A forest fire raged on the Spanish island of Tenerife, forcing thousands to flee their homes after efforts to control it failed last night due to hot, dry weather and strong winds.
Emergency services said late on Saturday that 10 towns had been affected by the fire so far, although 11 towns had been evacuated as a precautionary measure. No major tourist areas were affected so far.
Yesterday, orders were issued to evacuate residents due to bad weather overnight.
In a press conference last night, Rosa Davila, the head of the local government in Tenerife, described the fire as “devastating” and said it had prompted new evacuations.
By Sunday morning, the regional authorities had announced the evacuation of 12,279 people, down from its previous estimate of 26,000 evacuation.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in a mountainous national park in the vicinity of the Teide volcanic mountain, the highest peak in Spain.
More than 20,000 acres have been affected so far by the fire in an area of 70 kilometers perimeter, but the famous tourist areas in “Tenerife” have not been affected and the two airports there are operating normally.
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