Neighborhood rebellion in La Palma in defense of Antonio's drone: "They were our eyes"

Antonio Carrillo received a very special gift on August 21 for his 40th birthday: a small drone weighing just 249 grams equipped with a 12-megapixel camera. So this La Palma farmer, who manages several farms belonging to his family in Tazacorte and El Remo, a few kilometers from the area where the volcano erupted, did not have much idea how to pilot these devices. And he assures that he still does not know too much. "I barely know how to fly it," he admits while waiting for the arrival of the King and Queen of Spain in a square in the La Laguna neighborhood, in the Los Llanos de Aridane municipality.

However, barely a month later, his DJI Mini2 has made him a little hero for many of his neighbors and a benchmark outside of it for those who seek images of the eruption of the Cabeza de Vaca volcano. First it occurred to Carrillo to fly the device over the affected areas. Then a friend suggested that he put it on Youtube. "And that turned into innumerable requests from neighbors asking me to fly over their house, to see how far it is from their farms... People from La Palma, but also from La Gomera, Germany and even France." In a few days his drone had become an indispensable tool for hundreds of people who, evicted from their homes, wanted to know how their properties were. His account on the video platform went from 95 followers to 1,500.

Until this Thursday. "I was flying the drone and suddenly they touched me behind my back." It was the Civil Guard, who ordered him to immediately lower the device. "I explained to them that I was doing this to help desperate people who are living through hell." But there was no case. Carrillo made the device land. The agents confiscated it and took the data. "They told me that if people want information, they should go through official channels." The armed forces returned the device to him in a few hours, but they fined him 90 euros with the warning that he should not fly it again in the area. He is thinking about it. "I have fear in my body."

“A nonsense”

As the news of the confiscation of the drone spread, the networks were filled with dozens of messages of protest and solidarity with Carrillo. Several of them coincided almost literally in the same message: his drone "were our eyes." In a tweet addressed to the Civil Guard, Joantxo Llantada (@joantxo) assured: “Understand that the residents of Todoque need to know how the lava is progressing and the state of our properties. Nobody is doing it, only him. Return the drone to Antonio Carrillo. Out of solidarity and empathy." In the same network, Teresa Serrano (@SanquinTeresa ) expressed this way: “Give back the seized drone to Antonio Carrillo! You have removed it and it is the only one that offers us images of the advance of the lava towards our houses! Our concern is growing." “This is nonsense. Antonio's drone was the eyes of these neighbors, relief and hope in their lack of life, and the police have taken it away from them”, said Zoza Novo (@acrapoesia).

The same tone has the dozens of messages that Carrillo's followers have posted on his YouTube account. “ANTONIO, keep us informed and together we will apply a lot of pressure. Invaluable work, there are specialized pages that have used your images to see, predict and outline the laundries for the affected people to see what happens to their homes. I understand your anger very well because I was the first to fly with a drone on this island when there was not so much legislation, ”said one of the messages, signed by Armando Rodríguez Frías. In addition to its usefulness for residents, Carrillo gave his images to various media for free, including EL PAÍS, as confirmed by the deputy director of video for this newspaper, Carlos de Vega.

Carrillo barely knows anything about this neighborhood rebellion in favor of his cause, because he doesn't have social networks. "I don't want a leading role or anything, my whole intention was to help people who are having a hard time." The law in any case, does not protect you. Enaire, the public business entity that manages air navigation in Spain, has declared the entire area affected by the volcano an exclusion zone, as explained to EL PAÍS by an agent from the National Police Air Safety and Protection Team. Under normal conditions, any user could fly a device equipped with a camera that weighs less than 250 grams. But for this it would be necessary to register it with the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA). In addition, it must be taken into account that La Palma is a Biosphere Reserve and to fly over areas protected by their flora or fauna, permission must be requested from the Island Council.

Joantxo Llantada, an expert in digital marketing, from Valencia with a mother from La Palma, was on the island visiting his parents when the volcano erupted and they were evicted from their home in Todoque, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods. Over the phone, he explains to EL PAÍS the importance of Carrillo's work: “This kid has hit a brutal currada. The media report abroad, but Carrillo informs those affected. The neighbors told him by email which areas we were interested in having him fly over and he designed the routes so that we had control over our properties”. Llantada has promoted a collection to pay Carrillo for another drone and demands that, if it cannot be him, the authorities are the ones to carry out this work. “I work in administration and I know what the rules are, but these are very real human dramas. And if in this 2.0 world there is such an accessible technology to reduce people's anxiety, it should be used”, he concludes.

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