Dubrovnik, Croatia (EFE) from the Mediterranean (AMAN).
The image, captured by photojournalist Miguel Calero on the night of November 19, shows the sky lit up by a huge flare of gas and ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano that hovers over hundreds of homes at its feet.
AMAN, which celebrates its 30th General Assembly in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, awarded the photo as the best of the year among the entries received.
The image was taken in the town of Los Llanos de Aridane and Calero laments that the houses and streets whose lights can be seen in it were buried a week later by lava.
Miguel Calero, the award-winning photographer, remembers those affected
In a statement released on video for not being able to attend the award ceremony in person, the EFE photographer, who lives on this island, recalled that there are thousands of people, many of them friends and members of the family, who lost property and life plans for this eruption.
La Cumbre Vieja began vomiting lava and ash on September 19, 2021 and devastated the Canary Islands for 85 days during which thousands of people had to leave their homes.
In thanking for the distinction received, Calero underlined his satisfaction with the work of the EFE team in the Canary Islands, whose coverage also received an award from the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA).
AMAN today awarded another prize, in the text category, to the information of the Syrian agency SANA on the archaeological heritage of this country.
Media against climate change
At its general assembly, the director of the Croatian agency Hina, Branka Vojvodic, was elected president of the Alliance, and a declaration was approved to promote measures against climate change and in defense of sustainable development in the Mediterranean through the media.
AMAN was founded in 1991 in Tunisia as a space for dialogue and cooperation between the main information providers of 19 countries in this area.
In addition to the Spanish EFE, European press agencies such as AFP (France), ANSA (Italy), ANA-MPA (Greece) or FENA (Bosnia) participate, as well as other North Africa such as MENA (Egypt), TAP (Tunisia), APS (Algeria) or MAP (Morocco).
EFE also received the Quality and Innovation Award for its informative podcasts last month. by the other regional organization to which it belongs, the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), which brings together 33 of these media from the Old Continent.