From Madrid to the Islands: people turn to La Palma

Sandro Gómez, Bea Barreto, Pablo Pérez, Noe Nazco, Thalía Pérez, Jorge Barreto, Jenny Tzimas, Marta Gómez and Rocío Barreto are some of the young palmeros who, residing in Madrid for work or study, have decided to contribute their bit of sand in the face of the tragedy experienced by the residents of different municipalities of the Isla Bonita, who have been evicted from their homes due to the advance of the lava expelled by the Cumbre Vieja volcano. Many houses have been buried under the hot rocks; others may do so in the next few hours, although the laundry that was walking without a brake throughout the Aridan neighborhood of Todoque yesterday did so at a slower speed than the day before.

The nine islanders made an appeal through social networks so that those who were interested in making donations of clothing and non-perishable food to the victims of the eruption could do so, too, from the capital of the Kingdom. Initially, they looked for ways for an administration to lend them a hand when it came to defraying the shipping costs from the Peninsula to the Canary Islands. However, as Thalía recounts in a video uploaded to Instagram by the Los Vinagres music group, they were lucky enough to run into two supportive carriers: “Juan and Víctor, who from the moment I called them have offered to help us with selfless way”, without asking for anything in return.

"Given the impotence of not being able to be with our family and friends who have lost everything, their homes, their memories, their way of sustaining themselves, we are organizing several donation collection points," it began. Later, she listed the items that are most required: “Clothes for all ages, especially for babies from zero to 12 months; wipes, compotes, shoes, blankets, toys, gluten-free and lactose-free food and also FFP2 masks to be protected” from the harmful gases expelled by the Cumbre Vieja emission centers.

However, despite having found the right people to move the cargo, they still have a logistical aspect to specify, and that is that, "currently, our greatest need is to find a place where we can leave the donations and where the carriers can go to look for them to take them to La Palma”, he said. In addition, he thanked Internet users for their interest, since the audiovisual piece went viral and last night exceeded 50,000 views: "Give from here and on behalf of all the palm trees and palm trees, thank you very much to all those who want to help us and support us by donating what they it is necessary What we are experiencing is a very scary situation for everyone and any help is little.

As for which points in the capital of Spain those interested in donating some of the required items can approach, there is one on Calle Violeta Parra in Getafe, which today, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., will be open and in charge of Miguel (with telephone number 655 260 742); tomorrow, at the Atocha Dental Clinic, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., with Bea (661 561 780) as contact person; on Sunday, on Calle Minas, near the Picnic Bar, from 12:00 to 18:00 there will be Marta (608 913 665), and, without a set schedule, Jenny (@jennytzimas on Instagram) will collect items in Aranjuez.

Other islands have also reached out to palmeros. The Meridiano Shopping Center (Tenerife), in collaboration with the NGO Sonrisas Canarias, launched this week a campaign to collect donations for the affected families. In the UGT building in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a wave of empathy and generosity was experienced yesterday. In fact, the bags of clothing and food put the union facilities to the limit. And Tenerife Isla Solidaria, an insular volunteer program, together with the Red Cross, set up an account number to offer help.