For those who celebrate it, Christmas once again carried an air of uncertainty in 2021 due to the pandemic. But the residents of the Spanish island of La Palma had a notably different experience: release, relief, closure. “What I want to say today can be said with just four words,” said Julio Perez, the Canary Islands regional security chief on Christmas Day. “The eruption is over.” After three months of being besieged by an intense volcanic eruption, the best gift was a welcome dose of apparent certainty. A collective sigh…
