Pájara is a municipality in the southwestern portion of the island of Fuerteventura in the Province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands as well as the name of its largest town. Its population is 20,931 (2013), and the area is 383.52 km. Pájara is both the southernmost and the westernmost municipality on the island. Pájara is also the largest municipality on the island. The largest towns in the municipality of Pájara are Morro Jable and Costa Calma , both situated on the coast. The small port Ajuy is situated in the north of the municipality, near Betancuria . The Jandía peninsula is part of the municipality.
8-585: Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the Canary Islands, dating back 20 million years to a volcanic eruption from the Canary hotspot . The majority of the island was created about 5 million years ago and since then has been eroded by wind and precipitation. On the seabed off the West coast of the island rests an enormous slab of bedrock 22 km (14 mi) long and 11 km (7 mi) wide, which appears to have slid off
16-473: A magma source. The African Plate then shifted the plate the archipelago rests on over a stationary mantle plume . However, this hypothesis has been scrutinized for periods of up to several million years of a lack of volcanic activity between islands. From July to September 2011, the Canarian island of El Hierro experienced thousands of small tremors , believed to be the result of magma movements beneath
24-870: Is 5 km (3 mi) wide and is the narrowest part of Fuerteventura. The island is divided into two parts, the northern portion which is Maxorata and the southwestern part called the Jandía peninsula. Fuerteventura was chosen among 500 European destinations by the Quality Coast International Certification Program of the European Coastal and Marine Union as one of the most attractive tourist destinations for visitors interested in cultural heritage, environment and sustainability. The church of Nuestra Señora de Regla in Pájara town has interesting sculptures of sun pattern, snakes, panther and birds above
32-530: The island largely intact at some point in prehistory, similar to the predicted future collapse of Cumbre Vieja , a geological fault on another Canary Island, La Palma . The last volcanic activity in Fuerteventura occurred between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. The highest point in Fuerteventura is Pico de la Zarza (807 m) in the Southwestern part of the island. Geographical features include Istmo de la Pared, which
40-457: The island. This resulted in fears of an imminent volcanic eruption , which began October 10, 2011, approximately 1 km south of the island in a fissure on the ocean floor. Eruptions continued until March 2012. Prior to the Cumbre Vieja eruption on the island of La Palma on September 20, 2021, over 25,000 earthquakes were recorded starting on September 10. Since the 1971 Teneguía eruption,
48-572: The main entrance. It is thought by some experts to show Aztec influence . Canary hotspot The Canary hotspot , also called the Canarian hotspot , is a hotspot and volcanically active region centred on the Canary Islands located off the north-western coast of Africa . Hypotheses for this volcanic activity include a deep mantle plume beginning about 70 million years ago. The underwater El Hierro and subaerial Cumbre Vieja eruptions remain
56-659: The most recent Canarian eruptions. The deep mantle plume hypothesis on Canary hotspot formation proposes how the current-day Canary islands rested above a province of tholeiitic magma during the Triassic Period . The province, known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), became active and extended over 10 million km , developing into what scientists call today the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . The archipelago formed about 60 million years ago from
64-475: The volcano has remained very active, as since October 2017 until the 2021 eruption alone, nine earthquake swarms occurred. As a result of the Cumbre Vieja eruption, over 5,000 of the island’s inhabitants had to evacuate, significantly decreasing casualties. Still, more than 1300 homes and 1500 utility buildings were damaged and continuous magma flow stalled repair efforts for weeks. This volcanology article
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