A volcanic eruption is causing a real
tourist
boom
on the Reykajanes peninsula (southwest Iceland).
In one of the most visited countries with respect to the local population, in which a little more than 8% of tourism depends directly on foreign visitors and which the pandemic has left to a minimum, lava is causing a real furor among nationals and locals. few vaccinated foreigners who are being able to reach the island.
The eruption of a volcano near the capital of Iceland, in pictures
Thousands of people have flocked to the area in recent days, some 30 kilometers southwest of the capital and main gateway to Iceland - Reykjavik - to witness the spectacle of tons of orange lava pouring out of the ground.
"It is a perfect tourist eruption," says Thorvaldur Thordarson, professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland in statements to the British television channel Sky News, which advises visitors "not to get too close."
According to his calculations, since the initial eruption, almost two weeks ago, lava has flowed out of the ground at a rate of 10 cubic meters per second.
A continuous flow enough so that the magma does not solidify.
A couple takes a photo in front of the crater, in full eruption HALLDOR KOLBEINS / AFP
Thordarson draws a parallel between this eruption and that of the Hawaiian volcano of Pu'u 'O'o, which began in 1983 and erupted for 35 years.
"It could end tomorrow or continue like this for decades," he stresses to Sky News.
Locals and tourists visit the area closest to the eruption.HALLDOR KOLBEINS / AFP
Gradual reopening to foreign visitors
Iceland became the first country in the Schengen area in the middle of the month to open its limping tourism sector to visitors who can prove they have been vaccinated.
The island was thus ahead of the European Union, which hopes to have a health passport ready for the summer that allows people who have already received the full guideline to move freely.
A movement with which he hopes - above all - to attract American and British visitors, who made up more than a third of those who visited Iceland before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Aerial view of the volcano, this Sunday.HALLDOR KOLBEINS / AFP
Tourism is one of the main sectors of the Icelandic economy: in 2019, the year immediately before the pandemic, it represented 8.1% of productive activity.
Almost two million people visited the island that year, with only 365,000 inhabitants.
In the four weeks prior to the eruption, on the 19th, more than 40,000 earthquakes of varying degrees shook the Reykajanes peninsula, between 30 and 40 times more than in any other year.
The entry into activity of the volcano has not caused personal or material damage.