Twenty schools in La Palma suspended until further notice

Acid rain and gases expected to reach Spain today

Cumbre Vieja volcano. Image: Twitter

Twenty schools in volcano hit La Palma have been suspended until further notice and other facilities are at risk.

The schools include educational centres in  El Paso, Los Llanos de Aridane and Tazacorte.

Lava has also destroyed the Los Campitos school, which has 23 students enrolled, and it threatens the Todoque school, which has 25 school places.

Some 5,500 people have been evacuated from at risk areas on the island and scores of homes have been destroyed by rivers of molten rock.

Although the lava was expected to reach the coast in the evening on September 20, it has yet to do so and scientists warn that it may occur today.

When that happens, explosions, toxic gas and acid rain are expected to engulf the area.

The Spanish Merchant Navy has temporarily prohibited navigation in the areas close to the volcanic eruption in La Palma.

“This measure is adopted in a preventive manner, due to the inherent risk for navigation, due to the possible arrival of volcanic flows into the sea,” the government said.

The sailing ban affects a limited area of ​​the western coast of the island, to the south by Punta del Pozo (Puerto Naos, Los Llanos de Aridane) and to the north by Playa de las Viñas (Tazacorte) and parallel to the coast, half a nautical mile from said coastline.

It is recommended that maritime navigation in the affected area be carried out along the meridian 017 ° 57.0 W or to the west of it.


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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