Thousands of people have been stranded in airports all over the world, waiting for the clouds of ashes from the Islandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull to disappear from the North European air space. Scientists have warned that this eruption could trigger the nearby Katla volcano to erupt. If so, the world could be in for a whole new round of travel delays. It has been estimated that the recent volcanic activity in Iceland has cost the airline industry at least 200-million dollars a day in lost revenues due to cancelled flights. European airports have been criticized for their strict policy in this matter, but it is good to see that the airlines put people first instead of money. Better safe than sorry. According to The Active Rain Blog, by U.S. realtor Terry Chenier, a lesson was learned in June 1982 when a British Airways flight flew through volcanic ash caused by activity in Jakarta. The windscreen was sandblasted and all four engines caught fire before shutting down completely. The plane, with 248 people on board was now gliding. The pilot, with typical British understatement, apparently said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we appear to have a small problem, a bit of a sticky wicket, so to speak. All four engines seem to have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to correct the problem.”
Fortunately, when they got to a lower altitude, the ash had cooled and broken away and they managed to restart three of the engines. A valuable lesson was learned that day and that is why thousands of flights were cancelled.
Talking of flying creatures, our swallows nest in the shape of a bedpan is occupied again, by a couple of birds that some say are house martins, others call them red-rump swallows. Whatever.
I just call them swallows, not unlike a friend of mine who calls all flowers, hibiscus. After a period of courtship and incubation, all the eggs were thrown out of the nest. The same thing happened last year. We have been trying to study the behaviour of these birds and one theory is that a rivalling male has broken into the nest and caused the dramatic incident. The opening to the nest is so small that it can’t have been a squirrel or a bigger bird. …And not our cat, Federico, either. Now the nest is occupied again, either by the former inhabitants or by a new couple. Let’s hope they manage to migrate back to Africa with a new family, undisturbed by clouds of ashes from volcanic activity.
Most of our club members have migrated to their Nordic destinations. After a busy spring season with talks and lectures, trips to interesting places, golf, wine tasting, our traditional Prawns Galore evening and Easter dinner, Asociación Hispano-Nórdica has closed its doors for the summer months.  Activities will be resumed in October. The autumn programme will be posted on our information board at Plaza de Higuitos in the beginning of October and published on our web page www.ahn.just.nu.