La Venezolana
She works in a stone and jewelry store on the beach.
6 years ago she met her husband who is originally from Germany and was already living in La Palma. As a jewelry designer, he opened this store 25 years ago.
La Venezolana also lost everything during the volcano eruption. The couple had not insured the house or the stock of jewelry and everything was swept away by the lava.
Located on the southern slope, they had 10 minutes to carry the essentials, no more, and they were unable to return.
La Venezolana nevertheless keeps her smile and her beautiful energy. She and her husband rent a house where he continues to create while she works at the store.
I am amazed by the resilience of these people who face natural elements and who get back up, move forward, and persevere while cultivating their joy.
Uli
He comes from Germany and he likes to spend the winter in La Palma. He even bought a small house there.
Bad luck, she was in the path of the lava flows and she was swallowed up. Disappointed, disgusted, shocked, he swore to himself never to come back here.
However, Uli came back and found his optimist:
“There’s nothing we can do anyway, what’s the point of complaining? and then, we are still lucky to be able to come back and spend the winter here, to see our friends again while the locals have lost everything”
he told me.
So if he no longer has his house, he rents, for 3 months a year, a room in a friend’s house, in Tazacorte, a coastal village.
Katia
Originally from Germany, she had been renting a house on the island for several years.
Since the eruption, she has returned to live in Germany and returns to La Palma from time to time but no longer stays there for long periods.
“Nothing will ever be the same again,” she tells me and talks to me nostalgically about her plant collection: for 10 years she grew a collection of orchids and ornamental plants.
During the evacuation, she could return to the scene to collect personal effects: no more than 10 minutes on site and had to be accompanied by an official agent.
Now she looks ahead to the future: “There are so many beautiful places in Europe to visit,” she says, mentioning Prague and other cities.