Wildfire warnings issued for popular Spanish holiday hotspots

Holidaymakers have been warned of an “extreme” wildfire risk at several popular Spanish holiday destinations. It comes after wildfires raged through parts of Tenerife last week, forcing some 3,000 people to leave their homes.

The Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET), Spain's weather agency, has issued “extreme” wildfire risk warnings for the Canary Islands, including Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife and La Gomera. Warnings have also been issued for parts of northern mainland Spain.

The wildfire warnings remain in place for the rest of the week. Additionally, AEMET has issued amber weather warnings for heat for the Canary Islands over the next couple of days, with temperatures expected to reach the mid-30s.

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Last week soldiers and firefighters battled to put out a wildfire in Tenerife, which affected the towns of Santa Ursula and La Orotava in the mountainous northeast of the island, away from the main tourist areas in Tenerife’s southwest. The same area suffered one of the island’s worst wildfires in decades in August when 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of pine forest and scrubland were burned and some 12,000 residents evacuated over several weeks.

Although that wildfire was brought under control it was never fully extinguished. Small fires have continued to break out periodically in the same area due to winds and high temperatures.

Some 120 agents including soldiers and firefighters were taking part in the operation to put out the fire, the Canary Islands government said. The island, like the rest of Spain, has