Tenerife volcano alert as tourists issued 'potentially scary' warning

Tourists heading to Tenerife have been warned to expect a "potentially scary" volcano alert during their trip as underground tremors continue to rattle the island.

Mount Teide, Spain's highest peak, has been the focus of reports in recent weeks after a swarm of small earthquakes raised fears of volcanic activity. Experts insist the island is not facing an imminent eruption, but residents and visitors will soon receive an "eruption" alert message on their phones. The warning, part of Spain's largest ever volcanic emergency drill, will come on September 26. For the first time, an entire municipality will rehearse an evacuation in the event of an eruption, with Garachico in the north chosen as the focus.

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Only on islands such as Stromboli or Sicily in Italy, or Hawaii, have similar actions been practised. The Muelle Viejo district will be cleared while simulated emergencies unfold elsewhere. Around 1,000 people, including the Military Emergency Unit, scientific bodies and Cabildo technicians, will take part. 

From September 22, Tenerife's official risk map will shift from green to yellow, orange and finally red, culminating in the mock eruption message at 9am on the 26th. The exercise is being run within the EU's MODEX project and monitored by European experts.

Tenerife president Rosa Dávila stressed the island must stay prepared: "We must not forget that we are volcanically active islands, although we are not at all facing an imminent situation." 

She added: "This is a brave decision calling for calm because the risk is not going to disappear".

Volcanic monitoring director Lucca D'Auria said the recent swarms are unrelated to magma movement, instead tied to Tenerife's hydrothermal system. Tremors, millimetre shifts in the ground and minor gas changes "fit within normality," he explained, though he warned that in the next 50 years the risk of eruption is nearly 40% for Tenerife.

Spain’s Minister for Security, Emergencies and the Natural Environment, Blanca Pérez, said Tenerife had to take a "giant step" in readiness, with new maps of action points and mobility plans already in place. The Red Cross and other emergency services will be involved throughout the week-long exercise.

Garachico has seen the devastation a real eruption can cause. In 1706, lava from the Trevejo volcano buried much of the town and destroyed its port, though no lives were lost.