Bombing the still-raging La Palma volcano could be the only way to reduce the destruction it is causing, a council leader claims.
Blocks of molten lava the size of three-storey buildings rolled down a hillside in the Canary Islands last month.
Dozens of seismic movements occurred on the Spanish island - and the issues have still not subsided.
Residents are braced for the possibility of bigger earthquakes that could compound the damage five weeks since it erupted.
Now, Casimiro Curbelo, the head of the council responsible for the neighbouring island of La Gomera, suggested military planes could fly over the rivers of red-hot lava and drop the bombs to steer the molten rock away from populated areas.
He admitted his idea could be “crazy” during a radio debate.
But he insisted he thought it was “worth trying from a technological point of view” during the debate on Gran Canaria-based radio station Radio Faycan.
Mr Curbelo said: “There’s a main volcanic cone and then others appear and the great damage it’s doing is that the lava rivers don't follow the same direction but go where they come out according to the inclination.
“Isn’t there a method to open a new mouth in the direction in which you want the lava to go? I think there is. Heavy machinery is not going to do the job.
“Let’s place ourselves in one of the world wars. Isn’t there a plane that can fly and drop things? Boom! And that lets me guide the lava in one direction.
“Today technology is very trustworthy. It has to be done from a reasonable height.
“Maybe what I’m saying is crazy but I think that from a technological point of view we have to try it.
“We’re seeing the tremendous damage the volcano is doing, how it’s burying everything and destroying property and acres and acres of land.”
There was no immediate response from volcanologists on La Palma to the politician’s bombing suggestion.
Some local media who highlighted his comments dredged up his 2015 expulsion from Spain’s governing left-wing PSOE party following an incident in a nightspot described as a brothel which ended up with him being arrested.
Curbelo, who denied any wrongdoing after the incident came to light, now leads the Gomera Socialist Group.
His comments emerged today/yesterday (WED) as locals and expats in La Palma had a sleepless night thanks to more than 70 tremors and an earthquake measured at 4.8 on the Richter scale.
The volcano on La Palma, which erupted on September 19, spewed a powerful new river of molten rock early on Monday.
It was described as a “giant lava fountain” by the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute.
Around 7,500 of La Palma’s 85,500 inhabitants have been forced to flee in the past five weeks.
There has been no human loss of life because of swift evacuations but the lava has partially of totally destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and covered around 2,200 acres of land including farmland.
Late last week footage emerged showing a house on the island reportedly owned by a British couple disappearing under red-hot lava.
The 29 minutes that passed from the moment the steaming molten rock reached the garden and brought the property crashing to the ground were played out in agonising detail in the video.
Last month a British mum told of her plight after being forced to flee home with her young son after the volcano erupted.
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Nikki Batley, 46 and originally from Essex, fled her house in the town of Todoque with her 11-year-old son John the day the volcano erupted.
At the time she revealed her ordeal four days later, she was staying with husband Pedro Castro Ramos at a friend's apartment,
She said on a GoFundMe page set up after being forced to leave her home, which has now nearly reached its £5,000 fund-raising target: “I’ve set up this GoFundMe page as the next few months are going to be difficult for me and my family financially.
“The lava seems to have slowed down, which is saying something as it was already moving painfully slowly towards our home. This means our home is still standing for now, but is directly in the path of where the lava will essentially go.
"We are all fine physically, but emotionally all of us are battered. It's very hard to just sit and wait to see how your life is going to change.”