The Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, on the island of La Palma - together with the Observatario del Teide (Tenerife) - belongs to the INSTITUTO DE ASTROFÍSICA DE CANARIAS  (IAC).

 

At present, there are telescopes and other intrumentation belonging to over 60 institutions from 19 countries at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife) and the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma). This observational group, with the scientific and technical facilities provided by the IAC at its headquarters Instituto de Astrofísica in La Laguna (Tenerife) and in combination with the planned Com mon Centre for Astrophysics on La Palma, jointly constitute the "European Northern Observatory" (ENO).

Protected as a natural resource by a special law, the excellent quality of the Canarian sky for astronomical observing has persuaded institutions from a dozen European countries to set up their telescope in these Observatories, which were inaugurated in 1985 by the Spanish royal family and six European heads of state.