The smell of fumaroles is certainly not pleasant, but it is characteristic and typical of Vulcano. Its intensity changes both with the changing seasons and with the volcano’s activity.
After a particularly rainy period, the smell is not very intense, as there is more rainwater, which has filtered to the depths and evaporated.
In the final years of the 20th century there were times when the magma moved in the depths, which happens naturally, and this increased the amount of magmatic gas in the fumaroles, causing the smell of rotten egg given by the sulphur in the gases to increase immeasurably.
