**3. TFgeotourism: Tenerife's volcano tourism project**

Tfgeotourism Project started in 2017, thanks to the financing of the Island Council of Tenerife. The entity responsible for executing it is the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN). INVOLCAN, an entity unanimously demanded by the Senate (11/02/2005), the Parliament of the Canary Islands (01/11/2006), and the Congress of Deputies (12/02/2009), aims to contribute to the improvement of volcanic risk management in Spain (say the Canary Islands; the only volcanically active region of the national territory of Spain with volcanic risk) and the optimization of the management of the many benefits that come with living in a volcanic territory (geothermal resources, geotourism, etc.). Its mission and vision are intended to contribute to the sustainable development of the Canary Islands as well as other volcanic regions.

Within the TFgeotourism project and in accordance with its objectives, different products have been created associated with volcano tourism. This type of tourism in Tenerife constitutes a relatively new modality that consists of the tourist exploitation of natural and cultural aspects directly or indirectly linked to volcanoes. In this sense, the geotourism interest of volcanoes is associated with three fundamental aspects: (1) the landscapes they generate where the esthetic beauty of the processes

**381**

**Figure 3.**

*elaboration.*

and processes.

*TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage…*

**3.1 Documentary on the volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano**

and forms cannot be compared to other geological territories; (2) the cultural aspect of volcanoes in relation to the societies that agree with them (archeology, history, music, folklore, gastronomy, etc.), configuring volcanic landscapes as key elements and icons in the culture of the peoples that coexist with them and its surroundings; and (3) the possibility of experiencing the power of seeing an erupting volcano as

Associated both with the objective of the project and with the geotourism interest of the volcanoes, TFgeotourism has created various products and tourist experiences that diversify both the leisure offer of Tenerife as well as geotourism. Each of the products generated within the project and whose purpose is to strengthen the economic and business fabric of the island are listed and characterized below.

The need to make a documentary exclusively about the volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano responds both to its international importance and to the fact that it had not been done until now. The global relevance of this volcano is due to the following facts: it is the National Park that receives more tourists in Spain (**Figure 3**) and is one of the most visited volcanic areas in the world [20]; it was part of the 16 volcanoes of the decade in 1990 according to the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) for the reduction of natural disasters; and it was one of the five European volcanoes (European Laboratory Volcanoes: Teide) of the European Commission, and since 2007, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To all these recognitions that value the volcanic heritage of the national park through its rich geoheritage, we must also add its varied and unique biodiversity and its rich cultural heritage

Therefore, despite the relevance of its geoheritage and its tourist importance (international, national, and local), the national park did not have a specific and easily acquired tourist product for visitors who are attracted by the geotourism of Teide volcano. In this way, the documentary (**Figure 4**) that has been made is entitled "Teide, the sleeping giant"; it lasts for about 30 min, and throughout it, each and every one of the natural elements and cultural that make up the geodiversity of volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano are displayed: stratovolcanoes, domes, cinder cones, hornitos, craters, lava flows, lava tubes, ravines, periglacial forms,

*Visitors to Teide National Park. Source: ISTAC; Istac: http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/. Own* 

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

long as the safety of visitors is guaranteed.

from pre-Hispanic times to the present day [21].

### *TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

and forms cannot be compared to other geological territories; (2) the cultural aspect of volcanoes in relation to the societies that agree with them (archeology, history, music, folklore, gastronomy, etc.), configuring volcanic landscapes as key elements and icons in the culture of the peoples that coexist with them and its surroundings; and (3) the possibility of experiencing the power of seeing an erupting volcano as long as the safety of visitors is guaranteed.

Associated both with the objective of the project and with the geotourism interest of the volcanoes, TFgeotourism has created various products and tourist experiences that diversify both the leisure offer of Tenerife as well as geotourism. Each of the products generated within the project and whose purpose is to strengthen the economic and business fabric of the island are listed and characterized below.

### **3.1 Documentary on the volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano**

The need to make a documentary exclusively about the volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano responds both to its international importance and to the fact that it had not been done until now. The global relevance of this volcano is due to the following facts: it is the National Park that receives more tourists in Spain (**Figure 3**) and is one of the most visited volcanic areas in the world [20]; it was part of the 16 volcanoes of the decade in 1990 according to the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) for the reduction of natural disasters; and it was one of the five European volcanoes (European Laboratory Volcanoes: Teide) of the European Commission, and since 2007, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To all these recognitions that value the volcanic heritage of the national park through its rich geoheritage, we must also add its varied and unique biodiversity and its rich cultural heritage from pre-Hispanic times to the present day [21].

Therefore, despite the relevance of its geoheritage and its tourist importance (international, national, and local), the national park did not have a specific and easily acquired tourist product for visitors who are attracted by the geotourism of Teide volcano. In this way, the documentary (**Figure 4**) that has been made is entitled "Teide, the sleeping giant"; it lasts for about 30 min, and throughout it, each and every one of the natural elements and cultural that make up the geodiversity of volcanic geoheritage of Teide volcano are displayed: stratovolcanoes, domes, cinder cones, hornitos, craters, lava flows, lava tubes, ravines, periglacial forms, and processes.

### **Figure 3.**

*Updates in Volcanology – Transdisciplinary Nature of Volcano Science*

demanding, and active demand, which makes the island an ideal destination for the

Tfgeotourism Project started in 2017, thanks to the financing of the Island Council of Tenerife. The entity responsible for executing it is the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN). INVOLCAN, an entity unanimously demanded by the Senate (11/02/2005), the Parliament of the Canary Islands (01/11/2006), and the Congress of Deputies (12/02/2009), aims to contribute to the improvement of volcanic risk management in Spain (say the Canary Islands; the only volcanically active region of the national territory of Spain with volcanic risk) and the optimization of the management of the many benefits that come with living in a volcanic territory (geothermal resources, geotourism, etc.). Its mission and vision are intended to contribute to the sustainable development of the Canary

Within the TFgeotourism project and in accordance with its objectives, different products have been created associated with volcano tourism. This type of tourism in Tenerife constitutes a relatively new modality that consists of the tourist exploitation of natural and cultural aspects directly or indirectly linked to volcanoes. In this sense, the geotourism interest of volcanoes is associated with three fundamental aspects: (1) the landscapes they generate where the esthetic beauty of the processes

introduction of new tourism products and experiences such as geotourism.

*Different volcanic landscapes of Tenerife. (1) Teide and Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes. (2) Las Cañadas caldera and Majua dome. (3) Arafo historical eruption. (4) cinder cone of Montaña taco. (5) last eruption of Tenerife: Chinyero cinder cones (1909). (6) Montaña Amarilla tuff cone and Bandas del Sur pumice formation. (7) Montaña Pelada tuff ring and monogenetic volcanic field. (8) Punta de Teno lava delta.* 

**3. TFgeotourism: Tenerife's volcano tourism project**

Islands as well as other volcanic regions.

**380**

**Figure 2.**

*(9) ravines in Teno shield volcanism.*

*Visitors to Teide National Park. Source: ISTAC; Istac: http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/. Own elaboration.*

### **Figure 4.**

*Some photographs about the shooting of the Teide documentary with drones. All pictures show the Teide and Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes and Roques Blancos lava dome. Source: Alas.*

The documentary was presented in 2019 at the twenty-first edition of the Canary Islands International Medium-Environmental Film Festival (FIMEC) in Garachico, in the north of Tenerife, with a large influx of audiences. From there, it has been screened in various municipalities on the island (La Orotava, Guía de Isora, Los Realejos, etc.) and the objective is that it can be screened in all of them.

### **3.2 Tenerife's geoturistic guide**

This is Tenerife's first geotourism guide (**Figure 5**). The main objective is to show the diversity of the volcanic geoheritage of Tenerife through the selection of various places that collect aspects of its geodiversity, its geoheritage, and its geoconservation. According with the more geographical vision of geotourism, the places listed in the guide show the values of the natural and cultural heritage associated with volcanoes. In this sense, and in addition to the geological and geomorphological heritage, aspects related to the vegetal landscape, the ornithological importance, the panoramic views or the cultural legacy that anthropic uses have left on the landscape are pointed out when using materials from the gea for the farming, the stone roads or the traditional buildings.

The guide has a selection of 50 places of geotourism interest Tenerife [22] (**Figure 6**) corresponding to the geological context of buildings and volcanic morphologies of the Canary Islands defined according to the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME). With the purpose of a greater understanding, the information of each place is presented in a file format. This has several sections in which the name of the geotourism place of interest and its UTM coordinates appear; the geological context and its main interest (tectonic, morphological, stratigraphic, and petrological); the municipality to which it belongs and its numbering; the location map; its description; the conservation and uses in it in order to establish what can and

**383**

**Figure 5.**

*TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage…*

cannot be done; the trails that run through each place; and the selection of the main geotourism interests of the site and the bibliographic references where you can find

The set of 50 geotourism sites selected from the guide represent the geodiversity and volcanic geoheritage of the island of Tenerife from the topographic, volcanic, morphological, and landscape point of view [22, 23]. Topographically, the two slopes (north and south) and the different altitude levels of the island are represented. Volcanologically, the 50 places are distributed by all the volcanic buildings of Tenerife (shield volcanism-ancient volcanic massifs, rift volcanism and the central complex Cañadas-Pico Viejo-Teide), they represent both magmatic and hydromagmatic volcanism and the different dynamics and behavior eruptive (effusive, explosive and mixed). Morphologically, the places are part of both the forms and processes of direct volcanism (eruptions, volcano fields, lava fields, stratovolcanoes, etc.) and the processes of erosion and accumulation (ravines, cliffs, beaches, dunes, slopes, etc.). And, finally, from the landscape point of view, an attempt has been made that

more information about each of the places included in the guide.

*Tenerife geotourism guide. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

*TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

**Figure 5.**

*Updates in Volcanology – Transdisciplinary Nature of Volcano Science*

The documentary was presented in 2019 at the twenty-first edition of the Canary Islands International Medium-Environmental Film Festival (FIMEC) in Garachico, in the north of Tenerife, with a large influx of audiences. From there, it has been screened in various municipalities on the island (La Orotava, Guía de Isora, Los Realejos, etc.) and the objective is that it can be screened in all of them.

*Some photographs about the shooting of the Teide documentary with drones. All pictures show the Teide and* 

*Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes and Roques Blancos lava dome. Source: Alas.*

This is Tenerife's first geotourism guide (**Figure 5**). The main objective is to show the diversity of the volcanic geoheritage of Tenerife through the selection of various places that collect aspects of its geodiversity, its geoheritage, and its geoconservation. According with the more geographical vision of geotourism, the places listed in the guide show the values of the natural and cultural heritage associated with volcanoes. In this sense, and in addition to the geological and geomorphological heritage, aspects related to the vegetal landscape, the ornithological importance, the panoramic views or the cultural legacy that anthropic uses have left on the landscape are pointed out when using materials from the gea for the farming, the

The guide has a selection of 50 places of geotourism interest Tenerife [22] (**Figure 6**) corresponding to the geological context of buildings and volcanic morphologies of the Canary Islands defined according to the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME). With the purpose of a greater understanding, the information of each place is presented in a file format. This has several sections in which the name of the geotourism place of interest and its UTM coordinates appear; the geological context and its main interest (tectonic, morphological, stratigraphic, and petrological); the municipality to which it belongs and its numbering; the location map; its description; the conservation and uses in it in order to establish what can and

**382**

**3.2 Tenerife's geoturistic guide**

**Figure 4.**

stone roads or the traditional buildings.

*Tenerife geotourism guide. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

cannot be done; the trails that run through each place; and the selection of the main geotourism interests of the site and the bibliographic references where you can find more information about each of the places included in the guide.

The set of 50 geotourism sites selected from the guide represent the geodiversity and volcanic geoheritage of the island of Tenerife from the topographic, volcanic, morphological, and landscape point of view [22, 23]. Topographically, the two slopes (north and south) and the different altitude levels of the island are represented. Volcanologically, the 50 places are distributed by all the volcanic buildings of Tenerife (shield volcanism-ancient volcanic massifs, rift volcanism and the central complex Cañadas-Pico Viejo-Teide), they represent both magmatic and hydromagmatic volcanism and the different dynamics and behavior eruptive (effusive, explosive and mixed). Morphologically, the places are part of both the forms and processes of direct volcanism (eruptions, volcano fields, lava fields, stratovolcanoes, etc.) and the processes of erosion and accumulation (ravines, cliffs, beaches, dunes, slopes, etc.). And, finally, from the landscape point of view, an attempt has been made that

**Figure 6.** *Spatial distribution of the 50 sites of geotourism interest. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

places of geotourism interest are present in all the large landscape units defined for Tenerife, which are the result of the combination of topographic, volcanic, biogeographic, and cultural criteria (landscapes of coastline with beaches and/or cliffs with xeric vegetation, embedded and open ravines with laurel and pine forests, badlands and lajiales without vegetation, volcanoes and lava with pine forests, stratovolcanoes of peaks with high mountain scrub, etc., and on which you cannot ignore all their cultural baggage) such as farming, traditional villages, churches, etc. In order to make the selected places accessible, it has also been tried that they are always within the usual itineraries (routes and circuits) of visitors to the island [23].

## **3.3 Urban geoturistic itineraries**

In most cases, geotourism products, experiences, and activities are designed to be carried out mainly in protected natural areas. However, geotourism initiatives within cities are gaining more and more interest [24–26]. In this sense, the urban geotourism is a type of tourism which concentrates on the exploitation of the attractive parts of the relief of the cities. To do so, it is necessary to identify the places, areas, and/or elements with a geological-geomorphological interest (geosites or geomorphosites) and then design geotouristic itineraries which can be of chronological, geological, or spatial interest. The geographical relief can be found in any particular location within the city, either natural (volcanoes, lava flows, ravines, cliffs, beaches, etc.), which means those that have not been occupied by urban constructions, or those belonging to the cultural heritage (roads, buildings, etc.). The urban geotourism is recommended to a very diverse public, from local residents to visitors attracted by the geological heritage.

Within the TFgeotourism Project, 23 urban geotourism itineraries were designed in the different municipalities of Tenerife (**Figure 7**). In each of them, the natural geotourism sites and cultures of the cities and their environments were

**385**

**Figure 7.**

*TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage…*

identified, selected, inventoried, and characterized [27]. The information of each site was collected in a file whose objective is to provide more information on the places selected to make the route. The itineraries are always developed through the cities, they are easily accessible, with little unevenness, they can be developed at any time of the year given the subtropical climate of the island, the duration varies between 1.5 and 3 h and the number of places and stops is not more than 16.

*Example of an urban geotourism itinerary. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

### *TFgeotourism: A Project to Quantify, Highlight, and Promote the Volcanic Geoheritage… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93723*

*Updates in Volcanology – Transdisciplinary Nature of Volcano Science*

places of geotourism interest are present in all the large landscape units defined for Tenerife, which are the result of the combination of topographic, volcanic, biogeographic, and cultural criteria (landscapes of coastline with beaches and/or cliffs with xeric vegetation, embedded and open ravines with laurel and pine forests, badlands and lajiales without vegetation, volcanoes and lava with pine forests, stratovolcanoes of peaks with high mountain scrub, etc., and on which you cannot ignore all their cultural baggage) such as farming, traditional villages, churches, etc. In order to make the selected places accessible, it has also been tried that they are always within

*Spatial distribution of the 50 sites of geotourism interest. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

In most cases, geotourism products, experiences, and activities are designed to be carried out mainly in protected natural areas. However, geotourism initiatives within cities are gaining more and more interest [24–26]. In this sense, the urban geotourism is a type of tourism which concentrates on the exploitation of the attractive parts of the relief of the cities. To do so, it is necessary to identify the places, areas, and/or elements with a geological-geomorphological interest (geosites or geomorphosites) and then design geotouristic itineraries which can be of chronological, geological, or spatial interest. The geographical relief can be found in any particular location within the city, either natural (volcanoes, lava flows, ravines, cliffs, beaches, etc.), which means those that have not been occupied by urban constructions, or those belonging to the cultural heritage (roads, buildings, etc.). The urban geotourism is recommended to a very diverse public, from local residents

Within the TFgeotourism Project, 23 urban geotourism itineraries were designed in the different municipalities of Tenerife (**Figure 7**). In each of them, the natural geotourism sites and cultures of the cities and their environments were

the usual itineraries (routes and circuits) of visitors to the island [23].

**3.3 Urban geoturistic itineraries**

**Figure 6.**

to visitors attracted by the geological heritage.

**384**



**Figure 7.**

*Example of an urban geotourism itinerary. Source: http://tfgeoturismo.involcan.org/.*

identified, selected, inventoried, and characterized [27]. The information of each site was collected in a file whose objective is to provide more information on the places selected to make the route. The itineraries are always developed through the cities, they are easily accessible, with little unevenness, they can be developed at any time of the year given the subtropical climate of the island, the duration varies between 1.5 and 3 h and the number of places and stops is not more than 16.
