Spain PM visits La Palma as island focuses on post-eruption recovery
La Palma, Spain, Dec 27 (EFE).- The volcanic eruption is over, but we will not forget the people of La Palma, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday.
Sanchez addressed the public during a visit to the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, two days after scientists officially declared the end of the Cumbre Vieja eruption.
“We are at the end of the eruption of the volcano of La Palma, but the emergency continues. We must continue working on the reconstruction of the island,” Sanchez told reporters.
Over 138 million euros of aid have been mobilized for the reconstruction of the island after tons of lava devoured swathes of land forced over 2,000 people to abandon their homes.
“We will not forget the reality that faces the people of La Palma,” said Sanchez.
The Cumbre Vieja eruption began on 19 September after some 25,000 tremors.
After erupting for 85 days and eight hours, it went on to become the longest recorded volcanic eruption on La Palma.
Over 1,200 hectares of land and 370 hectares of crops were devoured by molten rock.
Some 3,000 buildings were destroyed and over seventy kilometers of roads and infrastructures such as irrigation systems have been damaged by the eruption.
The people of La Palma have faced the disaster with “integrity, patience and solidarity,” according to Sanchez, who expressed gratitude to all the emergency services and public institutions that worked “side by side” during the emergency.EFE
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