Damage to property and agriculture from the recent Spanish volcano eruption on the island of La Palma looks set to cost insurers an estimated $ 209mn . Around 300 locals in the coastal areas of San Borondon , Marina Alta and Baja and La Condesa were confined to their homes as the moment of contact between the lava and the sea triggered explosions and emitted clouds of chlorine gas .

News agency drone footage showed a river of red hot lava flowing down the slopes of the crater , passing over homes , and swathes of land . Buildings were also engulfed by a black mass of slower-moving , older lava . An estimated 15 % of the island ' s banana crop was put at risk by the eruption , thus jeopardising thousands of jobs .

10 November 2021