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WILDFIRE

Firefighters make progress with unprecedented wildfire in Tenerife

Firefighters have made progress on Friday in their fight against a huge wildfire on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

Published: 17 August 2023 09:12 CEST
Updated: 18 August 2023 15:55 CEST
TENERIFE-WILDFIRE
In this handout image released by Military Emergency Unit (UME), military firefighters battle a forest fire on August 17, 2023 raging in the northeastern part of the Canary island of Tenerife. (Photo by Handout / UME / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UME " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

The blaze, which officials say is the most “complex fire” to hit the Canary Islands in 40 years, broke out late on Tuesday in a mountainous area of northeastern Tenerife.

About 450 firefighters and soldiers backed by 16 aircraft were battling the blaze which has so far destroyed some 3,800 hectares (9,400) acres, the regional government of the archipelago said.

Columns of smoke, pictured from the village of Güímar, on August 17, 2023, billow from a huge wildfire which broke out two and a half days ago and is raging in the northeastern part of the Canary island of Tenerife. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

Officials said the wildfire — which has a perimeter of 42 kilometres (26 miles) — had advanced more slowly and predictably overnight, making it easier for crews to tackle the flames.

IN IMAGES: How the worst wildfire in 40 years is engulfing Spain’s Tenerife

“This night at least the fire and the weather behaved normally,” Fernando Clavijo, regional head of the seven-island archipelago, told a news conference.

“In the two previous nights the wind, temperatures and the behaviour of the fire were highly unusual,” he added.

Some 3,000 residents in the area have been evacuated and around 4,000 others were ordered to stay indoors because of the fire, while access to the Mount Teide volcano, Spain’s highest peak, was cut off.

Some locals told Spanish media they were given just one hour to pack some belongings and leave their homes.

A hydroplane drops water on the flames in Tenerife’s Corona Forestal natural park. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

Ash from the wildfire fell on much of the island, and smoke from the blaze affecting nine municipalities could be seen in satellite imagery.

Clavijo has said this is the “most complex” wildfire in the Canary Islands “in at least the past 40 years” because of the topography of the area, high temperatures and winds that changed directions frequently.

 “We are facing a fire the likes of which we’ve never seen before in the Canary Islands,” meteorologist Vicky Palma added.

The blaze broke out after the islands were hit by a heatwave that has left many areas tinder dry.

While air humidity levels rose overnight and winds calmed which helped firefighters battle the blaze, temperatures are once again expected to soar over the weekend in Tenerife.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned heatwaves will become more frequent and intense, with a much wider impact.

3,200 hectares of pristine forest have so far been affected by the wildfire in Tenerife. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
 

In 2022, a particularly bad year for wildfires in Europe, Spain was the worst-hit nation with nearly 500 blazes that destroyed more than 300,000 hectares, according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System.

So far this year, more than 71,000 hectares have been ravaged by fire in Spain, which is one of the European countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Nasa map showing the area affected the wildfire on the morning of Friday August 18th.
 

“We ask that the population respect all these road cuts,” said the head of the archipelago’s civil protection service, Montserrat Roman.

The wildfire comes after the Canary Islands were hit by a heatwave that has left many areas tinder dry, increasing the risk of wildfires.

READ ALSO: What to do and what to avoid if you witness a forest fire in Spain

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TOURISM

Tenerife to start charging tourists to access natural parks

Amid environmental and housing pressures, authorities in Tenerife will soon begin charging tourists a so-called 'ecotax' to access natural parks, starting with the protected Masca ravine area.

Published: 30 May 2024 09:55 CEST
Tenerife to start charging tourists to access natural parks

The President of Tenerife’s Cabildo government, Rosa Dávila, announced on Wednesday that the first pilot scheme in the so-called ‘ecotax’ on the island will begin this summer for visitors to the Masca ravine area.

The idea is to charge tourists, defined as non-resident, for access to natural and protected areas. The small fee, the amount of which is still yet to be decided, will be accompanied by improvements to environmental security and bolstered local infrastructure in the area.

The Masca ravine, in the Teno rural park, will also reopen its jetty, which has been closed since 2018. Masca is one of Tenerife’s oldest and most breathtaking hiking routes, culminating in the Los Gigantes cliffs on the coast.

At a press conference, Dávila indicated that a three-way agreement will be signed between Buenavista council, the municipality to which Masca belongs, Puertos de Tenerife, and the Cabildo.

READ ALSO: Mass protests in Spain’s Canary Islands decry overtourism

In theory, a daily limit of 275 visitors will be implemented (Spanish media report that the annual capacity is estimated to be around 100,000) but tourists and non-residents will not be forced to take any particular route or itinerary and can travel freely to the area themselves or through tourist companies. However, bus services will be used to better regulate access to the site.

Dávila also suggested that the publicly-owned company Tragsa will handle the tourist charge, pending a decision on a wider ‘ecotax’ entrance fees for other natural areas across the Canary Islands. Fees for other natural areas of the island are set to be charged from January 1st 2025.

With regards to the cost, Dávila pointed out that “we are working on the analysis of the economic impact” and added that “we had anticipated that the Cabildo would cover the cost for residents of Tenerife”, which confirms that any entrance fee or ‘ecotax’ will only be levied on tourists and non-residents and that locals won’t have to pay it.

This comes amid bubbling anti-tourist sentiment in Tenerife and the Canary Islands. Concerns about the over-touristification of the islands, which causes environmental and housing pressures, has led to several protests in recent months.

READ ALSO: ‘The island can’t take it anymore’ – Why Tenerife is rejecting mass tourism

A proliferation of short-term tourist rental properties, particularly in the post-pandemic period, has priced many locals out of their own areas.

The ecotax, however, is not a flat tourist tax in the traditional sense, and right-wing parties on the islands previously rejected the idea of a tourist tax.

Catalonia and the Balearic Islands both charge holidaymakers tourist taxes, often tacked onto hotel bills. Spain’s Valencia region was also planning to until the right-wing government now in power revoked the law early in 2024.

However, measures approved by the Canary Parliament in April were to charge an entrance fee to visit Tenerife’s key sites and natural spaces, like at Masca, as well as not giving up any more land to hotels and other tourist complexes.

This comes after tens of thousands of protesters took the streets of all eight Canary Islands and European cities such as London, Berlin and Madrid in April under the slogan “The Canary Islands have a limit”.

READ ALSO: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?

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