Teide’s Restless Pulse: Science Over Sensationalism
There is no need for panic. A scientific study presented on 23 January highlighted a slight deformation in Mount Teide. However, experts from the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan) stress that such events are part of the volcano’s normal “life” and are not necessarily a prelude to an imminent eruption. The seismological activity of Teide in 2025 has indeed been notable, featuring significant seismic swarms in August with over 700 low-magnitude micro-earthquakes at a depth of around 10 km, and detected changes in underground activity in February, though without any alert for an imminent eruption.
Education, Coexistence and University Tensions
No one has directly linked the two, but while the importance of seismic episodes should not be downplayed, an October study which found Canarian pupils to be the most disruptive in Spain might consider including in their education the restless volcanic origins of the Canary Archipelago. By extension, this might explain why, according to the report, these students take the longest to settle in the classroom before lessons can begin. In education, a notable gesture came from the University of La Laguna (ULL), which in February awarded its Gold Medal to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC)—a decision some see as a definitive end to inter-island rivalry.
This newfound amity materialised in June with an alliance between the two institutions to secure funding and talent. That same month, however, saw a clash between the ULPGC’s rectoral team and its Social Council over control of the university’s management. The saga continued on 27 November, when both the ULPGC and ULL backed an appeal of unconstitutionality against the law regulating the social councils of public universities.
In April, the Education Department agreed with unions on a plan running until 2027 to reduce class sizes (a maximum of 22 in Primary and 25 in Secondary education) and committed to 600 new hires. The Andrés Bello school, Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s first secondary institute, celebrated its 90th anniversary. On 7 November, it was reported that 75 school bullying complaints were under investigation across the Canaries.
A Mixed Year for Canarian Healthcare
The health sector saw both setbacks and achievements in 2025. Data in January showed Canarian emergency services were the worst in the country based on the number of complaints generated by systemic collapse. Conversely, March marked the milestone of 100 heart transplants in five years at the Doctor Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria.
It was reported in January that tobacco consumption causes one in four deaths in the Islands, and half of all nurses in the Canaries want to leave their jobs. On 5 March, it was announced that the University Hospital of the Canaries (HUC) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife would install a cyclotron for the early diagnosis of cancer. Four months later, the director of the Canary Islands Health Service, Gustavo Díaz, resigned for personal reasons. In April, the Health Department unified all patient medical records for Canary Island residents onto a single platform.
Scientific Ambitions and Environmental Alerts
In a fitting contrast, while news on 6 May revealed that a lack of state funding had pushed the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute (IAC) into the red, in July Spain offered La Palma as an alternative to Hawaii to host the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). This project aims to build a 30-metre reflecting telescope on Mauna Kea, a volcano sacred to Native Hawaiians. Undeterred by its financial woes, the IAC celebrated its 40th birthday the very next day.
The environment provided stark reminders of a changing climate. The heat was blamed for a total of 50 fatalities by October, while León, Galicia and Extremadura suffered devastating summer wildfires. Closer to home, water galleries in Tenerife are drying up: nine out of ten springs have been sealed off or are inactive. By October, Gran Canaria’s reservoirs were at just 2% of their capacity. That same month, a forest older than Mount Teide itself was discovered, and in December it was reported that a Canary Island cedar on Teide is the oldest tree in Europe, at 1,544 years old.
Investment, Vulcanology and a Touch of Glamour
In other news, December brought word that tech giants Huawei and Samsung are betting on Tenerife, investing in training courses and technology. It was also confirmed that the new National Volcanology Centre will be located on La Palma.
The Canary Islands’ 2025 social diary opened with Infanta Leonor arriving in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during her military training aboard the Juan Sebastián Elcano. The highlight came in March, with Sarah Jessica Parker filming in La Laguna. In January, the health of Alma, daughter of celebrity Anabel Pantoja, kept the nation’s gossip magazines on tenterhooks at the Materno Hospital in Las Palmas. A judge is investigating Pantoja and her partner for alleged mistreatment of their baby.
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