Simple measure against influencers Insta-tourists overrun buried house - owner has had enough

"We were forgotten and the rest of the world is taking pictures of my house": a woman on La Palma has had enough of Insta-tourists taking pictures of her destroyed house. She resorts to a simple but effective measure.

For months, the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano spewed fire and ash, keeping La Palma in suspense. The result of the inferno: 345 hectares of banana plantations and vineyards destroyed, the island had to be remapped. But residential areas were not spared either. In addition to almost a dozen schools, 1345 houses were destroyed.

One of them belongs to Amanda Melián, who lived there with her husband and two children - before the family had to leave with only the bare necessities and it was buried under the ashes.

Photo motif photographed countless times

However, the picturesque house with the green windows in the newly created ash landscape makes a fantastic photo motif. The first Instagram users soon discovered this too, and the trend led to a rush of like-minded people taking the same picture over and over again and posting it on Instagram.

Because Amanda Melián could no longer bear the columns of Insta-tourists, she decided to cover the house with a tarpaulin without further ado.

"I can't go in, I've been waiting for years for papers and permits, but every time we stop by, tourists come and photograph the house," Amanda Melián told the British Times, adding: "We've been forgotten and the rest of the world is photographing my house." It is simply not fair for people to profit from the grief of others. Hence the tarpaulin.

Plastic sheet instead of volcano house

Anyone making a pilgrimage to the volcanic house near La Mancha can now only decorate their Insta profile with a plastic cover, as pictures from TV La Palma show.

After the eruption of the volcano Tajogaite, which was only named as such in June, the family initially stayed with relatives. The four of them now live in a prefabricated house provided by the Canary Islands government.

However, they do not feel at home there. Amanda Melián also wants to remove the ashes and have their house restored. However, her corresponding request to the El Paso City Council in March has still not been answered.

Transparency note: An earlier version of this article stated that the house had burnt down. It is correct that the house was buried under the ash and is considered uninhabitable.