HUNDREDS of people were ordered indoors or evacuated in Tenerife as the island staged a dramatic volcanic eruption drill on Thursday.
Phones blared across the Canary Island as residents and tourists received emergency ES-Alerts at 9am, signalling the start of the simulation.
The massive drill, the first ever to involve hotels and holidaymakers, aimed to test a coordinated response in the event that Mount Teide should erupt – something that has not happened since 1909.
Dubbed VOLCANEX 2026, the exercise involved around 1,500 people and 70 public bodies alongside emergency services and other organisations across southern Tenerife, authorities said.
Holidaymakers at the luxury Las Terrazas de Abama resort, in Guia de Isora, were bussed to a designated safe zone in Adeje alongside residents of a nearby care home.
From there, organisers rehearsed the next stage of an evacuation, which includes transporting people to the airport before airlifting them off the island.
Residents from the villages of Chirche and Aripe were also evacuated from their homes, with around 300 people moved to temporary accommodation.
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Hundreds of others across the island, including hotel guests, were meanwhile ordered to shelter indoors.
The drill also involved closing and evacuating Teide National Park and the surrounding Corona Forestal Natural Park as a precaution.
Mount Teide, Spain’s highest peak at 3,715 metres, is classified as a dormant volcano.
This means it remains active and could erupt – though it has not done so in more than a century.
In November 1909, lava burst out of the side of the mountain near the Chinyero nature reserve, sending rocks and ash flying through the air.
A river of lava threatened homes near Santiago del Teide, while a cloud of ash ominously settled over parts of the island.
The eruption ended around ten days later, with no injuries or deaths reported.
Authorities stressed that Thursday’s operation was only an exercise and did not mean an eruption was imminent.
The drill was the second major volcanic emergency exercise held on the island in recent years, following a similar operation in Garachico in September 2025.
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