The cabinet in Madrid wants to meet at the beginning of the new week to decide on aid and reconstruction. The Cumbre Vieja, meanwhile, continued to spit out ash, smoke and lava.
Madrid / La Palma – Spain wants to declare the Canary Island of La Palma affected by a volcanic eruption to be a disaster area and work out an extensive reconstruction plan. The Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Friday on La Palma.
The cabinet in Madrid will take the relevant decisions on the disaster area next Tuesday. They should include expanded support options and a reconstruction plan. “The situation on the island calls for extraordinary measures,” emphasized the socialist.
The volcano in the area of the Cumbre Vieja in the south of the island erupted last Sunday for the first time in 50 years and also spat out ash, smoke and lava on the sixth day. The gases rose to a height of almost 5000 meters.
The glowing hot lava destroyed almost 400 buildings as well as large agricultural areas and infrastructure on its way downhill towards the sea. The approximately 180 hectares of land buried by lava so far will neither be built nor used for agriculture for decades, experts emphasized.
However, a small house in the middle of the lava desert has been miraculously spared. As can be seen on pictures and videos, the lava flow flowed around the small building in the village of “El Paraíso” (German: Paradise).
6000 people had to be evacuated. Many of them have lost all their belongings. They should be helped with an emergency program to secure their livelihood. In addition, the regional government announced the purchase and construction of new apartments. There were still no injuries. dpa
