- Title: La Palma airport re-opens as people shelter from volcanic ash
- Date: 26th September 2021
- Summary: LA PALMA, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 26, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE COVERING THE AREA NEAR CUMBRE VIEJA VOLCANO VARIOUS OF VOLCANO ERUPTING LAVA STREAM LAVA STREAM BEHIND A HOUSE VARIOUS OF VOLCANO LA PALMA AIRPORT VARIOUS OF TRUCKS CLEARING THE TARMAC OF VOLCANIC ASH AND DUST LA PALMA AIRPORT TARMAC TRUCKS CLEANING THE TARMAC FROM VOLCANIC ASHES AND DUST EXTERIOR OF AIRPORT "STRENGTH FOR LA PALMA" WRITTEN ON A LAYER OF ASH COVERING A BENCH VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ARRIVING AT AIRPORT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TV CAMERA OPERATOR JULIAN ABELLAN, SAYING: "I was due to return on Saturday evening at 16 gmt but I couldn't leave. All the flights were cancelled, they notified me. I came three days to manage the booking, they are not answering the phone in the call centre because they are overloaded. The best chance is to come to the airport and try to manage it here. In the end I booked a ferry for tonight." ABELLAN WALKING AWAY INTERIOR OF THE AIRPORT TERMINAL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN THE TERMINAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOURIST PAULA CUARTERO, SAYING: "We are due to fly on Tuesday but they haven't told us yet if it is cancelled or not. We are looking for other options like going by ferry to Tenerife and take a flight from there to Barcelona." WOMAN AT CHECK IN VARIOUS OF FLIGHT BOARDS SHOWING CANCELLATIONS VARIOUS OF LA PALMA RESIDENTS WALDO NASCO AND ANA BRITO WALKING UNDER AN UMBRELLA TO SHELTER FROM VOLCANIC ASH (SOUNDBITE) CHEMIST ANA BRITO SAYING: "The ashes, it is horrible." ENGINEER WALDO NASCO, SAYING: "They laugh about us because of the umbrella but if we don't wear it we end up covered in ashes. If we remove the glasses it gets in our eyes, if we remove the masks it gets into our mouth. We hope all of this ends. Poor people losing their homes and everything." CHEMIST ANA BRITO SAYING: "It is a pity." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN THE STREET WITH THEIR HEADS COVERED VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET UNDER UMBRELLAS VARIOUS OF ELECTRONIC BOARD ON A SUPERMARKET READING IN SPANISH "THE STRENGTH OF THE VOLCANO IS UNSTOPPABLE BUT SO IS THE SOLIDARITY" WITH PLUME OF SMOKE IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC
- Embargoed: 10th October 2021 14:29
- Keywords: La Palma Spain airport ash dust flights planes re-open umbrellas volcano
- Location: LA PALMA, SPAIN
- City: LA PALMA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWCX553
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:La Palma airport re-opened on Sunday (September 26) but flights remained cancelled in the aftermath of the island's volcanic eruption.
Spain's airport operator Aena said the airport had reopened after teams cleared ash off the runway. But Binter, the Canary Island airline, said it will continue to cancel flights because of the dangerous flying conditions.
Travellers had been faced with cancelled flights during the weekend, and many had joined long queues at the port in the hope of getting a boat off the island.
"We are looking for other options like going in ferry to Tenerif and take a flight from there to Barcelona," said tourist Paula Cuartero.
Back in the city people used umbrellas to protect them from the volcanic ashes spewed out by the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
"They laugh about us because of the umbrella but if we don't wear it we end up covered in ashes," said 35-year-old engineer Waldo Nasco as he was strolling.
The eruption has destroyed hundreds of houses and forced the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people since it began on September 19.
La Palma, with a population of over 83,000, is one of the Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.
No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported in the volcano's eruption, but about 15% of the island's economically crucial banana could be at risk, jeopardizing thousands of jobs.
(Production: Guillermo Martinez, Silvio Castellanos) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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