Eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano: La Palma airport reopened | It had closed due to the accumulation of ash on the trail

The La Palma Spanish Airport, in the Canary Islands, reopened this sunday, after being closed as a result of the eruption of the volcano Cumbre Vieja, reported the Spanish airport management company (AENA).

Thanks to the overnight “ash clean-up” work, “#LaPalma # airport is back up and running,” AENA said in a tweet.

“It can now be operated with the prior approval of the plan of (each) flight” by the air traffic control authorities, the company added, while recommending that passengers check with their airline before leaving for La Palma.

The airport from the island it had been closed on saturday by the accumulation of volcanic ash on the slopes. This caused the accumulation of people in the port, with travelers trying to board ferries to travel to nearby islands.

The closure of the airport coincided with the appearance of new lava flows, the collapse of part of the cone and the intensification of the activity of the volcano, which had erupted last Sunday.

This situation provoked Saturday evacuation of another area of ​​the island, leading to more than 6,200 is the number of islanders who have had to leave their homes during this week.

According to the latest data from Copernicus, the European geospatial measurement system, lava has so far destroyed 461 houses – or 41 more in 24 hours – and covered some 212 hectares on this island whose most important economic activity is the cultivation of bananas. .

The two previous eruptions on La Palma occurred in 1949 and 1971, killing three people in total, two of them from gas inhalation.