When Santorini recorded more than 550 tremors of magnitude greater than 3 at the beginning of the year, the Earth once again reminded us that it is alive. More than 9,000 people were evacuated, schools were closed, and a thick silence reigned between Santorini, Amorgos, and Ios. The alert quickly spread through the scientific community, although the experts were clear: the two active volcanoes beneath the island showed no imminent signs of eruption. But the episode left a clear warning: the fire of the Earth does not sleep and is closer than we imagine.

You don't need a ticket to Iceland or a rocket to Mars. This summer you can travel to another planet without leaving Catalonia and discover places that seem otherworldly. We're talking about places that don't fit the typical postcard, neither the gentle green of the Pyrenees, nor the Mediterranean gold of the coves of the Empordà. They are spaces that seem to have emerged from a dream, a fairy tale, or a distant planet. And yet, they are right here, close to home.

The north face of the eruption cone of the new volcano on La Palma collapsed early this morning, according to Itahiza Domínguez, from the Instituto Vulcanológico de las Canarias (Involcan). The expert, according to Efe, has stated through social networks that the collapse has generated lava flows in several directions.

This is not Krakatoa. This is not even Mount Teide, Mount Etna or Mount Vesuvius. At Cumbre Vieja, on the island of La Palma, what we have is a volcanic edifice in the making, about which there is still more uncertainty than certainty. However, if we take into account the geological history of the island, what science says and what the models predict, it is hardly possible to speak of such a catastrophic outcome as those that have been circulating these last few days on social networks, most of them without any scientific basis. There will not be a giant tsunami that will reach New York nor a toxic cloud that will cause a nuclear winter on the European continent. The catastrophists will have to wait for another event.