Indoor temperatures in parts of the building routinely pushed beyond 30 degrees, and never more so than across July and August, which happen to be the two months when the largest numbers of people are passing through. Improving these conditions meant altering the interior of the building and wiring the new equipment into the site's electrical supply, a job handled by the contractor Climatega at a final cost of €415,808.
Ángel Vázquez, who runs the island body responsible for Timanfaya and the other major attractions, said the difference would be felt immediately, both by the people visiting and by the staff who spend entire summers working there. He framed it as a shared achievement rather than simply a piece of building maintenance.
The El Diablo restaurant will feel the benefit as well. The restaurant at the top of the site, designed by César Manrique and known for grilling meat and fish over a pit of natural volcanic heat rising up through the ground, is in line for further improvements and better climate control across the building makes those easier to deliver. Eating something cooked on a volcano is not an experience many restaurants can offer.
The up shot for anyone with the Timanfaya National Park on their list is a more comfortable visit. Entry is by timed ticket booked online, and once you are inside there is a certain amount of waiting around for your slot on the coach tour of the Route of the Volcanoes, along with the crowd that gathers for the geothermal demonstrations at Islote de Hilario. Doing all of that in a cooled building rather than a hot one is a modest improvement, but on a thirty five degree afternoon in August it is the sort of modest improvement people notice.
