A small rock in the Atlantic: The Damage in Fuencaliente

Burnt House in Fuencaliente, La Palma

My first impression of Los Canarios, the main village in Fuencaliente, is that it's a heck of a lot better than I expected. The fire damage is very fluky, presumably because the fire moved so fast and the gusts of wind kept changing direction. As you can see, sometimes a house got burnt out completely, and its neighbours untouched, or the top floor burned, and the bottom floor looks fine, or one half of a semi-detached looks totalled, and the other half looks OK.

Burnt House in Fuencaliente, La Palma

Most of the badly damaged buildings I saw had people working in them already. Presumably the owners have already gone through swearing and crying, and they're already getting on with it. I was impressed.

The Princess Hotel, La Palma

From a distance at least, the Princess Hotel looks fine and dandy. Most buildings look OK, and most shops are open. And the beautiful old church is fine.

A car repair workshop, Los Canarios, Fuencaliente, La Palma

A car repair workshop, Los Canarios, Fuencaliente, La Palma

Car workshop, Los Canarios, Fuencaliente

I don't think this car workshop will bother to fix the cars outside it now. On the other hand, I was amazed to see this small survivor just outside the big petrol station.