I don't know about you, but I've heard A LOT about this volcano in our media. That might be due to the fact...
👉 It was the first eruption in urban areas in modern times in Europe (since 1973 in Iceland).
👉 It displaced over 7 000 people and destroyed nearly 3 000 houses. (source HERE).
👉 It covered 8 % of the whole island of La Palma (sorry, don't remember the source here!)
The volcano erupted in September last year and finished its destruction around 3 months later, in December 2021.
So what you're looking at in this picture, is one of the youngest volcanoes in the world (yeah, and also me). Since I’m fascinated by volcanoes, I had to see it for myself. And since I was in the island, there was no debate.
Don’t worry, visiting now is perfectly safe. In fact, local authorities are working on preparing hiking trails along the crater edges.
The spewed lava is apparently still several hundred degrees hot in some places, so no - I don't recommend walking on it! You can't do much of it anyway, the lava rock (at least most of the Canarian one), is quite bumpy, unpleasant and can rub off badly. But you can get close to the lava, and even touch it - it's already cold around the edges. But don't try to take it home - they'll confiscate it at the airport (or at least they should. They have it on display as "prohibited goods").
If you drive from El Paso (and I believe it's the same in other directions), you can't drive right up to the lava. You'll be stopped by a resident-only entry ban. But there's nothing stopping you from parking nearby and walking directly to the lava.
I guess it'll be more fun when the sidewalks are up and running. Still, it's an incredible experience to see one of the world's youngest volcanoes still smoking a little, and a sea of black lava with bits of houses and burnt trees sticking out of it. I actually still can't decide whether I found the spectacle absolutely beautiful or absolutely terrifying.
