Red dot

Volcano of La Palma from Todoque spot. November 2021.

These were the first images that would go viral and occupy hours of airtime, without anyone knowing the tragedy that was about to unfold for hundreds of families. Ambulances picked up sick or disabled people, Civil Guard officers with megaphones urged people to evacuate their homes immediately, and they patrolled the streets to evacuate the area, house by house. The afternoon siesta was abruptly shattered. When it was finally possible to enter some places with permits to collect essential items, the scenes inside the homes were of a desperate flight, with no thought given to what was being left behind. The lava flowed down the valley with such speed, due to the steep slope, that it reached the first houses and buried them. The neighbors wept as they watched the images on television.