Nearly 800 people in Spain evacuated due to ongoing volcanic eruption
October 13, 2021, 4:39 am

Nearly 800 people in Spain evacuated due to ongoing volcanic eruption

Volcano eruption-Photo-montage/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported, local Spain emergency services have said, between 700 to 800 people in Spain have been evacuated as a result of the ongoing volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma.

The Xinhua said, the new wave of evacuations came after the approximately 6,000 people who were evacuated in the early days of the 24-day eruption on the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the southwest of the island.

It mentioned that a new lava flow, which began after the north face of the crater collapsed at the weekend, has so far covered 595 hectares (5.95 square kms) of land on the island, which forms part of the Canary Island archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.

Meanwhile, an estimated 1,281 buildings have been destroyed by lava and it has also led to the formation of around 60 hectares (0.6 square kms) of new land. One branch of the new flow on Monday destroyed a cement factory in an industrial estate, leaving 3,500 people from the municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane temporarily confined to their homes due to noxious gasses.

The Xinhua noted that measurements of Sulphur dioxide and a continued chain of small earthquakes have implied that this eruption would last much longer.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will make another visit to La Palma on Wednesday, his fourth of the kind over the three weeks.

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The prime minister will give further details of his government's emergency aid plan. The plan has already designated 206 million euros (about 237.8 million U.S. dollars) in aid to help evacuees and the island's economy, which is mainly based on tourism and banana planting.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.