“The volcano looks like a monster”

More than forty days after erupting, the Cumbre Vieja volcano is at its peak. Lava overflows, new emission points are constant and seismicity is increasing. Since that Sunday, September 19, the eyes of half the world have turned to La Palma. It is precisely there that the Asturian basketball player Ana Fernández Oraa resides. The Oviedo escort got engaged last summer with the Aridane Basketball Club of the First National Women. To train they move to the other end of the island and, although they have already returned to competition, they only do it as visitors and always look up to the sky.

-Where is it located?

-I am about six kilometers from the volcano, in Los Llanos de Aridane. It is the affected area, but I am safe and well.

-Each day that passes the volcano seems more enraged …

-Two more mouths have been opened and there are already six, not the four that had been going on for a while. The washes are now more unpredictable. I do not know very well the course they are going to take or the surface they are going to affect. In recent days earthquakes are a bit more noticeable, but it seems somewhat less explosive than it was before. Here in the town there is a lot of ash and the roads are difficult to travel.

-There are many damages caused by lava and ashes. Do you know of any case of someone who has been affected?

-The truth is that if. Two teammates lived in one of the first evacuated areas and now they are here with us in Los Llanos. There are also other players who are from here, from the island, who have evicted relatives and acquaintances. Everybody knows someone. Luckily there is no personal injury, but the materials are huge. These days have been very hard and of great uncertainty.

-Is it difficult to fall asleep in situations like this?

-It’s hard to fall asleep. At night everything is quieter and you can hear everything more. The noise from the volcano is like that of a plane taking off or an amusement park. A permanent roar. It looks like a monster. Days ago it was more explosive.

-Have you planned to leave the island and return to Asturias?

-The truth is, no. But there are many people who have asked me, especially from the peninsula. Here we are fine, there is no real danger of being evacuated. The only thing, the ash. It is all covered and it is very uncomfortable. That’s really the only problem we have here where I am.

-What does the family tell you? They are worried.

-Every day I talk to them. They are constantly on the lookout for me and constantly connected to the news to find out what is going on. Sometimes they inform me of things before I find out here.

-They are days of great uncertainty for you.

-The worst thing is that, the uncertainty. Not knowing what is going to happen. The news keeps changing from hour to hour. You do not know what to expect and we have to be very attentive to the indications. There are many people working for everyone’s safety.

-Will it cost a lot to return to normality?

-Once the volcano stops, it is calculated between five and six months so that everything can look like it was before. Not even the experts dare to give details. It is very complicated and risky to make a forecast of what may happen.

– They will have to go little by little trying to recover that longed for normality.

-We go week by week trying to adapt to situations. Slowly.

-In sports, at least, they have been able to start the competition.

-Yes, after three days postponed, the weekend we were able to start competing. The only thing that we will have to play as visitors outside the island, at least, the next three or four days. Our pavilion is now a logistics center. We don’t have a fixed installation to play on. Well, that’s as long as the planes can operate normally.

-And the training sessions?

-To train we go to the other end of the island, but road transfers are complicated by the large amount of ash.