A Norwegian thriller has climbed the chart to the top on Netflix and is making fans question the reality behind it. It’s a disaster drama set on the Spanish island of La Palma, which is home to the most active volcanic ridge in the Canary Islands named Cumbre Vieja. So yes, people run for their lives as nature comes for them.
The pace of ‘La Palma’ makes it binge-worthy and the family at the center of this survival series helps dial up the intensity. It’s a terrifying thought that a popular tourist destination harbors such a great danger of volcanic eruption and a tsunami, but the truth is more complicated than that.
What Happens In ‘La Palma’ On Netflix?
‘La Palma’ boasts of scenic beauty. We meet a family of four – a mother who is reinventing herself, a father feeling a little distant, a teenage daughter, and a little son who is on the spectrum. So, they hit the Spanish holiday paradise. Unbeknownst to them, they have bargained for more than the sea and the sun.
A geologist Marie raises concern over poisonous gases emanating in the volcanic zone. While her colleagues are skeptical about raising the alarm for a disaster that might not happen, only for them to feel shame afterward. You feel for her boss, Álvaro, who had raised concern earlier, only for a massive fallout to derail his career and personal life. So, they delay investigations. Yet, the worst-case scenario occurs.
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The threat is pretty clear as sea turtles also leave the island. The government shirks responsibility as the volcano’s eruption means “a mountain mass the size of Manhattan might erupt into the sea and cause the largest tsunami the world has ever seen.”
The family takes the ferry out, with people scrambling to save themselves. The father gets left behind and finds a companion in Marie, who has to leave her mentally ill brother behind after he is shot by the person whose boat they steal. Álvaro stays behind with a colleague Haukur and they share wine while letting the volcano claim them in their last moment.
The only way to escape seems a plane but that also gets hit by the tsunami. There is only one safe spot where the family reunites with hundreds of other survivors. This was made possible by the mother named Jennifer’s brother who worked for the royal ministry and sent out the red alert defying his superiors.
Is ‘La Palma’ Based On A True Story?
Now, the big, terrifying question – how much of the limited series is real? Yes, the makers took creative liberties, but there are some events that need attention. The Cumbre Vieja has experienced multiple eruptions. The most recent was in 2021 and lasted three months, causing much destruction. As per NPR, it destroyed “around 3,000 buildings, entombed banana plantations and vineyards, ruined irrigation systems and cut off roads.” The previous eruptions were in 1971 and 1949.
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Mankind’s activities have antagonized nature and many disasters have manifested as a consequence. But can the Cumbre Vieja trigger a tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean? This theory was published in a 2001 study titled Geophysical Research Letters. However, many scientists have debated its validity and labeled the result unlikely.
As reiterated on Netflix’s ‘La Palma‘, the hypothesis went that the volcanic landslide could generate a mega-tsunami, which would cause devastation way beyond the Canary Islands. North America, parts of Europe, and West Africa would be at peril. But the data of the last two decades negates this finding altogether, saying that the collapse has been “greatly overstated.”
Nevertheless, this limited series has captured viewers with its compelling visuals and emphasis on environmental conservation, lest we give rise to disasters that can wipe out the masses.
