Reconstruction and Resilience After Natural Disasters: Lost Opportunities After the Eruption of the Tajogaite Volcano in La Palma

Oportunidades perdidas após a erupção do vulcão Tajogaite em La Palma

Abstract

This paper analyzes, through a systematic review of the scientific literature on the subject of the destruction following natural disasters, for the improvement of territorial resilience, its application in the reconstruction process of the Aridane Valley, on the island of La Palma (Spain), after the 2021 eruption of the Tajogaite Volcano. The analysis aims to provide a new interpretation of the possibilities, benefits, and drawbacks of implementing resilient reconstruction processes in situations of “shock,” such as those posed by a volcanic eruption, in which social emergencies often take precedence over the possibility of implementing resilient planning instruments, which will necessarily imply that certain individual actors may be compelled to relinquish rights acquired prior to the catastrophe that are incompatible with the new future urban planning. The paper pays special attention to the mechanisms for incorporating citizen participation in planning and decision-making regarding the future territorial and urban model, analyzing in this specific case the positive and negative contributions resulting from the incorporation of citizen participation in the process of designing the “Territorial Framework” on which the reconstruction of the territory will be carried out.