Spain PM hopes Tenerife wildfire will stabilise 'in coming days'

ARAFO - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday he hoped a wildfire that has forced thousands of people to evacuate on the holiday island of Tenerife will be stabilised "in the coming days".

"We hope the weather will help us to declare the fire as stabilised in the coming hours, coming days. May the weather be on our side," he told reporters during a visit to the island.

The blaze broke out late Tuesday in a mountainous northeastern area, quickly morphing into the Canary Islands' biggest-ever wildfire.

So far, the fire, which now has a perimeter of around 90 kilometres (55 miles), has burned through nearly 41,000 hectares (28,700 acres) of land, which is about 6.5 percent of Tenerife's overall surface area, the regional government said.

It has forced more than 12,000 people to flee their homes, it added.

Local authorities, however, said cooler temperatures and weaker winds had helped firefighters make gains in their battle against the blaze.

"In a very short time we will probably be able to say, with some caution, that it is stabilised," the head of the emergency services from the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria, Federico Grillo, told a news conference earlier on Monday.

Some 600 firefighters and soldiers backed by water-dropping aircraft were battling the wildfire, which is affecting 12 municipalities.

The blaze broke out after the archipelago suffered a heatwave that left many areas tinder dry.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves will become more frequent and intense.

Last year, Spain suffered more than 500 blazes that destroyed more than 300,000 hectares, making it the worst-hit country in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

So far this year, it has had 340 fires, which have ravaged almost 76,000 hectares, EFFIS figures show. - AFP