Wildfires are raging on Tenerife – Places evacuated

Several wildfires have been raging in Spain for days. A new heat wave threatens to reignite the fires. / Wildfires are raging on Tenerife

Despite an easing of the situation in the past few days, the series of wildfiresin Spain is not coming to an end. On Sunday, a fire in Tenerife caused concern.

The flames have already destroyed more than 2,150 hectares on the Canary Island, which is popular with tourists, said regional president Ángel Víctor Torres late Saturday evening. 585 residents of La Guancha and four other communities in the north of the island have been brought to safety. Numerous foreign hiking tourists were warned of the flames at the nearby Teide National Park.

The approximately 150 emergency services have recently made great progress in fighting the fire, also thanks to higher humidity and weaker winds. The temperature increase announced for Sunday and Monday up to 38 degrees is worrying. “So we have to put out the fire as soon as possible,” said Torres.

Fires have already destroyed tens of thousands of hectares

All wildfires in Spain have now been extinguished or largely under control – except for the fire in Tenerife and two fires that broke out on Saturday in Yunquera northeast of Madrid and in Olmeda del Rey southeast of the capital and were fought by a total of 235 emergency services on Sunday.

In combination with a drought that has lasted for months and strong winds, the heat has favored the outbreak and spread of many fires, according to the Aemet weather service. 2022 is already the most devastating wildfire year for Spain since records began. In the first seven months of the year, the flames destroyed around 200,000 hectares. These almost 2,000 square kilometers correspond to about 80 percent of the area of ​​Saarland.

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