they fear that the lava will reach the sea and generate a toxic cloud

A column of white smoke rose from the Cumbre Vieja volcano after several hours of calm around 11:00 am local time (10:00 GMT), according to Reuters witnesses. Experts confirmed that he started to expel lava at the same time.

This is something “normal in this type of eruption,” said Miguel Ángel Morcuende, director of the Pevolca intervention committee. The volcano “has continuities and discontinuities,” he said.

María José Blanco, also from Pevolca, said lower gas levels and a lower supply of materials to the crater may have caused the activity to decrease.

Since September 19, black lava has slowly descended the western flank of the volcano towards the sea, destroying more than 500 homes, as well as churches and banana plantations, according to the European Union’s Copernicus disaster watch program.

The Spanish real estate portal Idealista estimated the damage at around 178 million euros ($ 209 million) on Monday.

On Monday, two tongues of superheated black lava surrounded a hill west of the small town of Todoque, less than a mile from the Atlantic, but authorities said they could not say when it could reach the sea.

Despite this, some 300 residents of the coastal areas of San Borondón, Marina Alta and Baja and La Condesa have been confined to their homes, as the moment of contact between the lava and the sea will likely trigger explosions and emit clouds of gas with chlorine. . . .

Local airline Binter, which was due to resume flights to and from the islands on Monday afternoon, said conditions remained unsafe and all transfers would be canceled until Tuesday.

After a new ventilation hole opened on Sunday, drone footage from Reuters showed a river of hot red lava tumbling down the slopes of the crater, passing over houses and swaths of earth and buildings covered in an earlier and slower mass of black lava.

No casualties or serious injuries have been reported, but around 15% of the island’s banana harvest could be at risk, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

La Palma, with over 83,000 inhabitants, is part of the Canary Islands archipelago.