Hoteliers, producers and scientists discuss in Worldcanica the impact on tourism of the eruption of Cumbre Vieja
The emergency that the island of La Palma is experiencing has been present in conversations and presentations throughout the three days that Worldcanic has lasted, the congress on volcanic kitchens and ecosystems held in Lanzarote. This Friday the multidisciplinary event wanted to get into the subject, bringing together hoteliers, producers and scientists from La Palma at a round table to address the impact that the eruption is having on the gastronomic and tourism sector.
“We have gone from a full dining room and 100% hotel occupancy to being almost empty, working at 20 or 30% of our capacity,” explained José Alberto Díaz, chef at the El Sitio restaurant. His audience at this point in the year is made up mostly of international tourists, “this crisis is forcing us to depend on the local customer, who right now, with whom he is falling, has stopped eating out,” he acknowledged.
He is aware that the eruption will not last forever, and even predicts “a tourist boom when all this happens”, but warns that “it is time to prepare, La Palma is a diamond in the rough and this is our opportunity to develop the Island with a head ». Andres Fernando Hernández, manager of the Fuencaliente salt flats, which today is ravaged by a blanket of ash, pointed in the same direction. «Reinvent ourselves? It is up to us to rebuild, “he says. His parents experienced an eruption in the year 71 in which the lava remained a few meters from the salt mine, “but this time we have not been so lucky.”
Volcanologist Mike Sánchez Carrasco spoke about the need to be alert to try to prevent new catastrophes. “What happened on La Palma could happen in Tenerife in the future, we live on volcanic islands, in Hawaii they are prepared for an eruption, here we have a lot to learn.” Although today many palm trees look towards Cumbre Vieja with dread, the expert assures that “the volcano should not be afraid of it, it must be respected and learned to understand how it works, at the end of the day we are the ones who have invaded its space.”
To the crisis caused by the volcano, the sector is adding serious supply problems. “We already had them before because we are not a capital island and it costs us to bring supplies”, but the eruption is aggravating a problem that is also global, “the airport did not open until 8 days ago!” In this scenario, the island’s agriculture lives in the grip of uncertainty and is unable to meet demand. Hernández said that “banana sales tripled to show solidarity with the island and we have had problems responding to requests”, but they are grateful for “the support that the whole country is showing towards La Palma.”
The short-term future looks black, but in the medium and long term the magma can leave behind a trail of opportunities. “It is time to invest in infrastructure that we have been demanding for decades and to stop the population exodus,” Hernández pointed out. “The eruption is not a spectacle, it is a disgrace”, said chef Alberto Díaz, but when the Cumbre Vieja fire goes out, the visitors will arrive, “and we have to ensure that this tourism generates the social and economic development that the island creates. needs to”.
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