"My house is there" but right now "it's from the volcano". After a year in 'limbo', Jonás Pérez and his partner, tour guides for the Isla Bonita Tour, have made up their minds that "we will never set foot on it again". Kidnapped by the gases, lava did not take her house in Puerto Naos but "almost", she says. With deep sadness but with a realistic vision, Jonás states that it is a silent and invisible problem of volcanic gases "goes a long way."
They have been away from home for almost a year and have barely been able to access the office. “We went to collect some things, a few minutes and after waiting 45 minutes for ventilation”, even if the problem is solved over time “we cannot leave our lives on hold for 4 or 5 years, or more”, he affirms.
With two 5-year-old children, "I don't risk it" because scientists cannot guarantee that this crack that degasses the coast will not emit gases again over time. "We can't live with meters," she alleges, "at least that's not the life I want."
He and 1.300 other people have lived in uncertainty for too long "people's mental health is affected," he says. Insomnia, unresponsiveness, anxiety all fueled paranoia and fear. A year later, it is still the topic of conversation because "the passage of time has not made it less of a problem, not a problem, but THE problem." Having their house standing, they have only received part of the insurance for habitability, and after several months living in his parents' house with the whole family, they are now renting in Los Cancajos. “Patience” he repeats, “there is no other option”. With the gas problem “waiting is the only thing left for us”.
They found, “we moved quickly and got an apartment, but after a while things got very complicated” to get an apartment. They have not yet received rental assistance. “We are lucky and we can afford it, but there are people who are not so lucky.” Life is now, not later, "not everyone can afford to wait for help for a year."
“Every day I melancholy leave, it is an idea that runs through my head”. On the island they have the company and the family so it is not so easy. “In the end it is a decision that we will have to make”, but in the case, as it arose on the island “we can start a new life in another place”. For other people that will be impossible, “we are lucky”, he repeats, and he maintains that feeling despite having his house “quarantined” by CO2.
Reinvent yourself or die
In it, Tajogaite has shown his two faces. While she has taken away her home, she has given her business a boost, since this route has worked as a lever to supply the months of closure that have been behind her. Jonas is an example of the saying "one of lime and one of sand."
A pandemic and a volcano. "It has not been an easy time." Starting after the volcanic eruption was a dance of emotions. While the tourists enjoyed it as a spectacle, a historical fact, it destroyed him. Since the eruption ceased, interest in the volcano sheltered them in a new port.
With thousands of euros lost in the massive cancellations that often occur at Cumbre Vieja, a way had to be found to get ahead. Part of his family lost everything under the lava flows of Todoque, and several of his work team members also have a whole life buried in lava. “Close or continue”, and they chose the second. The volcano has been a misfortune, also on the part of his people, as well as an “opportunity”.
In summer the routes to the volcano “have filled up”, and that has been good news, at last. Now the future was very uncertain, "summer has responded but if the German market does not come in winter, we will be in bad shape".
Jonás, who has been in the business for years, asks for more flexibility "so that people can raise their heads." The law is not designed for catastrophes like the one that La Palma has suffered "and people who have a business under the lava, or their bananas, or their office in Puerto Naos should be made easier to open elsewhere." With prices uncovered and rents through the roof, the real estate sector and the palm economy have also been devastated by the eruption.
"A volcano has flattened us," he recalls, with some facilities for the next few years "we clappers pull and get out of the hole." No one is surprised that you are a strong people.
Once a month, the routes organized by Isla Bonita Tour are dedicated solely to the residents. "Some come to see the volcano up close, face to face, and make amends," others still can't even look at it. "This island is in mourning" and that is something that each one manages with their own time.
