I sure feel for the folks having to deal with that mess. I have some experience with it (though not as extreme as this!) back in 1980 when Mt. St. Helens blew in Washington State. I was 11 years old and remember it well. We were far enough east to avoid the worst of it, but it went blacker than night at noon, and dropped about 4 inches of ash and pulverized pumice on us, and the whole world smelled like sulfur. It took weeks to get it off of, and out of, stuff enough to get back to normal. I can't imagine dealing with a METER or more of it, holy cow! That 4 inches of ash is still noticable in our lives 41 years later, in odd little places like the crevices in roof shingles, siding, old cars, etc. The building I work in everyday was being built about that time, and whenever the wind blows hard, the wood shake roof above my desk will vibrate just enough to sift trapped sand leftover from the ash down past the rafters and beam above me and rain a little bit of fine sand on my desk. I have to sweep it off every now and then and remember that day. The lives of these poor folks on La Palma will never be quite the same.