Angel Victor Torres

Residents walk along a mud-covered street in the flood-hit municipality of Paiporta, in the province of Valencia, Spain, 30 Oct. 2024.

Spain braced for a heavier human toll on Wednesday after 95 people died in flash floods that launched muddy waters through towns, tossed cars, and wreaked transport havoc.

Authorities have evacuated about 5,000 people from villages in the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma as lava spews from an erupting volcano, local officials said.

The 15m high lava flow has already swallowed 20 houses in the village of El Paso and sections of roads, Mayor Sergio Rodriguez told TVE radio station on Monday morning (Sep 20).

The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Spain's Canary Islands on Sept. 19, spewing out lava, ash and a huge column of smoke after days of increased seismic activity and forcing the evacuation of around 5,000 local people, authorities said.

Cumbre Vieja, which last erupted 50 years ago, straddles a ridge in the south of La Palma island, home to around 80,000 people.

Spain's Canary Islands and Mediterranean region of Valencia have asked the government to bring back curfews to counter a soaring Covid-19 infection rate among unvaccinated youngsters that is threatening the summer tourism season.