The application for Timanfaya to be declared a National Park was almost incidental.

In 1973, the then president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, José Ramírez Cerdá, received a postcard from the Head of the Port of Las Palmas. He had just returned from a trip to New Mexico. He had visited a National Park that was similar looking to Timanfaya; arid landscapes and hardly any vegetation.

This encouraged Ramírez to get the ball rolling and start filling out the application papers, as he could see that this landscape equally deserved such protectionism. César Manrique and Jesús Soto, as the true collaborators they were, helped him proceed, and later on José Miguel González from the ICONA (Institute for the Preservation of Nature) joined them.

The Managing Director of the ICONA ordered a preliminary study to the 11th Inspection of the Canary Islands, carried out by Juan Nogales Hernández, a man in love with Lanzarote and Timanfaya.

To conclude, after several months of research and formalities, in 1974 Timanfaya was declared a Natural Park, within the highest protectionism category, a National Park, although the limits of it do not coincide with the total number of eruptions. Out of the 174 km2 of land covered by lapilli and lava, the protected area consists of 51 km2 including the main volcanic cones. The limits make up a triangle with Punta del Jurado, Playa de Las Mareas and Pico Partido on he inside.

The Park belongs to the municipalities of  Yaiza and Tinajo, although the National Institute for the Preservation of Nature manages it directly.