Practical Info

The weather in La Palma

In La Palma you can benefit from a very mild climate (21 degrees Celsius average annual) with extremely low probability of rain in September (under 5%), so the weather is perfect for an astronomy meeting and also for all kind of tourist activities (sunbathing, walking, hiking, trekking, etc). The average temperatures in La Palma at sea level for the air and sea water are given in the following table.
 
Month   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Year
Day °C  21 21 22 22 22 24 25 26 26 26 24 22 23
NIGHT °C 15 14 16 17 18 19 21 21 21 19 16 17 17
WATER °C 19 18 19 19 19 20 22 23 22 22 21 20 20
Sun h 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 9 8 6 5 5 7

For more weather information and live webcam images from La Palma, please check the following links:

Webcam Los Cancajos
Weather in Los Cancajos
Weather and webcams in ORM Observatory
Webcam Llanos de Aridane
Webcam Tazacorte

Currency

In the whole of Spain, including La Palma and the other Canary Islands, the currency is the Euro.
Some indicative exchange rates (Dec 2011): 1 Euro = 1.34 USD = 0.86 GBP = 1.23 CHF = 1.36 CAD = 100.3 JPY = 4.36 RON.

Passport and Visa Requirements

Canary Islands and La Palma are part of Spain, which is a member of the European Union (EU). Therefore, nationals of all EU countries need either their valid national ID card (with photo) or a valid passport, and they do not need a visa to come to La Palma. Citizens of the United States, England, Canada and contries of Latin America do not need visa but they need a valid passport. Citizens of other countries generally need a visa and valid passport to enter Spain. Important: if you need a visa to enter Spain – which is valid for all Schengen countries - but your travel involves transit through or changing planes in a non-Schengen country, chances are that you will also need a transit visa for this country. For participants in this case, we therefore recommend to avoid traveling through or changing planes in a non-Schengen country on your way to La Palma.

Please also check the following official links:

Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry
List of countries which need or do not need visa to enter Spain (2009)
Application for Schengen tourist Visa to enter Spain

Electricity

Like in continental Europe 220V 50 Hz; normal 2-pin rounded European plugs.

Language

The official language is Spanish. Due to the touristic nature of the Canaries, some people also know some German and English. Your resident LOC members are also speaking French and Romanian.

Safety

With only eigthy thousand inhabitants, La Palma is an extremely safe place and one of the safest in the Canary archipelago. Nevertheless, Madrid, Barcelona and other big Spanish cities should be regarded with caution, especially in crowded environments, like the metro, city centre, etc.