La Palma

When the volcano erupted in La Palma last year, Teodoro Gonzalez Perez rushed to the Spanish island to see the lava flows with his own eyes, now he's back for another look.

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).

A volcano erupted on Sunday on the La Palma Canary Island. As a result of the eruption in the Cumbre Vieja national park in the south of the island huge fountains of lava and clouds of smoke and ash were released. No fatalities have been reported so far.

A volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday

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.