Spanish firefighters are hoping for an immediate end to their battle against flames that have ravaged the tourist island of Tenerife for a week and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, local authorities said on Tuesday.
The fire “is not over, but we are starting to see the end of the tunnel,” the archipelago’s emergency chief, Manuel Miranda, told a news conference from the island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Falling overnight temperatures and weak winds helped firefighters, local officials said, adding that the blaze had already burned nearly 15,000 hectares.
About 600 firefighters and soldiers, with reinforcements from 22 Canadians, are working hard to contain the blaze that broke out on Aug. 15 in a mountainous area northeast of the Canary Island off Africa’s northwest coast.
The fire, which has now spread over an area of approximately 88 kilometers, has led to the evacuation of more than 12,000 people, with some residents of the villages of Arafo and Candelaria already being allowed to return to their homes.
Rosa Dávila, head of Tenerife’s local government, assured that others would soon be able to return to their homes.
“We are trying to get back to normal little by little,” he told a news conference.
Emergency assistance
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who visited Tenerife on Monday, said a state of natural disaster would be declared in the affected areas, which would provide people with emergency aid and other relief measures.
A heat wave hit the archipelago causing fires and drying up many places.
The Canary Islands usually enjoy spring-like temperatures throughout the year, but temperatures have recently risen to 40°C.
In 2022, more than 500 fires in Spain destroyed 300,000 hectares, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).
Since the beginning of the current year, there have been 340 fires in the country, which have destroyed nearly 76,000 hectares, according to Efis.
According to experts, extreme weather events have recently intensified due to global warming, which has led to more frequent, longer and more intense heat waves and periods of drought. Spain, which has been experiencing its fourth heat wave of the summer since Sunday, is a leader in Europe in combating global warming and its consequences.
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