weekend a series of workshops that bring together experts from different fields. Among them, the Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of La Palma, Héctor Izquierdo, has been part of the working group of legal and financial experts.