Hundreds evacuated from path of wildfire in Canary Islands | Spain #Hundreds #evacuated #path #wildfire #Canary #Islands #Spain

Spanish authorities have evacuated about 500 people from the vicinity of a wildfire that has broken out on the island of La Palma.

The fire started in the early hours of Saturday morning in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area in the north-west of the island in the Canaries.

It is the first natural crisis on the island since a volcanic eruption in 2021 and comes as many parts of mainland Europe brace for extreme heat in the coming week.

The regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said the blaze had destroyed at least 11 homes within the relatively small burnt zone of 140 hectares (345 acres). He said the number of evacuees could increase.

“With the resources that we are deploying, we hope we can control the fire today, but the winds are shifting,” Clavijo said. “More gusting winds are expected and, combined with the dryness of the terrain and the lack of rain, this situation is complicated.”

Spain’s army has deployed 150 of its firefighters to help local crews battle the blaze. More local firefighters are arriving on boats from the neighbouring island of Tenerife, according to Clavijo.

The fire is in wooded, hilly terrain dotted with homes. It is not an area that was directly affected by the 2021 volcano eruption.

The Puntagorda mayor, Vicente Rodríguez, told the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE that the fire started inside the limits of his municipality. He added that the area had seen below-average rainfall in recent years, like large parts of the drought-stricken mainland, because of changing weather patterns affected by the climate crisis.

The fire coincides with a heatwave that is hitting southern Europe.

Spain experienced record high temperatures in 2022 and this spring as it endures a prolonged drought. Authorities and forestry experts are concerned that the conditions are ripe for a difficult wildfire campaign after seeing destructive fires as early as March.

La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight members of Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast. At their nearest point, the islands are 60 miles from Morocco.