The Cumbre Vieja volcano has now been erupting for more than two months, continuing to generate lava flows and earthquakes on the Spanish island of La Palma. It has also been spewing millions of cubic meters of volcanic ash into the air, and as the ash falls, it blankets the nearby landscape. The ash can fall like hail or drift like dust, and it piles up and drifts in the wind, covering houses, farms, and forests. Some removal work has taken place, to clear roads and ease the strain on sagging rooftops, but more ash continues to fall. The following photographs from La Palma show what some of the volcano’s neighbors have been coping with over the past few weeks.
Buried in Volcanic Ash, Scenes from the Canary Islands
- Alan Taylor
- November 22, 2021
- 18 Photos
- In Focus
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A house is covered by ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano as it continues to erupt on La Palma, one of Spain's Canary Islands, on October 30, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
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The Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to erupt on November 12, 2021. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
Ash covers a house on La Palma, seen on November 1, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
Ash covers gravestones at the La Palma cemetery on October 29, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
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Cristina Vera leaves her house covered with ash after collecting her last belongings in La Palma on November 1, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
Trees and rocks appear in an ash-covered landscape of La Palma on November 10, 2021. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
Chairs on the terrace of a house sit buried in ash on October 30, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
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Ash piles up alongside buildings on November 17, 2021. #
Andres Gutierrez / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
Only the top part of an outdoor lantern appears above accumulated ash on La Palma on November 17, 2021. #
Andres Gutierrez / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
Ash is whipped into a whirlwind during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on November 17, 2021. #
Andres Gutierrez / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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A team clears ash from a roof on November 11, 2021. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
Ash covers the entrance of a house, photographed on October 28, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
Wind-sculpted ripples appear in fallen ash on La Palma on November 10, 2021. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
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Spanish-army soldiers remove ash from the roof of a house on October 29, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts, as seen from El Paso, La Palma, on October 25, 2021. #
Borja Suarez / Reuters -
A house is covered by ash, seen on October 30, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
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Ash covers the ground near the volcano on October 29, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP -
Cristina Vera leaves her ash-covered house, after gathering belongings, on November 1, 2021. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP
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