Wildfires in Tenerife force thousands to evacuate or stay indoors

Worst wildfires in the Canary Islands in at least 40 years drawing closer to the capital Santa CruzWorst wildfires in the Canary Islands in at least 40 years drawing closer to the capital Santa Cruz

More than 7,500 people have been evacuated or ordered to stay indoors as the worst wildfire in at least four decades ravages the Canary island of Tenerife, burning through 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) of land and drawing closer to the capital, Santa Cruz.

Fernando Clavijo, the regional president of the Canaries, said more than 250 firefighters – backed by military emergency crews and 17 aircraft – were working to tackle the fire, which broke out in the north-east of the island on Tuesday and which currently has a 32km (20-mile) perimeter.

“The night has been very tough,” he told a press conference on Thursday. “This is probably the most complicated blaze we’ve had on the Canary Islands – if not ever, at least in the past 40 years.”

Vicky Palma, a technical adviser to the Tenerife authorities, said “a fire on a scale not seen in the Canaries since record began” was creating its own meteorological conditions and showering hot ash on the El Rosario municipality in the north-east of the island.

Clavijo said the evacuation and confinement orders had been issued in an effort to keep people safe and help firefighters do their job, as the blaze continued to burn out of control within 20km (12 miles) of Santa Cruz. “The decision was taken because burning ash and wind are causing small fires in different areas,” he added.

Alba Gil, a resident of the confined village of La Esperanza, said she and her family had been up until 4am on Tuesday because they were worried about the flames. “When you go outside you start suffocating,” she told Reuters. “It’s as if you have something stuck in your throat.”

Temperatures in the Canary Islands, which have peaked at more than 40C (104F) in recent days, are expected to rise again on Saturday.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares. Wildfires have burned almost 64,000 hectares in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to Spanish government data.

According to EU figures, the 2022 wildfire season was the second worst on record, with blazes devouring 1,624,381 hectares – an area of land roughly equivalent to Montenegro. In Spain alone, wildfires burned through 315,705 hectares.

Speaking to the Guardian last month, Spain’s environment minister, Teresa Ribera, warned that the climate emergency was making wildfires more and more likely.

“In places where the climate is in transition – such as the Iberian peninsula – big fires are probably one of the most real, frequent, important, damaging and painful threats that climate change brings,” she said.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report