Spanish firefighters foresee the imminent end of their fight against the flames which have been ravaging the tourist island of Tenerife for a week and which have forced thousands of people to flee, local authorities said on Tuesday, August 22. The fire “is not over, but we are beginning to see the end of the tunnel”, the archipelago’s emergency chief, Manuel Miranda, told a press conference in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital. from the island.
Falling temperatures
Falling nighttime temperatures and weaker winds have helped firefighters, local authorities said, as the fire has already burned nearly 15,000 hectares. About 600 firefighters and soldiers, with the reinforcement of 22 canadairs, are hard at work trying to contain the fire which broke out on August 15 in a hilly area in the northeast of this Canary island, off off the northwest coast of Africa.
The fire, which now extends over an area of approximately 88 kilometers, has led to the evacuation of more than 12,000 people, including some residents of the villages of Arafo and Candelaria who have already been authorized to return to their homes. Other people will soon be able to return to their homes, assured the head of the local government of Tenerife, Rosa Davila. “We are trying to get back to normal, little by little,” she said at a press conference.
During a visit to Tenerife on Monday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said a state of natural disaster would be declared on the affected areas, which will provide emergency grants and other aid measures to the population. The fire broke out after a heat wave hit the archipelago, drying out many places. The Canary Islands generally experience spring-like temperatures all year round, but temperatures have recently soared to 40°C.
500 fires in Spain in 2022
In 2022, 300,000 hectares were destroyed by more than 500 fires in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). Since the beginning of the current year, the country has recorded 340 fires which have ravaged nearly 76,000 hectares, according to Effis. According to experts, extreme weather phenomena have intensified recently due to global warming, responsible for 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 on the front line in Europe in the face of global warming and its consequences.