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WILDFIRE

Firefighters make progress with unprecedented wildfire in Tenerife

Firefighters have made progress on Friday in their fight against a huge wildfire on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

Published: 17 August 2023 09:12 CEST
Updated: 18 August 2023 15:55 CEST
TENERIFE-WILDFIRE
In this handout image released by Military Emergency Unit (UME), military firefighters battle a forest fire on August 17, 2023 raging in the northeastern part of the Canary island of Tenerife. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UME " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

The blaze, which officials say is the most “complex fire” to hit the Canary Islands in 40 years, broke out late on Tuesday in a mountainous area of northeastern Tenerife.

About 450 firefighters and soldiers backed by 16 aircraft were battling the blaze which has so far destroyed some 3,800 hectares (9,400) acres, the regional government of the archipelago said.

Columns of smoke, pictured from the village of Güímar, on August 17, 2023, billow from a huge wildfire which broke out two and a half days ago and is raging in the northeastern part of the Canary island of Tenerife. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

Officials said the wildfire — which has a perimeter of 42 kilometres (26 miles) — had advanced more slowly and predictably overnight, making it easier for crews to tackle the flames.

IN IMAGES: How the worst wildfire in 40 years is engulfing Spain’s Tenerife

“This night at least the fire and the weather behaved normally,” Fernando Clavijo, regional head of the seven-island archipelago, told a news conference.

“In the two previous nights the wind, temperatures and the behaviour of the fire were highly unusual,” he added.

Some 3,000 residents in the area have been evacuated and around 4,000 others were ordered to stay indoors because of the fire, while access to the Mount Teide volcano, Spain’s highest peak, was cut off.

Some locals told Spanish media they were given just one hour to pack some belongings and leave their homes.

A hydroplane drops water on the flames in Tenerife’s Corona Forestal natural park. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

Ash from the wildfire fell on much of the island, and smoke from the blaze affecting nine municipalities could be seen in satellite imagery.

Clavijo has said this is the “most complex” wildfire in the Canary Islands “in at least the past 40 years” because of the topography of the area, high temperatures and winds that changed directions frequently.

 “We are facing a fire the likes of which we’ve never seen before in the Canary Islands,” meteorologist Vicky Palma added.

The blaze broke out after the islands were hit by a heatwave that has left many areas tinder dry.

While air humidity levels rose overnight and winds calmed which helped firefighters battle the blaze, temperatures are once again expected to soar over the weekend in Tenerife.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned heatwaves will become more frequent and intense, with a much wider impact.

3,200 hectares of pristine forest have so far been affected by the wildfire in Tenerife. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

In 2022, a particularly bad year for wildfires in Europe, Spain was the worst-hit nation with nearly 500 blazes that destroyed more than 300,000 hectares, according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System.

So far this year, more than 71,000 hectares have been ravaged by fire in Spain, which is one of the European countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Nasa map showing the area affected the wildfire on the morning of Friday August 18th.
 

“We ask that the population respect all these road cuts,” said the head of the archipelago’s civil protection service, Montserrat Roman.

The wildfire comes after the Canary Islands were hit by a heatwave that has left many areas tinder dry, increasing the risk of wildfires.

READ ALSO: What to do and what to avoid if you witness a forest fire in Spain

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PROTESTS

In Images: Tenerife protesters call for marine theme park to ’empty the tanks’ 

Several weeks after huge anti-mass tourism protests on the Spanish island of Tenerife, environmentalists have targeted one of the island’s main tourist attractions - the Loro Parque zoo and marine park - which is owned by a German millionaire.

Published: 13 May 2024 13:13 CEST
In Images: Tenerife protesters call for marine theme park to 'empty the tanks' 

Dozens of protesters gathered at the gates of Loro Parque in the touristy town of Puerto de La Cruz on Saturday, shouting “stop animal exploitation”. 

Loro Parque is one of the top tourist attractions in Tenerife, starting off as a parrot sanctuary in 1972 but evolving into a zoo and SeaWorld-style marine complex which receives several million visitors a year. 

The owner of Loro Parque is 87-year-old German national Wolfgang Kiessling, the wealthiest man in Tenerife with an estimated net worth of €370 million.

Loro Parque’s owner Wolfgang Kiessling is the 169th wealthiest person in Spain. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

Loro Park gained international notoriety after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which looked at the treatment of killer whales in captivity, and which partly focused on the death of an orca trainer in 2009 at Tenerife’s Loro Parque after being attacked by one of the animals. 

Protesters carried signs that read “no to animal abuse”, “those born to swim in oceans should not do so in tears” and “don’t lie to your child, there is no happiness in slavery”. 

There are currently four orcas at Tenerife’s Loro Parque. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

The rally promoted by environmentalist group ‘Empty the tanks’ was held in 60 cities around the world on Saturday to demand the release of dolphins and orcas.

Protesters booed the Loro Parque train that took holidaymakers as it approached the facilities while showing them banners that read “tourist, what you pay is for slaughtered orcas” or “this shit at Loro Park is going to end” are other signs that were carried.

A half empty Loro Parque train faces the wrath of protesters calling for the park’s orcas to be released. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

In late April, Kiessling released a controversial video in which he attacked environmentalists, stating: “They want us to live like vegans, not to have pets, not to use leather bags or shoes, and they also want to influence our holidays so that we do not visit zoos”.

He added: “A new industry has been born. They call themselves environmentalists, but they are not. They are just people in search of wealth. They want to change our world, live vegan, not wear wool, not drink milk, not ride horses, not have pets, not visit zoos”.

The Loro Parque has received large subsidies from the Canary government and benefited from tax incentives that allows them to pay taxes on only 10 percent of the profits. 

Billboards and dustbins across the island have promotional posters of Loro Parque on them, describing it as “the must-see of the Canaries”. 

A sign reads “Is suffering educational?” at another “Empty the Tanks” protest held outside Loro Parque in 2015. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)

The animal rights protest against Loro Parque comes just four weeks after thousands of canarios took to the streets of their eight islands to call for an end to mass tourism.

READ ALSO: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’: Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism

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