About €5.4 million from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) are granted to Spain as an advance payment to cover the costs of the immediate emergency and the recovery operations carried out in response to the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands.
- 22 March 2022
This payment will help Spanish authorities restore key infrastructure (electric, water, transport, etc.), cover costs of temporary accommodation for displaced people and cleaning up of the areas hit by the disaster. The advance payment follows the application for EUSF support submitted by Spain on 3 December 2021.
The island of La Palma suffered eruptions of the volcano Cumbre Vieja from 19 September to 15 December 2021. The eruption has devastated an area of about 1,200 hectares and caused damages especially to network infrastructure, residential assets and the agricultural sector. The Spanish authorities estimated a total direct damage of €862.7 million.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said “The damage caused by the volcano has exacerbated the negative effects of the coronavirus crisis, which has hit the outermost regions such as the Canary Islands particularly badly. It is extremely important that the EUSF, together with other available EU funding sources, is activated to help citizens overcome this catastrophe and look ahead with renewed hope.”
The EUSF helps Member States and candidate countries to cope with the extraordinary budgetary pressure imposed on them by major natural disasters and major health emergencies. For regional disasters, the EUSF intervenes when the total direct damage exceeds 1.5% of GDP of a region. For outermost regions this threshold is lowered to 1% of the regional GDP.
EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF)