Towards the valorization of Cumbre Vieja volcanic ash – Production of alternative cements

•Volcanic ash (VA) from the Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma, Spain) was characterized.•VA was activated with NaOH/waterglass activator (1.46 SiO2/Na2O modulus)•Compressive strength of 80 MPa was reached for mortars cured at 65 °C for 7 days.•The feasibility of using recently erupted volcanic material was demonstrated.•This is a fascinating solution for the VA valorization in the reconstruction tasks.