Three years have passed since the devastating eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, but for Amanda Melián, the ordeal is far from over. Frustrated and exhausted, Amanda has taken matters into her own hands by covering her ash-buried ‘volcano house’ with plastic to prevent further exploitation by tourists and media who have turned her tragedy into a spectacle.
Amanda, along with her husband and two young children, was forced to flee their newly completed home on September 19, 2021, when the volcano erupted. There was initial hope that their house might be spared. However, the eruption took a devastating turn on November 25, 2021. A new lava flow emerged just 20 metres from their front door. This buried the home under a thick layer of ash.
A life in limbo
Since the eruption, Amanda and her family have been living in a modular home provided by the Canary Islands government. She describes it in La Vanguardia as a temporary solution that hardly feels like home. Despite their attempts to seek compensation and rebuild their lives, they have received only €13,000 in private donations. Not a single euro came in official compensation for the loss of their primary residence.
Exploitation of a tragedy
To add insult to injury, Amanda’s home—dubbed the “Volcano House”—became a global symbol of the eruption’s destruction. This happened after a photo of it, taken by photographer Emilio Morenatti, was featured in The New York Times as one of the best images of 2021. This unwelcome attention has turned her private loss into a public spectacle. Thereafter, tourists and media flocked to the site to take photos without permission, disregarding signs that restrict access to residents only. “Everyone passes by, despite us deciding we don’t want people there,” Amanda said. “They even organise tours.”
Nice to see one of my photos taken in La Palma covering the volcano, as one of the Year in Pictures 2021 by @nytimes. https://t.co/PWqPWZuYsh pic.twitter.com/COj53dT6rE
— Emilio Morenatti (@EmilioMorenatti) December 17, 2021
Covering the house to end the spectacle
The final straw came when Amanda and her husband visited their buried home recently. They found a group of tourists being guided by a tour operator who encouraged them to take as many photos as they liked. Feeling violated and powerless, Amanda decided it was time to put an end to it. With the help of friends, she covered the house with plastic, hoping to stop the constant stream of visitors. “It’s not fair that I’m without a home while others profit from my pain,” she stated.
No response
Amanda’s fight is far from over. Despite requesting the local council in El Paso to clear a path through the ash so that they can assess the damage and explore the possibility of recovering their home, she has received no response. The couple does have a plot of land where they could build a new house, but that depends on whether they can secure a mortgage—a prospect that remains uncertain.
Many victims feel forgotten and abandoned
As the third anniversary of the eruption approaches on September 19, Amanda and many others affected by the disaster feel forgotten and abandoned. “We’ve adapted to whatever comes our way,” she said, reflecting on the past three years of uncertainty and struggle. Despite the challenges, Amanda is determined to find out whether her home can be saved, even if it’s just to have some closure.
Volcano La Palma partially collapses and lava shoots high into the sky