‘Best Christmas present’ for La Palma as months-long eruption finally ends

The eruption had been going on since September 19 (Picture: AP)

A volcanic eruption that has wreaked havoc on Spain’s Canary Islands since September has finally been declared finished.

The Christmas Day announcement for La Palma follows following 10 days of no lava flows, seismic activity or significant sulphur dioxide emissions.

But the emergency on the Atlantic Ocean island is far from over, due to the widespread devastation it has already caused, the director of the Canaries’ volcanic emergency committee warned.

Pevolca director Julio Perez said: ‘It’s not joy or satisfaction – how we can define what we feel?

‘It’s an emotional relief.

‘And hope because now, we can apply ourselves and focus completely on the reconstruction work.’

Fiery molten rock flowing down toward the sea destroyed around 3,000 buildings and homes, entombed banana plantations and vineyards, ruined irrigation systems  and cut off roads.

Lava, ash and smoke on La Palma last month (Picture: Getty Images)

A satellite image shows the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (Picture: AFP)

A house covered with ash earlier this month (Picture: AP)

But no injuries or deaths were directly linked to the eruption.

Mr Perez said the archipelago’s government valued the loss of buildings and infrastructure at more than €900 million (roughly £760,000,000).

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez branded the eruption’s end ‘the best Christmas present’.

Since the eruption started on September 19, there have been a number of false alarms when reduced activity did not last long.

Lava spews from Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain (Picture: AFP)

Lives were devastated on the island (Picture: AFP)

Spanish Army soldiers were drafted in to help relief efforts (Picture: AP)

But after 85 days and 8 hours of activity, the volcano fell silent on the eve of December 14, having become La Palma’s longest eruption on record.

Mr Sanchez tweeted: ‘We will continue working together, all institutions, to relaunch the marvellous island of La Palma and repair the damage.’

Farming and tourism are the main industries on the Canary Islands, a popular destination for many European vacationers due to their mild climate.

Volcanologists had to certify that three key variables, gas, lava and tremors, had subsided in the Cumbre Vieja ridge for 10 days in order to declare the volcano’s apparent exhaustion.

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