The volcanic eruption in the 'Cumbre Vieja' area that began last Sunday in La Palma has already caused the eviction of almost 6,000 people, the last ones on Monday night in Tacande (El Paso) after the opening of a new eruptive mouth.
The lava, on its way to the coast, has already destroyed 165 buildings and, according to the latest calculations of the Cabildo, it is not ruled out that the affectation exceeds one thousand properties, not counting the damage to roads, infrastructures or agricultural plantations.
"There are many farmers who have lost their homes and their farms, their livelihoods, they have lost everything," laments the president of Aspa, Miguel Martín, who even looks to the future with concern if the irrigation network is damaged.
The municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane are the most affected and work is already underway to find alternatives to one of the most urgent needs: the lack of accommodation for the evacuees.
In Breña Alta, the El Fuerte barracks has been set up, managed by the Red Cross and with more than 200 people, but if the evacuations continue to increase it will be insufficient, hence the Canarian Government is already considering the execution of provisional accommodation, given that the eruption is going to be prolonged in time.
"This is not a show nor is it the time to come and do volcanic tourism, it is not a movie or an attraction, we need help," says Teresa, a resident of San Nicolás, in El Paso, one of the first evacuees when the earth opened in Cabeza de Vaca. "And I am a lucky one, there are people who have lost everything," she says.
Many evacuees have ended up in second homes, in the homes of friends and family or even in their cars, and have been wearing the same clothes for two days because they did not have time to pack their bags since the eruption arose in an area that was not planned at first.
In addition, the limited accommodation capacity of the island leaves little room to accommodate people, since the hotel in Puerto Naos was evicted and many rural and vacation rental homes have been destroyed by the lava.
El Paraíso, "a dead neighborhood, without life"
In addition, the drama suffered by the people of La Palma in the first person is mixed with volcanic tourism and the 'boom' of social networks, to the point that on many roads there are queues and traffic jams due to the presence of many tourists who want to get close to the lava, which hinders security and evacuation work.
The lava has also affected the unitary school of Los Campitos, in the upper area of Los Llanos de Aridane. "We know that the lava reached the gate and the door but we don't know anything else, we are waiting for meetings with Education," says the director, Ángeles Nieves Pérez.
The center has more than twenty students between 3 and 12 years old from Los Llanos de Aridane and El Paso and many of the families have lost their homes. "This is a dead neighborhood, without life," she says.
