Volcano guides at Mount Etna are protesting over new safety rules

MOUNT ETNA, Italy — Guides who take tourists to enjoy stunning views of Mount Etna in Sicily are angry at tighter restrictions imposed by local authorities after a series of eruptions at the giant volcano in recent weeks.

Authorities in the city of Catania have suspended or restricted excursions to view the volcano’s lava flows, prompting guides to go on strike for the first time in decades and leaving disgruntled tourists with fewer options to see the spectacle up close.

Dozens of guides protested outside the Etna Lava Flow Gate on Wednesday, calling the new restrictions excessive and saying the lava flows move slowly enough to be viewed safely as has been done in the past.

“These measures effectively cancel the role of guides, stripping them of their skills, their function and their professional responsibility,” indicates a press release from the regional guide council.

Lava flows are especially spectacular after sunset, but under the new rules, tours are only allowed until dusk and cannot approach closer than 200 meters (660 feet) to the lava flow. In addition, the limit of 10 people per group, which previously existed, is vigorously enforced, including with drones.

Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and the largest on the continent. It attracts hikers and backpackers to its slopes, while less adventurous tourists can admire it from afar, most stunningly from the Ionian Sea.

At 3,350 meters (nearly 10,990 feet) high and 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) wide, the Sicilian giant often offers a front-row seat to the power of nature. Last June, a massive eruption forced tourists to flee the volcano after a kilometers-high plume of high-temperature gas, ash and rock rose into the air above them.

The latest restrictions were adopted after a series of Etna eruptions began on Christmas Eve.

The most advanced lava front reached 1,360 meters (4,460 feet) above sea level, before stopping and entering a cooling phase after traveling about 3.4 kilometers (about 2 miles), local authorities said. The lava flow poses no danger to nearby residential areas, volcanologists say.

Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology confirmed this week that Etna’s eruption was underway, but said lava fronts were cooling and no longer advancing.

“It is a lava flow that is descending very slowly over an area that is now also flat or semi-flat,” said Dario Teri, 43, a member of the Sicilian Association of Alpine and Volcano Guides who participated in Wednesday’s protest.

The guides, who are expected to continue their strike in the coming days, hope to reach a compromise with the authorities that can protect their profession while ensuring the safety of visitors.

Claudia Mancini, a 32-year-old tourist, said she came from Palermo for an excursion with a guide to Mount Etna.

“Unfortunately, we received the bad news that all activities were canceled,” Mancini said, adding that she sympathized with the guides facing a situation that “doesn’t make anyone happy.”

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Zampano reported from Rome.