There are many reasons to visit Iceland. From sheep that always come in pairs and attack you when you drive on secondary roads to craters full of water in which to bathe, like Askja, glaciers, whales, colonies of friars or the Highlands, a desert frost that sparkles with the feeling of loneliness and the conviction of finding yourself in the last corner of the planet.
But in reality, what never fails in the tourist circuits are the geyser (the Strokkur) and the Blue Lagoon. You can imagine the geyser. A lot of people huddled together waiting for the jet of boiling water to come out of the hole every five minutes (sometimes it's four, sometimes ten). Contained excitement and an oh! of admiration when it is finished.
La Llacuna Blava is a pool of natural origin filled with water that is born from a lava field (although it first passes through a geothermal power plant). One enters the changing room, takes a shower, puts on a bathrobe and slippers and then immerses himself in a milky-looking liquid with a turquoise blue tint that is always at 37 degrees.
The Blue Lagoon has always been a place to observe the best clients of luxury tourism. There are Americans, large families from the Gulf countries, young couples from India, Russians (until the Ukraine war came) and Chinese (who have returned after the pandemic). The latter stand out from the rest. They bathe without taking off their rolex and talk on their cell phones even if the water reaches their chins.
This week, the company that manages the lagoon has closed it until November 16. The fault lies with the accumulation of magma under the ground of the Reykjanes peninsula, where the lagoon is located. The company warns that this is a "preventive" decision. There are no signs that the magma is nearing the surface, authorities say, despite the fact that the surrounding ground has swelled like a cupcake in recent days.
Reykjanes has accumulated 23,000 deductions since October 25. But that's nothing to Icelanders, who are used to living amid rain of ash, fumes and, from time to time, an eruption. In any case, according to Vikurfrettir, the local newspaper, 40 tourists staying at the luxury resort surrounding the lagoon left their rooms a day before the closure. They declared themselves "terrorized".
