From the City Council, this offer is based on arguments that have to do not only with the history that unites this city with the institution, but also with social, geographical and economic arguments that make Puerto de la Cruz “the ideal enclave for an institution that with the recent volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, it becomes even more important”.
It is also in line with the public declarations of the president of the Cabildo, Peter Martinexpressing the suitability of the island of Tenerife to host institutions dedicated to the study and knowledge of the volcanic reality, so intimately related to the origin and development of the islands.
In order to establish this official headquarters from Puerto de la Cruz, the city makes itself available to the Canary Islands Government and also from the Cabildo de Tenerife to enable all channels of collaboration when it comes to facilitating the steps that must be taken to find a decent space and in accordance with the importance of Involcan and its research for the future of the Canary Islands.
In the same way that the current State Government wishes to follow a model of decentralization of State bodies outside of Madrid, as has been publicly announced, the Porto City Council considers that the Government of the Canary Islands and the Council of Tenerife They must follow this example and ensure that their dependent entities are not only located in the metropolitan areas of the two central islands, but also in other areas such as the municipality of Puerto de la Cruz, where the Involcan headquarters must return.
Likewise, the City Council emphasizes thatn the island of Tenerife is the Teide volcano, declared by the International Association of Volcanology (IAVCEI) and UNESCO as one of the 16 volcanoes of the Decade due to its history of eruptions and its proximity to densely inhabited areas susceptible to causing a disaster. This selection of the 16 most dangerous volcanoes in the world was born as a consequence of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999) declared by the United Nations General Assembly.
Involcan is not only dedicated to volcanic surveillance, but also to other work related to promoting geotourism in order to contribute to the diversification of the tourist offer.
According to the City Council, “this line of work, which opens a window of opportunity for the municipality and the islands in general, is of great interest, since Puerto de la Cruz is the pioneering city of tourism in the Canary Islands and, moreover, our model is tourism closely linked to nature and also to innovation in a context of expanded culture where research plays a key role in disseminating knowledge, thus attracting another type of traveler, and which are made evident in events such as The Night of the Volcanoes that is already preparing its next edition to be held in the tourist city this coming September, after being postponed last year precisely due to the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma”.
Another of the reasons given by the City Council is that in Puerto de la Cruz “the distinguished geologist Telesforo Bravo was born and developed a large part of his career, who now, through his foundation also based in the Valle de La Orotava, can produce great advances in a context of joint efforts in the work of awareness and dissemination so necessary for our population”.
To this they add “the undeniable documentary support that endorses that the Cabildo de Tenerife has been throughout the last 40 years, the public administration that has expressed its commitment to reduce the volcanic risk in the Canary Islands to a greater extent, not only in Tenerife but also in the rest of the Canary Islands with volcanic risk”.
