On the Spanish island of La Palma, more than 4,500 hectares of land burned in a few hours on Saturday. “The fire is spreading very quickly,” said Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands regional government, in the evening. According to the authorities, 2,500 people had to leave their homes. No one was hurt. The flames would be favored “by the wind, by the climate, by the heat wave”, Clavijo told journalists.
Originally, officials had spoken of over 2,000 hectares of scorched earth. “This is a fire that spread extremely quickly,” said Tourism Minister Héctor Gómez. Spain is suffering from unusual heat and drought this year. The country has experienced the hottest spring since meteorological records began, and Spain is suffering under a heat wave. Since the beginning of 2023, 66,000 hectares of land have already burned in Spain.
According to authorities, the fire started in the morning near the village of Puntagorda. About 300 firefighters were mobilized, they were supported by firefighting aircraft. Due to the severe drought and strong winds, the flames spread quickly, city mayor Vicente Rodríguez told state broadcaster RTVE. As the wind direction was constantly changing, the fire could not be brought under control.
The westernmost of the Canary Islands grabbed headlines for months in 2021 after the Tajogaite volcano spewed massive amounts of lava that flowed towards the sea in incandescent currents. At least 7,000 people had to flee the lava at that time, country houses, banana plantations and vineyards were buried under the meter thick lava.