Black lava beach, El Golfo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain 22 Sept 2026

Black lava beach, El Golfo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

On Lanzarote, part of Spain"s Canary Islands, geology got carried away. Dark sand meets the Atlantic beneath cliffs streaked with ochre and rust, the handiwork of volcanic activity spanning millions of years. One chapter of this story arrived remarkably recently: between 1730 and 1736, numerous vents opened across Lanzarote, sending lava over dozens of square miles and burying roads, villages and farmland.

© Westend61/Adobe Stock

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