Tenerife wildfires sees soot hitting swimming pools as fear spreads to resorts

20 August 2023 , 14:06

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More than 8,000 people have been evacuated from Tenerife due to wildfires (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Holidaymakers in Tenerife are arriving at hotels to find ash floating in their swimming pools as the island's worst wildfire in over four decades continues to rage.

Thousands of people from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands have been evacuated as the fire rages for a fifth day. The island's emergency services said more than 26,000 people had been evacuated by Saturday afternoon, according to provisional estimates, a sharp rise from 4,500 on Friday.

British school teachers, Holly and Dale travelled from St Albans for their long-awaited summer holiday and told Sky News it had been overshadowed by the wildfires. Dale said: "Waking up this morning was probably the worst day. Seeing all the ash in the swimming pool, the staff boarding everything up, the beds being taken up, it's the end of the holiday really."

Fire advances through the forest in La Orotava in Tenerife, Canary Islands (AP)

Today police launched a probe as the mountain fires had been confirmed by government leaders as "provoked". They say the police have already launched an investigation and are following three separate lines. Further details have not yet been revealed but if it proves to be the work of an arsonist or if someone was careless with a discarded cigarette or a barbecue, they would face prison.

Fernando Clavijo, president of the Government of the Canary Islands, confirmed at a press conference this morning that "the fire in Tenerife is provoked" and that the Civil Guard "is already working on three lines of investigation." He regretted "the damage" that this person or persons "have done to the island", as well as endangering the lives of thousands of people and was confident they would be arrested.

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There is some hope with cooler weather on the horizon as the Canary Islands emergency services said in a tweet on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that firefighters had been able to work in "better weather conditions than expected." Tenerife governor, Rosa Dávila said at a news conference early Sunday: The night was very difficult but thanks to the work of the firefighters, the results have been very positive."

The emergency services said air quality in 19 town areas was not good and urged people to stay indoors when possible and wear masks outdoors. More than 400 firefighters and soldiers have been deployed, as well as 23 water-carrying helicopters and planes.

The seven Canary Islands are located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain heads the list of EU countries affected by wildfires so far this year, with 185,000 acres burned, ahead of Italy and Greece. Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 2 million acres burned in the European Union in 2022, the EU agency said.

Rita Sobot