Spain features both active volcanic regions—primarily in the ocean-formed Canary Islands—and several well-preserved extinct or dormant volcanic fields spread across the Iberian Peninsula.
1. The Canary Islands (Active Zone)
The Canary Archipelago is an ocean-island volcanic chain located off the northwestern coast of Africa. It is Spain's most volcanically active region, featuring ongoing hotspot-related activity.
Tenerife: Home to Mount Teide ($3,715\text{ m}$), the highest peak in Spain and a massive stratovolcano.
La Palma: Site of the major 2021 fissure eruption in the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge.
El Hierro: Noted for its submarine eruptions off the coast of Restinga in 2011–2012.
Lanzarote: Defined by the Timanfaya basaltic fields, created by extensive fissure eruptions in the 1730s.
2. La Garrotxa (Girona, Catalonia)
Located in northeastern Spain near the Pyrenees, this natural park contains around 40 basaltic cinder cones and more than 20 lava flows.
Status: Dormant / Extinct (Quaternary monogenetic field).
Notable Structures: Santa Margarida Volcano (featuring a medieval chapel in its central crater) and Croscat.
3. Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha)
An extensive continental volcanic field located in central Spain, spread across roughly $5,000\text{ km}^2$.
Status: Extinct (Late Miocene to Holocene).
Characteristics: Features over 300 individual vents, broad explosive craters known as maars, and residual gas emissions (carbon dioxide springs known locally as los hervideros).
4. Cabo de Gata & Southeast Coast (Almería, Andalusia)
A coastal mountain range formed by submarine and subaerial volcanism linked to tectonic subduction in the western Mediterranean.
Status: Extinct (Miocene epoch, ~7 to 15 million years ago).
Features: Calc-alkaline volcanic domes, pyroclastic deposits, and coastal cliffs.
5. Additional Notable Zones
Columbretes Islands (Castellón): An uninhabited offshore archipelago in the Mediterranean consisting of submerged crater rims and basaltic islets.
Cofrentes (Valencia): Features the Cerro de Agras volcano, associated with geothermal springs and gas emissions.
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