The Council of Ministers has approved an agreement that determines the physical headquarters of the future Consortium “National Center of Vulcanology” that will be located on the island of La Palma, complemented by the scientific and innovation ecosystem of Tenerife.
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, department on which the dossier was based, celebrated the news. Ángel Víctor Torres remarked that “today has been resolved the location of an infrastructure that was requested in 2021 for the Canary Islands and that will become a world reference in knowledge, in scientific study and in risk prevention, being located in an area with activity”.
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, stressed that the implementation of the center “will allow the integration of data, homogenize criteria and strengthen coordination between the scientific community and administrations, acting as a technical reference throughout the country at the vulcanological level”, and recalled that the consortium model with the Canary Islands “guarantees co-responsibility and territorial roots, in line with the commitment of the Government of Spain for a decentralized science that promotes the social and economic transformation of all territories”.
The creation of the National Center of Volcanology was included in the Law of General Budgets of the State for the year 2023 and the Consortium will have the participation of the General Administration of the State - through the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - and the Administration of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. Amas administrations will provide resources at 50% for their sustenance.
Royal Decree 209/2022 established the procedure for the determination of the physical headquarters of the entities belonging to the state institutional public sector and created the Advisory Commission for the determination of the headquarters, so that the election of the headquarters of the National Center of Vulcanology has been carried out following an objective and competitive procedure.
The procedure for the determination of the physical headquarters of the Consortium was initiated by the Council of Ministers, at its meeting of September 2, 2025, through the urgent procedure, also contemplated in Royal Decree 209/2022
The Consultative Commission for the Determination of the Headquarters of Entities Belonging to the State Institutional Public Sector subsequently adopted, on September 16, the report with the list of criteria to be taken into account to determine the location, published in the BOE on September 24.
Accordingly, the deadline of one month was set for the legislative assemblies and governing councils of the autonomous communities, as well as the plenary bodies of the local entities, to submit their candidacies to the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory.
La Palma, the only candidacy presented to host the Partner
On October 24, the deadline of one month to present candidacies ended, having received a single candidacy, presented jointly by the Island Council of La Palma and the Island Council of Tenerife.
The Advisory Committee, meeting on December 1, approved the opinion in view of the candidacies presented, recommending its location on the island of La Palma, complemented by the scientific and innovation ecosystem of Tenerife, and referring it to the Council of Ministers, which today approves this agreement.
Canaries, the only Spanish territory with active volcanism
The Government values that the Canary Islands is the only Spanish territory with active volcanism and a history of volcanic risk management, highlighting the 2021 eruption of Tajogaite, Cumbre Vieja, on the island of La Palma, so it offers opportunities for research on the ground, both from a scientific and social point of view, to address the associated externalities, in terms of solving real problems of land management, emergency planning, risk communication and civil protection and vital economic sectors.
It is highlighted, in particular, that the candidacy offers a unique opportunity to turn our country into a world leader in the integral management of the volcanic phenomenon in volcanically active regions, promoting the exchange of knowledge between research groups and promoting scientific cooperation, with the purpose of increasing its international projection and contributing to the development of volcanic areas.
