Amanda Melián left her house with what she was wearing and with her two young children on September 19, 2021, leaving the keys in the door when she felt the fury of Cumbre Vieja and the volcano erupting above. At that moment, I was sure all was lost. Shortly after, not only was a volcano above him, but also in his own backyard, with a eruptive mouth a few meters from the door from the entrance. “I can’t get in, I’ve been waiting for papers and permits for years, but every time we go there are tourists taking pictures of the house.” They haven’t given him access, but curious people enter his land without permission and without authorization.
The last time he visited it, he discovered that it had been vandalized, and that was the last straw. It collapsed after three years half buried, and beyond having become a symbol and an icon of the volcano, it is a dwelling frozen in time for which no one answers. “I’m tired of the uncertainty“hopefully a permanent solution,” so until they give him an answer on how to get his property back, he covered it in plastic.
“I don’t want it to be expropriated or left as is for tourist excursions, even if they pay me for it,” what I want is to “recover the memories” and help to be able dig it up and rehabilitate itbecause three years later, he still has no access or permission to carry out the work. “We asked for permission to be able to dig it up, even by hand, and we waited.”
Amanda hid her house from prying eyes to protest the lack of answers.
Amanda hid her house from prying eyes to protest the lack of answers.
Amanda’s house seen from the sky
The owners of the houses in the area closest to the volcano, buried under the ash, were considering getting some profit from the visitors who frequent this tourist area, but they told him that he could not join the project because he needed a resort permit. The tourists take advantage of the opportunity to take pictures of the famous “crack house”, which they consider to be ““very unfair”. Amanda admits that she is really sorry. impotence seeing that everything is made easy for other people to enjoy her house, but for her “everything is a problem.” At the bottom of the road there is a sign that says it is private property and access is reserved for neighbors, “but over there everyone sneaks in“, complaint.
She only received donations from individuals and companies, nothing more. not a single euro from the Canary Islands government or the state, “not 60,000, not 40,000 or anything at all.” Although it may seem incredible, Only the mayor of El Paso contacted her Just a week ago, after years without a response from public administrations. The mayor confirmed that his house would meet the requirements of the latest decree published by the Canary Islands government and that his house could therefore be rebuild and rehabilitate.
This is his wish, although he admits that it will be “to leave something to my children” because in the short term he does not believe that it is viable. living in a house with a volcano in the garden due to the instability of the terrain. “We don’t know if there are volcanic tubes under the house or what the area looks like, it’s the case of having small children dangerous“, he assures.
Since the eruption, they have been housed in a vprefabricated module housing that the Canarian government has temporarily given him, in which he assures that “we are very tight” and that “it does not resemble us”. On September 19, 2021, his family was starting the renovation of the upper part of the house when Tajogaite was born above their property and his life took a 180 degree turn. With their last savings, they had to pay the loan for this renovation which they would not be able to take advantage of, since it is the only way to be able to take out a new mortgage to finally have permanent housing.
On September 4, he will have a meeting with the president of the Cabildo, Sergio Rodríguez, and he hopes that from this meeting it will be possible to clarify and rationalize the situation. “It’s been three years of agony,” he admits. “If a harsh winter comes, the house won’t hold up,” he says.
