El Paso, also known as Ciudad de El Paso, is a Spanish municipality located on the island of
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
, province of
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Geographically it is located in the center of the island of La Palma, covering to the west with the
Caldera de Taburiente
Caldera de Taburiente National Park ( es, Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente) is a national park on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. It contains the Caldera de Taburiente, which dominates the northern part of the island ...
, part of the
Aridane Valley, the
Cumbre Nueva and the
Cumbre Vieja
The Cumbre Vieja (; meaning "Old Summit") is an active volcanic ridge on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The spine of Cumbre Vieja trends in an approximate north–south direction, comprising the southern half of La Palma, ...
. It is on the surface the largest municipality of the island, being the only one of the 14 municipalities of La Palma that lacks coastal strip. In 2016 it had a population of 7457 inhabitants.
The nucleus of population had to have its origins in the pre-Hispanic stage of the island. Almost certainly, because of the engravings found in the area, it consisted of a first moment in a temporary settlement of
Benahoarite shepherds. During the colonization and almost throughout the
Modern Age the present territory of the municipality was administratively part of the
Aridane Valley. In 1837, under the reign of
Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...
, the municipality obtained the title of City, segregating of the
Los Llanos de Aridane.
At the summit of the municipality is the oldest
canarian pine in the world, with an estimated age of more than 1000 years.
History
![Vulcano 2021-10-21 seen from El Paso](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Vulcano_2021-10-21_seen_from_El_Paso.jpg)
Many footpaths already crisscrossed La Palma before the Spanish conquest. A number of mountain passes east of present-day El Paso enabled cross-island communications. One of these was Ajerjo Pass by which the island's Spanish discoverer,
Alonso Fernandez de Lugo
Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''.
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 36.6% of all known bearers of the surname ''Alonso'' were residents of Spain (frequency 1:222), 26.1% of Mexico (1:83 ...
, attempted to enter the
Caldera de Taburiente
Caldera de Taburiente National Park ( es, Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente) is a national park on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. It contains the Caldera de Taburiente, which dominates the northern part of the island ...
, hence its local name the Captain's Pass (Paso del Capitán). The village of El Paso was named after this mountain pass by association.
On 3 May 1492 the mentioned Fernandez de Lugo finishes the conquest of the island of La Palma by the Spanish when conquering the last remaining stronghold of the native
Guanches
The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa.
It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...
, the kingdom of
Aceró. To this goal, Fernandez deceitfully invited its king
Tanausú to an interview, to have him imprisoned on appearance. The island was made directly subject to the Spanish Crown, a situation which would last until 1812. In this year the new
Spanish Constitution
The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...
paved the way for decentralisation of the
Canary Islands and subdivision into municipalities.
At about 15:15 local time on Sunday 19 September 2021 the
volcano above the town erupted following multiple tremors. It is situated in the Cumbre Vieja national park, despite having been quiet since 1971.
BBC:Volcano on Canary Island La Palma erupts, spewing ash and lava into national park
/ref>
Historical population
Administration and policy
The local administration of the municipality is carried out through the City Council of El Paso, whose components are elected every four years by universal suffrage of all Spanish citizens and the European Union over 18 years of age who are registered in the municipality. According to the provisions of the General Electoral Regime Law, which establishes the number of eligible councilors depending on the population of the municipality, the Municipal Corporation of El Paso is formed by 13 councilors. The city council has mayor-president and twelve more councilors. In the elections of May 24, 2015 obtained a simple majority Canary Coalition, forming a coalition government with PSOE. The current government team is composed of the mayor-president, four mayors and three councilors.
List of mayors since the 1979 democratic elections:
See also
* La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
* List of municipalities in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
This is a list of the 54 municipalities in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, Spain - 31 on Tenerife Island, 14 on La Palma Island, 6 on La Gomera Island and 3 on El Hierro Island.
Referenc ...
References
External links
El Paso Municipality Website
Official La Palma Website (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:El Paso, Santa Cruz De Tenerife
Municipalities in La Palma