A woman from Seville who lives in Milan finds herself stranded in the Sicilian city of Catania with a group of friends after the activity of Etna forced the cancellation of her return flight. The eruption has thwarted her return plans and forced her to extend her stay on the island, with hardly any clear information and assuming all additional expenses out of her own pocket.
The young woman told Europa Press that the trip had been planned "many months ago" as the summer getaway that the group takes every year. They arrived in Sicily on Thursday and intended to return to Milan, where they currently reside, on Sunday night.
She explained that, as soon as they landed, they already knew that Etna was registering activity, although the inhabitants of the area live with it normally. "Sicilians are quite used to it. They live with Etna every day," she pointed out.
According to her account, everything changed on Saturday night, when they were driving to a town near their accommodation and could witness the volcano in full activity up close. "We literally saw the lava. For us, it was an experience we had never had before," she explained.
Even so, she maintains that at no time did they imagine that the eruption could alter their travel plans. "In our minds, it was not possible that they would cancel our flight. We didn't see it as that dangerous, precisely because people here live with the volcano normally," she indicated.
On Sunday, after spending the morning at the beach, they received a notice from the airline informing them of the cancellation of the flight scheduled for that same night due to volcanic activity.
After learning of the decision, they immediately headed to Catania airport and there, according to her account, they encountered a "completely chaotic" situation.
"The airport was chaos. There were kilometer-long queues, people fighting, and the staff practically ignored us," she assured.
The airline has assigned them new seats on a flight scheduled for this Tuesday, but uncertainty remains because they do not know if it will eventually be able to operate. "They have changed our flight at no cost, but we have no guarantee that it will depart. I have the volcano in front of me and it's still spewing a huge column of smoke," she explains.
Meanwhile, the group has been forced to look for new accommodation on their own and to face the expenses arising from the forced extension of the trip. "We have had to book everything ourselves. They haven't given us any kind of solution," she laments.
The Sevillian also comments that, during their stay, they even noticed ash falling while they were sitting on a terrace. "We were having a drink and ashes started to fall," she states.
She also complains that at no time were they provided with specific information about protection measures against smoke or volcanic particles. "We haven't received any kind of indication regarding health either," she pointed out.
The situation, she adds, is further complicated for tourists by the scarce transport alternatives available to leave the island.
"Sicily is an island and it's quite disorganized. If you want to leave by other means, it can take almost 24 hours by bus, and traveling to other airports wasn't an option either because prices had skyrocketed," she explained.
The group consists of seven Spanish women, including two from Andalusia, all residents of Milan, who hope to be able to return as soon as the evolution of Etna's activity allows flights to be restored to normal.