Five years after the Tajogaite volcano erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma, residents and media outlets describe a recovery that is still not finished. RTVE.es reports that the reconstruction process remains incomplete, and El Confidencial quotes residents saying the volcano "is still killing people with sadness." La Voz de Galicia notes that the visible damage from the eruption is only now beginning to fade.
The eruption left deep marks on the island, and several outlets frame the anniversary around what has not been resolved. La Vanguardia describes those affected as people left "dead in life," while El Confidencial refers to the situation as an open wound five years on. According to RTVE.es, the rebuilding effort has fallen short of what was needed.
The eruption also produced a lasting institutional legacy. Eldía reports that Tajogaite became an open-air laboratory whose lessons shaped Spain's first Volcano Law. That law, according to the outlet, grew directly out of the experience on La Palma.
The coverage points to a gap between the physical recovery of the landscape and the personal and legal recovery of the people who lived through the eruption. While lava damage is gradually being covered over, the accounts gathered by Spanish media suggest that for many residents the effects have not faded at the same pace.
What to watch next is whether the reconstruction effort and the measures tied to Spain's Volcano Law translate into concrete progress for those still waiting, as the island moves further past the fifth anniversary of the eruption.