Blue Lagoon Partially Reopens, Grindavík Could Follow

Following its closure on November 9 due to increased seismic activity in the Reykjanes Peninsula, the Blue Lagoon partially resumed operations on Sunday, December 17. The lagoon itself, including the spa facilities, the Blue Café and Lava Restaurant are now open. The Silica and Retreat hotels and Moss Restaurant will remain closed, with a reevaluation scheduled for the morning of December 21.

RÚV reports that some Grindavík residents have been ignoring evacuation precautions and spending the night in town. A restaurant owner and his wife were evicted from their home in Grindavík by the police on the evening of December 17 for failing to leave the area by the time designated by authorities. The South Iceland Chief of Police states that if a new threat assessment this week shows little change, he will consider lifting the obligatory evacuation completely.

Úlfar Lúðvíksson, the Chief of Police in South Iceland, states that one rule applies to everyone without exception: access to the town is permitted only from 7:00 to 21:00.

“It may well be that someone is hiding in the town, but it has not been a problem so far. I understand only this case that came up yesterday. The residents of Grindavík have become very tired of this situation that has persisted for a very long time. However, it is not the case that the police, or the Chief of Police, issues instructions to apprehend and remove people,” says Úlfar.

The Meteorological Office is expected to issue an updated threat assessment on Wednesday. “If the threat assessment does not change from what it looks like today, if I do not see significant changes in the Meteorological Office’s threat assessment, it could well be that the evacuation is lifted. Then things will move in a different direction,” says Úlfar.