A Volcano Erupts in La Palma, Leaving Thousands of People Homeless. A Second One is Roaring in the Political Landscape, Activated by the Arrest of Carles Puigdemont.
The volcano eruption in La Palma, the northwesternmost island in the Canary archipelago, off the northwest coast of Africa, has made the headlines this week. And just today, the arrest of fugitive Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont in Cerdeña (Italy) has activated another volcano of sorts in the political landscape, one that is poised to shoot streams of protests in the region and spew conflict over the negotiating table between the central and the regional governments that was launched only last week.
After 50 years of silence, the volcano in Cumbre Vieja erupted again on Sunday at 3.12 pm following a low-intensity earthquake in Las Manchas neighbourhood in El Paso. The volcano sent molten rock down its western flank towards the ocean in two different streams, at times reaching a height of 15 meters, engulfing everything it found on its way.
Although the volcano has not claimed any victims so far, around 6,000 people have been evacuated and 350 homes destroyed, as well as businesses, crops buildings such as schools. According to scientists, the lava flows could last for weeks or months. The Council of Ministers will declare La Palma as a catastrophic area on Tuesday.
It was expected that the lava would reach the sea on Wednesday. However, as of today, the streams are two kilometres away from the coast. A giant river of lava 600 meters wide slowed to a speed of four meters an hour after reaching a plain on Wednesday. The second stream has now ground to a halt. This situation is of concern to authorities. The team of the Canary Islands Volcano Emergency warned that the reaction of lava in contact with saltwater could lead to explosions and the emission of toxic gases, mainly of chlorine, which can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
Pedro Sánchez travelled to La Palma on Tuesday, where he pledged to help affected people: “This eruption will not see anyone left behind, or damaged from a financial point of view,” Sánchez said. King Felipe and Queen Letizia have also visited de Island.
The volcano has now increased its activity, shooting out rocks, smoke, and ash. Firefighters have been forced to leave the town of Todoque due to the intensification of its explosive activity.
A thousand people have been evacuated from the towns of Tajuya and part of Tacande de Abajo. Several flights to La Palma and La Gomera have also been cancelled due to ash clouds.
🎗 The Arrest and Swift Release of Carles Puigdemont in Cerdeña
Former president of the Generalitat and MEP Carles Puigdemont was arrested this Thursday, September 23, under an international arrest warrant issued over his role in the failed bid for independence in 2017. He faces charges of sedition and misuse of public funds.
Puigdemont, now an MEP, was stripped of his European parliamentary immunity in March. He went to the Court of Justice of the EU to have the lifting of his immunity suspended, but his request was rejected in July, leaving him open to prosecution and possible extradition to Spain.
The Sassari Court of Appeal decided today to release him. However, he is not allowed to leave the island until the arrest is considered to be valid and decision is made on whether to send him back to Spain for trial, a process that could take up to two months.
Puigdemont's arrest comes at a time when the central government is negotiating the General State Budgets —the support of pro-independence party ERC is essential to pass the budget in Congress— and a week after the launch of the negotiating table that is meant to find a solution to the Catalan conflict.
One of the first reactions to Puigdemont’s arrest came from the Catalan premier Pere Aragonès, who said: “It’s clear that these developments do not help in any way the process of negotiating the political conflict.”
Former Catalan deputy Oriol Junqueras has insisted that only amnesty, self-determination, and independence can stop "the incessant repression of the state.”
Meanwhile, the central government released a statement this morning in which it considers that Puigdemont’s arrest is framed within an "ongoing judicial procedure" and that like "any other citizen in the European Union", he must “answer for his actions before the courts.” Sánchez also insisted that “dialogue is the only way to bring together Catalans who have different opinions and to bring together Catalans with the rest of Spain”.
The leader of the PP, Pablo Casado, said that "Puigdemont must be tried in Spain".
The National Catalan Assembly (ANC), a pro-independence civil organization, staged a protest on Friday morning in Barcelona on the basis it considers the arrest to be illegal. Junts and ERC backed the demonstration.