Having thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera in winter 2023, we decided to repeat the experience on the island of La Palma, still in the Canary Islands archipelago, in winter 2024. We were not disappointed. The island is even more beautiful and varied than the island of La Gomera, and you need a whole week to get around it and appreciate the different landscapes, from the salt flats by the ocean to the pine forests and the volcanoes at altitude.

The State Party, Spain, withdrew the nomination of the island's capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma, from the tentative list in 2025. Why? It would appear that there is no official explanation. Could this be to highlight a new proposal concerning the rock engravings on the island proposed in the same year, or because the entire island has already been listed as a biosphere reserve since 1983? We'll probably never know, but it didn't detract from our enjoyment of visiting the city. A day is enough to see the city, dance with the Palmeros, and climb up to the sanctuary. In winter, it's not very crowded.

And what would have been the site selection criteria?

We joyfully and tangibly experienced criterion ii concerning the exchange of influences between European and American cultures when we happened to find ourselves at a Cuban music concert where Palmeras were dancing in front of a replica of Christopher Columbus's caravel, the Santa Maria! That said, it is accepted …