La Palma eruption – December 2022

01 Dec La Palma eruption – December 2022

Posted at 10:09h in La Palma, Reconstruction, VolcanoStories by GeoTenerife 0 Comments

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Monthly summary

Science: The Cabildo de La Palma and the scientific committee have finally started sharing live gas measurements for La Bombilla and Puerto Naos, offering some transparency for those still affected who were unsure about the gas levels. A map can be viewed here: https://volcan.lapalma.es/pages/calidad-del-aire.

Involcan have also published details of their activities, their weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and other periodic monitoring activities, which can be found here: https://eltime.es/isla-bonita/42418-las-35-actividades-programadas-por-involcan-en-la-palma-tras-el-volcan.html

Furthermore, a new interpretation technique used by researchers from IGEO-CSIC identified zones of probable weaknesses in the crust below La Palma around 3 months before the start of the eruption, which could have been used to forecast the more probable paths taken my magma to reach the surface during an eruption and could be used in future crises.

Aid and reconstruction: The Cabildo de La Palma has approved its new largest budget, with an additional €197 million allocated to the recovery of the island. In this budget, it has also extended tax relief for those affected by the volcano. The president of the Canary Islands has also called on the Spanish state to provide more support for those affected; the latest Spanish Government Budget has allocated budget for La Palma, including €3 million for research of gas levels in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla. The latest statistics, published on October 31^st 2022, shows €577 million has been invested in reconstruction, and that 7,860 applications for aid have been submitted, with 239 on these still being processed.

Comments from the ombudsman endorsing the current reconstruction efforts as ‘adequate’ has angered local residents who still wait for aid delivery and a clear reconstruction plan. On the 19^th December, a rally was held by those affected in the Canarian Parliament in Tenerife. In other news, Los Llanos de Aridane city council has continued to extend psychological help for those affected by the eruption.

Other updates: Unemployment has risen to 6,034 in La Palma, with the majority coming from the commerce and tourism industry, as well as construction, which may be due to legacy effects of the volcanic eruption and the continued high gas levels in Puerto Naos, reducing the number of beds for tourists on the island.

Storms in December brought heavy rain and localised mud flows and rockfalls to the island, which forced the closure of some of the main roads on the island, including parts of the LP-2 loop road. The heavy rain also caused a brief closure of the La Laguna-Las Norias roads across the lava flows, due to the intense steam rising from the cooling lava flows.

Sources: La Palma Ahora, Cabildo de La Palma, El Time, ABC España

News articles

El Time (Twitter) – Images from LiDAR surveys of the cone released by INVOLCAN – here
La Palma Ahora – The Government of the Canary Islands allocates 12.4 million to the primary sector of La Palma affected by the volcano – here
El Time – This is how the road between La Laguna and Las Norias looks like at night; available 24 hours a day – here
El Time – Tazacorte begins the process to distribute financial aid to the students of its municipality affected by the volcano – here
El Time – The Insurance Consortium has paid 218 million of the 577 invested in the reconstruction of La Palma – here
La Palma Ahora – Rains on La Palma can cause mudflows from volcanic ash – here
La Palma Ahora – Tajogaite lavas, steaming from the water vapor, after the rains of December 7 – here
La Palma Ahora – The rains on Wednesday have revealed “the enormous heat that is still trapped in the lava flows almost a year after the end of the eruption – here
La Palma Ahora – The Ombudsman considers the administrations’ repair and reconstruction measures to be “adequate” – here
El Time – The PEVOLCA doctor endorses in his report the return of residents to parts of Puerto Naos – here
El Time – “Disappointment and indignation” of those affected with the Ombudsman in endorsing the political management of the volcano – here
El Time – The Cabildo will execute more than 200 million euros in all of 2022, 60 million more than in 2021 – here
El Time – December 13… the day the La Palma volcano ceased its activity – here
El Time – INVOLCAN denies that the gases from Puerto Naos and La Bombilla are associated with wastewater – here
El Time – The EU approves aid of 9.45 million to Spain for the La Palma volcano – here
El Time – Those affected by the eruption of La Palma call a rally in the Canarian Parliament in Tenerife on December 19 – here
El Time – Isabel Rodríguez signs in La Palma two subsidies of 12 million to repair public infrastructure – here
El Time – The Cabildo approves its largest budget; with 197 million focused on the recovery of the island – here
El Time – Anger in the networks about the origin of CO2 in the evicted nuclei – here
El Time – The Affected Platform demands a comprehensive reconstruction plan– here
El Time – The emission of sulfur dioxide from the Cumbre Vieja volcano into the atmosphere is “very low” according to INVOLCAN – here
El Time – The delivery of provisional housing for those affected ends – here
El Time – CC: “The chaotic management of Noelia García forces the Los Llanos City Council to return 991,000 euros from the Employment Plan for Reconstruction” – here
El Time – Perforations of the volcanic subsoil to try to eliminate the gases in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla – here
El Time – Cáritas Diocesana de Tenerife has attended 1,200 families affected by the Tajogaite volcano – here
El Time – Council of Ministers: the victims of the volcano will have SIX more months of suspension of mortgages and tax exemption – here
El Time – The Canary Islands distribute almost 80 million in aid for the recovery of La Palma after the volcano – here
El Time – 17 new stations complete the gas measurement of INVOLCAN in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla – here

To see our full news archive, visit our open data section or click here.

Photography

Access photography taken around this time
- Resiste La Palma – Progress on the new La Costa highway, which will link Tazacorte with the LP-213 road – here
- Resiste La Palma – La Bombilla in December 2022 – here
- Resiste La Palma – Progress in the work on the La Laguna – Las Norias highway (LP-213) – here
- Resiste La Palma – Drone photography of Tajogaite in Decemeber 2022 – here

Environment maps

The exclusion zones and road construction plans shown here have been approximated from press releases from the Cabildo de La Palma and will not be exact, nor claim to be official maps of the exclusion zones and road construction. For official information, please contact the Cabildo de La Palma.