Is Netflix's La Palma based on a true story? The real life island and volcano explained

19 December 2024, 14:00 | Updated: 19 December 2024, 14:49

Is La Palma based on a true story? Here's what's actually real. Picture: Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

La Palma does actually have a real volcano which last erupted in 2021. But what about the mega tsunami?

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So, you've just binge-watched Netflix's La Palma and you've now developed a new fear about a massive tsunami hitting the Canary Islands? Yeah, you're probably not the only one.

Netflix’s new disaster series La Palma is quickly becoming the No. 1 show on the streaming platform across the world and at only 4 episodes long, it's the perfect length to watch it all in one sitting.

The show follows a Norwegian family and a group of geological researchers who end up in the middle of a huge tsunami following a volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma.

But just how much of it is real and is it based on a true story? Is the La Palma volcano real? Could that actually happen in real life? Has it ever happened before? Here's everything you need to know...

Is Netflix's La Palma based on a true story? Is the volcano real?

Is Netflix's La Palma based on a true story? Will the tsunami ever happen? Picture: Netflix

Is La Palma based on a true story?

We mean, if it was a true story, you probably would have heard about a giant tsunami wave destroying an entire island in the Canary's by now, right?

Thankfully, La Palma is not based on a true story but it is a real place, and there is a hypothesis that the island's volcano could trigger a major landslide that might result in a tsunami causing devastation across the Atlantic Ocean.

La Palma is the westernmost island in Spain's Canary Islands, neighbouring Tenerife and is home to Cumbre Vieja, which is considered the most volcanically active ridge in the Canary Islands.

The catastrophic theory about La Palma's volcanic eruption first popped up back in 2001 in a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. However, further research has now cast doubt on that ever happening as it is depicted in the series.

In the Netflix series, the volcano erupts and triggers a huge landslide which causes a massive tsunami wave to form, engulfing the entire island and impacting countries across the Atlantic Ocean.

The United States Geological Survey writes that it's highly unlikely and very rare ("occurring on timescales of hundreds of thousands of years") that a landslide of that magnitude would occur with a volcano in the Canary Islands.

Is La Palma's volcano real? Yep, and it last erupted in 2021. Picture: Netflix

Is the volcano in La Palma real? Has there ever been a Tsunami?

While there's never been a 'mega-tsunami', there has been a few volcanic eruptions in La Palma. None of those have triggered a massive landslide, however.

La Palma is home to the Cumbre Vieja, the most active volcanic ridge in the Canary Islands. It most recently erupted in 2021, lasting 3 months. Before that, it last erupted in 1971 and 1949.

The 1949 volcanic eruption is mentioned in the show's opening credits sequence.