Fires hit the Spanish Canary Islands amid the heat wave in the northern hemisphere | world

After a certain lull in forest fires in Spain, the outbreak began this Saturday (15) in La Palma, Canary Islands, already burning more than 2,000 hectares and forcing part of a town of more than 2,500 inhabitants to abandon their homes.

This new fire is happening on the island that experienced a volcanic eruption from September to December 2021, also on the western side of the island, but a little further north.

“The fire started in the municipality of Puntagorda this morning and the damaged surface has already exceeded 2,000 hectares,” the Canary Islands regional government said in a statement.

The regional government added that the fire “has already affected the municipality of Tjaravi, where the population center has been evacuated.”

The mayor of Tijarafe, Marcos Lorenzo, told public television TVE that “the whole city has not been evacuated” and that it was “very difficult” to know the exact number of people relocated.

About 300 troops on the ground and a total of 10 air assets are involved in the work to quell the outbreak, and the Canary Islands government has asked the central executive for two “seaplanes” coming in from the mainland.

The Red Cross reported that a shelter for evacuees had been set up in the town of Tazacorte.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), in 2022, Spain has recorded around 500 fires that devoured more than 300,000 hectares in a particularly bad year.

Almost 66,000 hectares burned in Spain in 2023, according to EFFIS.

An alarming situation in a country affected by climate change, which in recent years has been reflected in more heat waves and less rain.

According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency, this spring was the hottest on record and the second driest.