2023-08-19 19:24:58
On the island of Tenerife, Spain, August 19, 2023. DESIREE MARTIN / AFP
More than 26,000 people have been forced to flee the vast fire raging on the Spanish tourist island of Tenerife, in the Canary archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, the emergency services announced on Saturday August 19.
The blaze, which has been raging since Tuesday evening, broke out in a mountainous part of the northeast of the island. It spread overnight from Friday to Saturday due to particularly favorable weather conditions: strong winds and higher than expected temperatures.
It is “most complicated” of the last four decades for the Canary archipelago, according to the authorities, who had reported on Friday evening the evacuation of around 4,500 people since the start of the fire. Saturday morning, five other municipalities were evacuated.
Forest Service Chief Pedro Martinez told reporters midday on Saturday that the perimeter of the fire had “certainly increased a lot” during the night and that “falling steadily” the mountain in the region of Santa Ursula.
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