On a desolate landscape, surrounded by a landscape charred to cinders, a small house survives, unharmed, despite the lava flows that continually erupt from the summit of a volcano on the island of La Palma.
Ada Monnikendam, who built the house, said its owners, a retired Danish couple, were relieved that the house had survived the eruption, even though they had not been to the island since the pandemic began. The Danish couple chose La Palma for their family vacation because they wanted to enjoy the volcanic landscape.
This house, like a cartoon house, was completely unaffected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
Lava flows have submerged more than half the homes, schools and banana plantations in the area, Ms Monnikendam said. The Canary Islands government has announced plans to buy two housing complexes to house people left homeless by the disaster.
Experts said the massive 600-meter-wide lava river had slowed to 4 meters per hour after reaching the delta on September 22, but they still fear it will continue to move in the coming days and could trigger chemical reactions that cause explosions and release toxic gases if it spills into the sea.
Previously, when the eruption first began, lava flowed at a speed of 700 meters per hour.
Maria Jose Blanco, head of the National Geographic Institute in the Canary Islands, said seismic activity on La Palma is currently “low”, but molten rock is regularly ejected from the crater. La Palma last saw an eruption in 1971.
Many residents on the western side of the island are living in fear. However, on a large island like La Palma, life for the rest of the population is largely unaffected, they continue their daily work and still keep the tourists who have booked to visit the island.
