Three airports in northwestern Spain will be closed on Saturday due to the arrival of a huge new cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano which shut down Europe's skies last month, aviation authority AENA said.

The airport at Santiago de Compostela, a major pilgrimage centre, will close at 2:00 am (0000 GMT) while those at La Coruna and Vigo will close from 6:30 am, it said.

Europe's air traffic closed for up to a week last month following the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. It was the biggest aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II.

Volcanic ash can cause serious damage to jet engines.