Due to Dangerous Volcanic Ash, Airlines Halt Flights on La Palma

Planes were prohibited from flying on La Palma which is one of the Canary Islands in Spain, for the second day in a row Sunday due to ash from a volcano that started erupting about a month ago.

Airlines Scrap Scheduled Flights

Airlines discontinued all 38 flights planned for Sunday with the majority of them going to and coming from other islands situated in the Atlantic archipelago off Morocco, an airport spokesman revealed.

It was just four of the 34 flights planned for Saturday that went as scheduled.

In a statement, Local airline Binter said it would "restart activity as soon as possible and as long as conditions allow flights to resume safely".

Laying 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the airport, the La Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on the19th of September and discharged rivers of lava. This lava has gradually made its way towards the sea.

The continuous lava flows haven't claimed the life of anyone so far, but the molten rock has blanketed about 750 hectares (1,850 acres) with 1,800 buildings destroyed, including hundreds of homes, as per the Copernicus disaster monitoring programme of the European Union.

Impacts of the Eruption

Official ordered the evacuation of about 7,000 people from their homes on the island, which accommodates around 85,000 people.

Volcanic ash has blanketed a large area as a result of the eruption and has been followed by dozens of less intense earthquakes most days. There has been a need for La Palma airport to be closed two times since the eruption started. Airlines have occasionally had to discontinue flights as well.

Angel Victor Torres, the leader of the regional government of the archipelago, said Sunday that scientists keeping an eye on the eruption have noticed no signs that it is easing off.

He told reporters: "We are at the mercy of the volcano, it's the only one who can decide when this ends."

Plans to Repair Damages on the Island

The central government of Spain and the Canary Islands' regional government so far set aside 300 million euros ($348 million) which will be used for reconstruction on the island. Normally, the island gets its support from mainly banana plantations and tourism.

Pedro Sanchez, Spanish Prime Minister has solemnly promised to "spend whatever money is needed to reconstruct this marvellous island".

During an interview with La Sexta, a private television on Thursday, he added, "We will be there until we have rebuilt 100 percent of everything which this volcano has destroyed."

It is the third volcanic eruption on the island in a century, the last one occurring in 1971.

A volcanic eruption is an explosion of hot magma, where molten rock bubbles up through the earth's crust. The process is driven by a series of events that starts with rocks falling from the surface into the earth's mantle below.

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