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CANARY ISLANDS

Spain’s plans for Canary Ebola hub ‘a joke’

Spain is making it almost impossible for the United Nations to use Canary Islands airports as a hub for humanitarian flights to and from Ebola-hit areas of West Africa, diplomatic sources have said.

Spain's plans for Canary Ebola hub 'a joke'
A girl suspected of having Ebola virus has her temperature checked in Kenema, Sierra Leone, in August. Photo: Carl de Souza/AFP

In September, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service asked Spain for permission to use Canary Islands airports as a stopover point for aid workers travelling in and out of Ebola-hit parts of West Africa.

Nearly three months later, Spain has responded, but with conditions that make the plan unworkable, diplomatic sources have told Spain's Cadena SER radio station.

Under the proposed protocol, Spain has said "it won't permit entry to anyone coming from the (Ebola-) affected region until they have completed 21 days of quarantine outside of (that region)".

Anyone who has been in the region will be considered "a health risk" and can't be placed in quarantine on Spanish soil, according to the documents seen by Cadena SER.

"It's a joke by Spain directed at the UN," one source allegedly told the radio station, comparing Madrid's stance with that of Senegal which has allowed UN humanitarian flights to use Dakar as a stopover point without imposing such tough restrictions.

"They are putting restrictions on aid workers working in the zone but no restrictions on flights coming from Africa with passenger coming from Dakar of Casablanca, easy-to-use hubs for African passengers who could come from a country with Ebola and then travel on to Spain," one aid worker told Cadena SER.

"They are making it easier for commercial flights than humanitarian flights," he added. 

Spain was declared Ebola-free on Tuesday, according to the criteria set out by the World Health Organization.

The announcement came 42 days after the blood tests of infected Spanish nursing assistant Teresa Romero — the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa — came back negative for the virus. Romero contracted the virus after treated two Spanish missionaries repatriated from Sierra Leone after being diagnosed with Ebola.

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CANARY ISLANDS

Toxic gas fears as Canary Islands volcano lava nears sea

A vast river of molten lava from a Canary Islands volcano was edging towards the sea on Tuesday, destroying everything in its path and provoking fears it will generate clouds of toxic gases when it hits the water.

Toxic gas fears as Canary Islands volcano lava nears sea
Toxic gas fears as Canary Islands volcano lava nears sea. Photo: DESIREE MARTIN / AFP

A new fissure emerged on the slopes of the Cumbre Vieja volcano overnight, belching out more lava and forcing hundreds more people to flee their homes.

“The lava flow is moving inexorably towards the sea and absolutely nothing can be done about it,” said Ángel Víctor Torres, regional head of the Canary Islands.

“We are completely powerless in the face of this advancing lava flow which is moving at 200 metres (655 feet) per hour and has already swept away everything in its path… and will continue to do so on its way to the sea.”

Located on La Palma island, the volcano has forced 6,100 people from their homes and destroyed a large number of properties and land spanning a huge area since it erupted on Sunday afternoon, say island officials.

So far, it had destroyed 185 buildings, of which 63 were homes, regional authorities added.

READ ALSO: Canary islanders flee as volcano vents its fury

Toxic cloud

The volcano straddles a southern ridge in La Palma, one of seven islands that make up the Atlantic archipelago which lies off the coast of Morocco.

When the molten lava reaches the sea, experts warn it will send clouds of toxic gas into the air and will also affect the marine environment. The authorities have set up a no-go zone to head off curious onlookers.

“The clouds created by the interaction of seawater and lava are acidic” and “can be dangerous if you are too close,” volcanology expert Patrick Allard from the Paris Globe Institute of Physics told AFP.

By Tuesday afternoon, the lava had slowed to around 200 metres per hour although it was not clear exactly when the white-hot mass of molten rock, which has a temperature of nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,830 degrees Fahrenheit), would reach the sea.

Although it is currently located about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the shore, experts say its speed can be “very variable”.

“It is very, very important not to forget that the emergency is ongoing, that the volcano is still active and we must avoid getting close to both the lava and the volcano itself,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Smoke rises from cooling lava after the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday. Photo: JOSE MARIA MONTESDEOCA / AFP

‘We’ve lost everything’

Overnight, long lines of cars could be seen waiting to leave the area as police sirens wailed, the fiery glow of the erupting volcano lighting up the dark skies.

“You have practically your whole life there… then one day the volcano decides to erupt and puts an end to it all,” evacuee Israel Castro Hernández told AFPTV late Monday after his home was destroyed by the wall of lava.

“We keep looking over there and we just can’t believe it: we keep thinking that our house is underneath that volcano,” said his wife, Yurena Torres Abreu.

The pair were among 500 people evacuated overnight after the new fissure emerged following an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 at 9:32 pm, the Involcan volcanology institute said.

“So many friends have lost everything,” said Yurena’s sister, Elizabeth Torres Abreu, who also lost her house.

“They left their homes as we did with just the clothes on their back and little else. They’ve left their entire life there.”

Although the eruption has not caused any casualties, the damage to land and property has been enormous, with Torres estimating the figures to be well over €400 million. 

Volcanologist Stavros Meletlidis from Spain’s National Geographic Institute told Spain’s RNE radio it was not clear when the lava would reach the sea.

“It can accelerate very quickly, especially when the topography changes… or it can stop on a plain for several hours,” he said.

Although the Cumbre Vieja is shooting up vast plumes of thick black smoke several hundred metres into the sky and between 8,000 and 10,500 tonnes of sulphur dioxide per day, the airspace over La Palma has remained open.

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