The volcano of La Palma, in an extreme explosive phase | The ash buildup forced the airport to close

La Palma Island Airport, in the Canary Islands, affected by the eruption of Cumbre Vieja Volcano, it can’t work for the ash accumulation. This was confirmed this Saturday by the body that manages the Spanish airports, after two new eruptive vents, which expel “rivers of lava”. There are already more than 6,200 people evacuated.

The airport is “inoperative due to the accumulation of ash,” reported AENA (Spanish airports and air navigation). The agency added that the cleaning tasks had started, “but the situation may change at any time,” after clarifying that the rest of the Canary Islands airports, one of the main tourist destinations in Spain, “They are operational”.

On Friday, the first flights to La Palma were canceled since the volcano erupted last Sunday. Because of this hehealth Minister, Caroline Darias, has excluded his visit to the island due to the cancellation of various air links “and the impossibility of allowing other solutions by sea”, according to a statement from his portfolio.

Friday night the volcano has undergone an increase in its activity; he chained the explosions like he had never done before. Two new vents opened, pouring out flowing lava at high speed and the rock-spitting volcano much further away.

Fear of the collapse of part of the cone led to ordering the evacuation of another area of ​​the island, a measure that affected 160 people and raised more than 6,200 the number of inhabitants who had to leave their homes.

“The peak in intensity of the volcano has undergone a huge rise,” Miguel Ángel Morcuende, director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan, told reporters, justifying the evacuation. At the same press conference, María José Blanco of the National Geographical Institute indicated that “lava flows, which have a high temperature and gas content, are not very viscous and can jump over obstacles geographic “.