In La Palma there is a reality that has turned 180 degrees since the volcano erupted. The western part of the island, which includes the municipalities of Los Llanos, Tazacorte and El Paso, was considered the most beautiful and pleasant, especially in the areas near the volcanic cone that has recently formed, such as El Paraíso or Todoque. And the eastern area, where the capital is located, used to live under the grey blanket of clouds. That changed on Sept. 19. Now, what used to be considered Mordor, as Rubén, coordinator of the Los Llanos tennis club, closed because the lava has made access impossible, is where the palmeros are taking refuge to continue with their lives, at least part of them.
The ash seems determined to turn everything in its path into ghost towns. It doesn’t matter that those who are in charge of removing it from the streets or the roofs of the houses (practically all the neighbours) remain for hours doing the same job: sweeping and depositing, sweeping and depositing. The volcanic sand falls again. The volume is such that the Consejería de Educación del Gobierno de Canarias has again suspended classes for this Wednesday in the schools of El Paso, Los Llanos, Tazacorte, Tijarafe and Puntagorda.
Rubén tells, that the last hobby on La Palma is to spend the weekends away from the volcano. He went to Los Cancajos, in Breña Baja, where he was able to forget for a few hours about the constant rumbling of the bug, as the people of La Palma refer to the conical formation that emits incandescent material from the slopes of Cumbre Vieja. On his way to the Los Llanos tennis club, now in Santa Cruz de La Palma, he laments the paralysis the neighbourhood has come to: “You can’t even go for a run”.
The sports centers are occupied by social services, responsible for the distribution of clothing and household goods for those affected. The football fields have also become meeting points in case of urgent evacuations, as well as the Camino León Fighting Field. Some people think it is a bit frivolous to think about leisure and sporting activities at this time of year.But others see them as a possibility to alleviate suffering. And to clear the head, on constant alert for what might happen.
“The tennis club is between Puerto Naos and Los Llanos. And now it is between Puerto Naos and lava,” says Ruben, resigned to travel more than an hour and a half by car every day to teach children. “With the COVID we were locked in, but at least you could open the window. My son wakes up every time he hears the roar of the volcano and says, ‘Years,'” adds his classmate Joaquín.
Pablo lost his house a month after the earth opened up a few kilometers above. He lived near the industrial zone of Los Llanos, which was devastated by the volcano’s northern outflow. He says that on the day of the eruption he had prepared a housewarming lunch with his partner and some friends, as he had just finished renovating his home. “That day we were there, gathered, and I went to get a potato, looked out the window and saw the vent. We went out and as soon as we did we heard the noise, like a beastly turbine”.
Pablo, a janitor at a high school, had set up a straw shed he had to live in. “This year, I started to go full steam ahead. On Saturday I had bought furniture too,” he recalls. His only escape for weeks is to play tennis. “Otherwise I’d be suffocated,” he adds.
According to the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (PEVOLCA), the considerable emission of ash is currently the most prominent volcanic activity. Los Llanos de Aridane has an “extremely unfavorable” air quality, as this Monday and last Sunday. Jorge, physiotherapist in El Paso, takes his children to the tennis club. He hasn’t lost anything, but he also needs to forget about everything. “Thank goodness we have this little bit of time, otherwise… Do you know what it’s like to be stuck in there all day? Here at least you can switch off.
Carmen Lopez, director of the Central Geophysical Observatory of the National Geographic Institute (IGN), explained that in the next 36 hours the ash plume is heading eastward, which will further compromise the already paralyzedgives operability of the airport of La Palma. And as for the lava flows, there are no significant advances in the last hours. In fact, the most worrying, number 11, has stopped, according to the UME. The others have continued to receive lava input, but with little progress in its destruction.
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