Did you know Valencia has a Volcano?
Monday, August 8, 2022 @ 11:41 PM
The province of Valencia has a volcano. It is not active and it seems that it will not be for a while, but if you pass through Cofrentes area you can pay it a visit. It is located in Cerro de Agras, at about 500 meters above sea level and its last activity was about 2 million years ago.
The Valencian Community is home to 2 of the 4 areas with volcanic activity in continental Spain. One of them is this area of Cofrentes; the other, the Columbretes Islands.
The Cerro de Agras volcano is a "sleeping" volcano. Classified as such due to the fact that it has not registered activity in the last 10,000 years. However, deep inside there is still enough activity to cause some natural springs where fantastic spas have been built nearby such as those at Balneario Hervideros.
The process that causes this activity is the expulsion of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methanol), which travels from a magmatic chamber installed deep within the volcano to the Hervideros spring and generate bubbles.
The volcano itself is located about 3 kilometres from the Cofrentes nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to close in 2030. Studies were carried on the possible impact of the volcano on the construction of the power plant, and they revealed that the last activity was about 2 million years ago. However, an eventual eruption is a possibility that can never be ruled out in geology. If you want to visit it, you will have to go to Cofrentes, taking the road towards Requena.