With 728 km2, La Palma is the third smallest of the Canary Islands after Hierro and La Gomera. Length: 47km, width 29km. Geographical location: 28°40' Northern latitude and 17°52' Northern longitude. La Palma is located in the Atlantic Ocean, cca. 60 km to the West of the main Canary island Tenerife and 400 km West of Africa. Like all islands of the Canaries, La Palma is of volcanic origin, separated through a ridge of volcanic peaks into two different halves, East and West.

Together with the islands of El Hierro and La Gomera, La Palma belongs to the Spanish province of Tenerife. 86,000 people live in 14 provincial districts of La Palma: Barlovento, Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Fuencaliente, Garafia, Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso, Puntagorda, Puntallana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Tazacorte, Tijarafe and Villa de Mazo. The capital is Santa Cruz de La Palma, located on the Eastern side with 20,000 inhabitants. Los Llanos on the Western side is another big city with the same number of inhabitants, being also an economic center. The local language is Spanish but some locals speak also German and English. The local currency is Euro.

There is a moderate climate on the island of La Palma during the whole year, like anywhere else in the Canary Islands. The sun certainly shines here more strongly due to the island closer location to the tropics, but it does not become too hot in the summer, due to the trade winds blowing from the North. The climate is mild and relatively balanced with many hours of sunshine throughout the whole year, according to the weather statistics.

Trade winds and the Gulf Stream ensure a comfortable cooling in the summer and in the winter for warm temperatures: with very few annual variations, the temperature reaches between 20-22° C in February and 26-28° C in August. Therefore, La Palma offers all year the suitable weather for walking and swimming in the sun, with average temperatures in the Atlantic of 18° C in February and 23° C in August. For some monthly temperature statistics and live webcams from La Palma, please visit our Weather and Webcams section.

A further weather phenomenon, which seldomly passes by above La Palma and the Canary Islands, is the "Calima" or "Levante". This hot, dry desert wind, sweeping from the Sahara desert, carries some finest yellowish, reddish Sahara dust. During Calima, there are temperatures of around 40° C. Then, because of the cooling effect of the sea, the higher regions are considerably hotter than the regions close to the sea. At night, temperatures hardly cool down on La Palma, and the clear sight is limited through the fine dust. Fortunatelly Calima does not occur very often, only 2-3 times per year, and has a duration of 2-4 days each time.