Image: STRINGER (AFP)
According to the authorities, 2,500 people had to leave their homes. Nobody was injured. The flames would be favored “by the wind, the climate, the heat wave,” Clavijo told journalists.
Originally, the authorities had spoken of more than 2,000 hectares of burned land. “This is a fire that has spread extremely quickly,” said Tourism Minister Héctor Gómez. Spain is suffering from unusual heat and drought this year. The country experienced the hottest spring since weather records began, and Spain is currently groaning under a heat wave. Since the beginning of 2023, 66,000 hectares of land have already burned in Spain.
According to the authorities, the fire broke out in the morning near the village of Puntagorda. Around 300 firefighters were deployed, they were supported by fire-fighting aircraft. Because of the great drought and strong winds, the flames spread quickly, the mayor of the town, Vicente Rodríguez, reported on state TV broadcaster RTVE. Because the wind direction kept changing, the fire could not be brought under control.
The westernmost of the Canary Islands made headlines for months in 2021 after the Tajogaite volcano spat out massive amounts of lava that flowed towards the sea in red-hot streams. At least 7,000 people had to flee from the lava back then, country houses, banana plantations and vineyards were buried under meter-thick lava.
Source: Nachrichten
